Warts can appear on anyone's body. In many cases, they disappear on their own, but sometimes it becomes necessary to remove them. Wart removal, of course, is best done in a healthcare setting. Self-destruction of such neoplasms can not give a result, or vice versa, lead to their damage. You will learn where to remove warts from the next article.
Who can have warts
Anyone can get warts, but they are more likely to be infected with the papillomavirus at:
- children and adolescents;
- adults and children who have a habit of biting their nails or biting thorns;
- persons with weakened immune system.
In children, warts usually go away without treatment. A dermatologist should be consulted if the warts bother the child (for example, painful) or multiply too quickly.
signs and symptoms
Depending on the appearance and location on the body, several types of warts are distinguished. Below are the signs (what the person sees) and the symptoms (what the person feels) that are common with some types of warts.
Vulgar warts (common)
If a child has a wart on the face, be sure to check his hands - you will most likely see warts there as well. The virus usually spreads to the skin of the face when touched or when a child bites his nails.
Vulgar warts:
- most common on the fingers, around the nails, and on the back of the palms;
- most common in places where the skin is often damaged, for example, in places where there is a sore throat, or when the habit of biting the nails;
- more often they look like a small nodule (compaction) with an uneven rough surface;
- there may be black spots on the surface (in fact, these are small thrombosed vessels), which are sometimes mistakenly called the "root" of the wart.
Plantar warts
They appear on the sole of the foot and are sometimes difficult to treat.
Plantar warts:
- appear most often on the soles of the feet;
- can grow, coalesce and form so-called clusters (mosaic warts);
- most often flat or rising inside (due to the pressure created when you walk);
- are painful, especially with pressure;
- often cause the feeling of a pebble in the shoes;
- there may be black spots on the surface.
Flat warts
- can appear anywhere, but, as a rule, most often occurs in children on the face, in men - on the chin, in women - on the feet;
- Smaller and smoother than other types of warts
- as a rule, multiple and grouped, usually appear in large numbers - from 20 to 100 at once.
Filiform warts (chords)
- look like long strands or thin protrusions similar to fingers;
- are most common on the face: around the mouth, eyes and nose;
- tend to increase rapidly.
Do I need to get rid of warts and why
For each type of papillomavirus in medicine, a counting system is used. It is known that HPV types numbered 57, 26-29, 14-17, 12, 10, 7 1-5-are to blame for the appearance of different types of warts, from 1 to 4-cause plantar warts, 49, 28, 3 and 10 - flat, HPV 27 - ordinary.
Oncogenic types of HPV require special attention, such as 52, 39, 33, 31, 30, 70, 40, 51, 55, 61-64, they can provoke the appearance of a precancerous condition and are considered the most dangerous. When localized in the penis, vagina, cervix - HPV types 16, 11, 13, 31, 33, 35 - form genital warts and papillomas.
The following papyri, which can be localized to the external genitalia and mucosa, are known to be particularly dangerous - these are types 70, 66, 56, 33, 31, 18, 16. Many people who develop warts ask the question, is itpossible to remove warts, is it dangerous or not?
In any case, a person should consult a dermatologist to determine the nature of the neoplasm, its type. In addition to eliminating aesthetic concern, an increased risk of growth damage, it is necessary to treat or remove neoplasms because the presence of foci of a viral infection provokes its spread to other areas of the skin, and there is also a risk of degenerative neoplasmin a malignancy. Be sure to consult a dermatologist to discover the type of wart, papilloma or condyloma and determine the best way to get rid of it.
Do not postpone your visit if:
- The neoplasm is bleeding or rupture has occurred;
- If the wart becomes painful, itching, burning occurs
- It changes color, becomes heterogeneous in color, changes shape and size
- The number of warts is increasing, numerous increases of girls appear
- If the wart is located in a conspicuous place, it is often traumatized and causes psychological distress.
Removing a wart at home alone may not be safe. All doctors are unanimous in the opinion that removing a wart at home is dangerous and is not advised for the following reasons:
- Self-destruction of the buildup most often leads to the formation of a scar, scar, or burn to the nearest skin tissue;
- With various home methods, it is possible to introduce an infection into the wound and develop an inflammatory process or spread the virus to other areas of the skin;
Of course, the probability of transforming a real wart into a malignant neoplasm is not high, but there is still such a risk, and after self-removal of any neoplasm, without diagnosis and hysteroscopy of the removed material, there may be negative consequences.
How are warts diagnosed?
In the case of warts, to make a diagnosis, the dermatologist usually just has to look at them. In some rare cases, a biopsy may be needed to confirm the diagnosis. To do this, the doctor will remove the warts and send the sample to the lab, where it will be examined under a microscope. Do not worry - this is a quick and safe procedure.
