Wart on the finger is a benign neoplasm that has a viral nature. The causative agent that provokes the appearance of such growths is the human papilloma virus. Warts are considered safe formations, becauserarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not necessary at all. This article provides detailed information about the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.
Causes of finger warts
Warts are not uncommon, asthe human papillomavirus that causes them to grow is highly contagious and spares neither adults nor children. The causative agent, falling on the skin, is introduced into the tissues through the slightest damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different levels of viral load are observed at different times, i. e. the population of the microorganism either increases or decreases. The disease can be asymptomatic for a long time. The incubation period can vary greatly in each individual case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this undoubtedly affects the nature of external manifestations. So, the increase in the activity of the virus causes the appearance of the same warts on the fingers, legs, knees and other areas of the skin.
The surest way to get infected is direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often sexually transmitted, so unprotected or promiscuous sex is the most likely cause of increased incidence. Most often, however, the growth of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by the contact of the upper extremities with infected surfaces, whether it is the hands of the carrier of the virus or objects that he has just used - a pen, cutlery, a towel, a bookand others. All public spaces are considered places of increased danger, but especially those where there is an increased level of humidity.
Even a baby from a mother can become infected. This happens during childbirth.
When warts are located on the fingers, the risk of self-infection increases, i. e. rapid spread of the infection on the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the susceptibility of the growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large amount of the pathogen on the surface, as well as the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other skin coverings and can transfer the virus to them.
The reality is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is quite ambiguous and includes many provoking factors. First of all, the development of a viral infection is facilitated by a decrease in the immune status of the infected person, when the body becomes unable to resist the activity of the virus, maintain its population at the same level and prevent the uncontrolled growth of epithelial cells in the form of a wart onfinger or other body parts. Here, too, everything is ambiguous, because the decrease in immunity also has a number of reasons. It is an unbalanced diet, and drug abuse, and bad habits, and emotional and physical overload.
What else causes finger warts? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes mellitus, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. , lead to the activation of the pathogen. An individual feature such as hyperhidrosis or increased sweating also stimulates the development of pathogenic microflora.
Lack of daily care and lack of personal hygiene also allows HPV to infect more and more areas of the skin. Unwashed hands, untreated injuries, dehydrated and weathered skin, nail biting, and bumps can be the cause of finger warts.
What do finger warts look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin growths such as calluses, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum and often choose the wrong treatment options themselves or completely ignore the external manifestations of the disease, exposing themselves to the risk of spreading the infection, and others to the risk of infection.
In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to study in detail what the warts on the finger look like, what are the types, and go to the hospital in a timely manner to make an accurate diagnosis and determine an effective treatment regimen.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have a capillary network that nourishes their cells. Therefore, when the integrity of the growth is disturbed, very often light bleeding occurs, which increases the risk of spreading infection and infection of the wound. This is partly why it is highly discouraged to attempt to cut away these hardened tissues.
Warts first appear in one quantity - just one or two. But due to problems in the functioning of the immune system, more and more formations can appear. Sometimes they even merge, so that an extensive skin lesion is formed.
It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates a strong activity of the pathogen and prompts an urgent visit to the doctor. It is also worth going to the hospital to find out how to treat warts on the fingers in cases where the neoplasm begins to darken or turn red, if there is a visible change in its structure and swelling, suppuration or random removal of the pathological fluid appearsfrom the growth body.
The color of the warts can be yellowish, in tone with the skin, gray-brown. In some cases, black dots are visible on the surface - these are only places where thrombosis of small blood vessels has occurred.
The most common types of finger warts are as follows:
- Vulgar warts. The second name is common. They quite often appear not only on the inside of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes affecting the periungual space, where the skin is subjected to tension and protrusion. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but brownish-yellow or grayish ones are also found. The shape is nodal or dome-shaped. 2-7 mm in diameter. The structure of the accumulation is quite dense and slightly coarse. It is drier than healthy skin. It can crack and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts. Their surface only slightly protrudes above the skin. The shape is rounded, although when they spread and merge, there are also growths with an uneven outline. The color can be both brown and pale yellow. The diameter of a flat wart on the finger is 3 to 4 mm. Their presence on the skin is most often not accompanied by pain.
- Deep flat warts. This type of skin formation often causes pain due to its structure. Outside the skin, the growths appear flat with a slight depression in the center, but their root grows deeper into the layers of the dermis. This, of course, provokes significant daily discomfort, which more often than other reasons makes a person go to the doctor. The shape of the deep formations is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as those of the superficial warts.
- Subungual warts. The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths appear just in the area below the free edge of the nail plate. Initially, the wart on the finger is flat and has a smooth surface, then it becomes rough and keratinized. With low activity of the virus, they practically do not give symptoms, but with a significant weakening of health and lack of appropriate hygienic treatment, they grow, penetrating the tissues under the nail, provoking the rejection of the plate from the nail bed. In this case, it is no longer just an aesthetic defect. Pain and suppuration appear, gradually the formation reaches the matrix and destroys it irrevocably.
Many believe that the treatment of such a disease is not mandatory if you try to strengthen the immune system so that the body can cope on its own. However, this view is largely wrong. After all, there are many reasons for the need to treat warts on the fingers and other parts of the body. Firstly, such neoplasms are quite contagious, and a person with even one wart can infect several healthy people, in whom the disease can proceed in a more serious form. Secondly, many children, adolescents and adults are simply very embarrassed by the presence of such skin formations, which, of course, causes a desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on the finger. What can we say about pain, sensitivity to injury and the danger of an oncological process.
Ways to treat finger warts
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on the finger. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages and should be used only according to a doctor's prescription and in combination with drug therapy, since the mere removal of formations by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee the absence of disease recurrence. illness in the near future.
Removal of warts on fingers in the clinic
When meeting with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is carried out, the results of which, in addition to the basic health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Tests for co-morbidities such as HIV, which can also cause finger warts and worsen the course of the disease, may often be required.
As a result, multifaceted treatment is prescribed. It includes excision of growths using one of the modern instrumental methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular method. Available from almost all clinics. Special equipment allows you to almost painlessly burn an epithelial tumor, preventing bleeding. The healing time of the crusts is minimal. Tissues after such exposure quickly recover, so there are practically no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
- removal of radio waves. The method is based on the power of radio waves, which simply cut out the formations without bleeding. With the help of a radio knife, you can remove warts on the fingers, practically without touching the healthy tissue. The procedure is quite expensive, but it is recognized as highly effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The active force is a current of different frequencies. It burns off the wart cells on the finger in seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical way.It is not performed without local anesthesia, becauseremoval is done with a scalpel. It is prescribed less often than other options. The main indication is a large lesion, if it is necessary to take material for histological examination, as well as the presence of deep ingrowths in the skin and under the nail plate. Healthy tissues are often injured during the procedure. Scars often remain after healing. The cost of surgical intervention is calculated individually for each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. A widely used method. The body of the finger wart is eliminated by exposure to liquid nitrogen at ultra-low temperatures. This option is characterized by good performance, painlessness, lack of need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - all the doctor's recommendations must be followed in order for the treated areas to heal quickly and without problems.
- Chemical method. The removal of a wart on the finger is carried out with the help of aggressive chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the performance to a qualified specialist to prevent burns to healthy tissues. The impact should be very precise and only on the body of the accumulation. Scars may remain after healing. The cost of the procedure depends on the selected drug and is calculated individually by the doctor.
No method gives a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and absence of relapse. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its location, but also on the qualification of the medical staff and the equipment and preparations used. During the recovery period, an important role is played by the patient himself, who must follow all the doctor's instructions: daily treat the places to remove warts on the fingers, prevent injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take prescribed medications, eliminate bad habits andto normalize diet. Only then you will not have to decide again how to get rid of the wart on your finger.
Treatment of warts on the fingers with drugs
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers includes taking drugs whose action is aimed at suppressing viral infection, increasing the immune status and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds.
Types of medical products intended for the treatment of warts on the fingers:
- Oral preparations. This category includes means for complex effects - antiviral and immunomodulatory. Currently, there are no drugs that can completely kill the human papillomavirus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to simulate natural immunity to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load by stopping the growth of warts on fingers and otherplaces.
- External use. Some drugs are intended for antiseptic treatment, others accelerate tissue regeneration, others have a local antiviral and immunostimulating effect, others nourish skin cells, normalize all metabolic processes.
- External cauterizing agents. They can contain both cauterizing acids and other components that contribute to the destruction of growths. Use at home is associated with the risk of burns, so the procedure should be carried out with great care. Some drugs work on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Vitamin and mineral complexes. They are prescribed to prevent nutrient deficiency in the body, restore metabolism and the work of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for warts on the finger
The effectiveness of traditional medicine continues to be controversial. Some argue that it is ineffective and people simply waste valuable time by refusing to go to the doctor, others consider it the only correct way to safely treat most diseases.
In search of the right answer to the question of how to reduce the wart on the finger, it is better to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him the options for complex therapy, including instrumental removal of growths, taking HPV-specific drugs and appropriate folk remedies.
Popular folk remedies for the treatment of warts on the fingers:
- Plum compresses. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, mix and immerse half of the pitted plum in this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Remove the plum, mash the pulp. Apply the resulting slurry to the warts and fix with a bandage or patch for 2-8 hours.
- Thuja oil for warts. It is applied externally 4-5 times a day. Daily use of this drug ensures rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tincture of thuja.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Insist 14 days. Lubricate the wart-affected areas of the fingers several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Coniferous tincture. Take young conifers and juniper berries in equal amounts. Mix and grind all the raw materials. 50 g of the resulting mixture are placed in a glass container and poured with 200 g of alcohol. Leave for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate growths. It is enough to apply once a day.
- Infusion of lemon peel. Remove the peel of 1-2 lemons and cut it, maybe with a knife, you can with a meat grinder. Place the mass in a glass jar and fill with table vinegar in a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid tightly. Leave to insist for a week, do not forget to shake every day. Then take out the cake and treat the warts on the fingers with the resulting infusion, trying not to touch healthy skin.
- Horse chestnut decoction. To prepare it, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add horse chestnut leaves (120 g) to it and boil for 15 minutes on low heat, strain and pour the broth into a basin. When it cools down to 36-40 degrees, lower your palms into it. The duration of taking such a bath is 20 minutes. It is necessary to carry out 8 procedures within 2. 5 weeks, i. e. repeat every 3 days before going to bed.
- Herbal infusion. Such a tool affects the whole body in a complex. But its most important property is the stimulation of immunity to fight the virus. Systemic reception stops the growth of warts on the finger. To prepare, mix and then grind 20 g each of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory and dandelion root, birch leaves, as well as 30 g each of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For a decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, put in an enamel pan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. It is filtered and taken internally before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and provoked the growth of epithelial tumors, warts that appeared on the fingers and toes, elbows, knees, feet and other places require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as the choice of adequate methods of removal of growths and treatment of HPV will allow you to recover faster and forget about the unpleasant manifestations of a viral disease for a long time.