How to treat warts
In children, warts usually go away without any treatment.
In adults, warts in most cases are also completely harmless, but unlike children, they sometimes do not go away on their own.
Consultation with a dermatologist is necessary if:
- warts change their shape, color, size;
- warts hurt you;
- the number of warts increases.
There are many different methods for removing warts. The choice of this or that method depends on the age of the patient, the health condition, as well as the type of warts.
Warts - body augmentation
Papillomas (warts) are often confused with moles. Warts, like moles, can be removed in the same way. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, traditional surgery still leaves a mark on the skin.
Surgical removal of warts is usually not recommended because the warts often grow back.
With cryodestruction and laser removal, it is not always possible to accurately control the depth of effect on the tissue. Electrocoagulation allows you to control the depth of exposure, but the risk of injury remains. Therefore, sometimes a combination of several methods is used. Other treatments for warts include salicylic acid, adhesive tape and chemical treatments.
Basic methods for removing warts
As practice shows, many patients try to remove them using popular methods. However, it is always worthwhile to understand that folk methods in themselves are not very effective, and in some cases they can even prove dangerous. The correct process is possible only if the specialist fights not only with the skin manifestations of the virus, but also with its very base. There are several methods to get rid of these neoplasms:
- Radio waves. . . A relatively new method, but already well proven. With the help of a special apparatus, a radio wave with a certain frequency is exposed to the formation of the skin. The advantage of the method is that it allows you to remove the wart itself and its root.
- Electrocoagulation.This term conceals cauterization of the neoplasm using a special electrode. Thanks to local anesthesia, under which all procedures are performed, you can always be sure that you will not experience any negative sensations.
- A liquid nitrogen.Another well-known method. Nitrogen freezes the warts and its root, due to which a really fast and high quality removal is performed.
To remove warts, dermatologists can use:
- Cryotherapy(liquid nitrogen) is the most common method of removing vulgar warts in adults and older children and is not very painful. But usually the procedure has to be repeated. And the use of this method in people with dark skin can lead to the formation of dark spots on the skin.
- Electrosurgery and curettage. . . Electrosurgery (electric moxibustion) is an effective way to remove vulgar, filiform and plantar warts. Curettage is a method that involves wiping the warts with a sharp knife or a special instrument (curette). After scratching, electrocoagulation is performed and a bandage is placed on the wound.
Often these two procedures are used together. A dermatologist can remove warts by means of curettage before or after cauterization.
The doctor may also remove the surgical cap.
In cases where the above methods have not given positive results, the dermatologist can use one of the following methods:
- Laser treatment performed under local anesthesia;
- Cauterizing chemicals are usually prescribed to treat flat warts. Such skin is performed daily at home, for this they use preparations of salicylic acid and glycolic acid;
- Immunotherapy in the treatment of warts is a way to activate the body's defenses. Prescribed in cases where other types of therapy have not yielded positive results.
One of the types of immunotherapy is the application of a special substance to the wart. An allergic reaction occurs around the treated warts, which can help the body deal with them. Another type of immunotherapy is the injection of interferon inside the warts. Injections can boost immunity and make the body fight the virus.
Unfortunately, there is no way that allows you to get rid of warts once and for all with a 100% guarantee. They may reappear in the old place and reappear in a new place. Sometimes it seems that new warts appear faster than old ones. This happens if the virus infects the cells next to the warts before it is removed. This is why new warts usually appear near the place where it was old.
Self-medication and removal
There are a number of ways in which removing warts with folk remedies is quite successful, but this does not mean at all that you should forget about traditional medicine and constantly self-medicate.
Any recipe for wart removal, any video for wart removal, reviews of people and cosmetologists - this is just an introductory material that shows that removing warts in children and adults is possible without consequences.
But you should never experiment and make hasty conclusions - any neoplasm in the human body should be shown to a doctor, studied by him using laboratory tests, and only then cured or removed. But despite this, we decided to introduce you to some methods used to remove warts at home. We hope that this material, as we advised you, remains for you only informative.
Since the cost of removing warts in some clinics and beauty salons scares people a little, they try to treat the neoplasms on their own, it so happens.
Bulb treatment
A raw, medium-sized onion is soaked in vinegar for about two hours, cut and tied to the wart overnight. The procedure is performed until the wart disappears.
Wood ash treatment
Wood ash, preferably fresh, should be diluted with clean water until a homogeneous mortar is formed, which should be applied to the warts daily until they disappear.
Removal of warts with celandine
The wart is smeared with fresh celandine juice in the morning and in the evening. Due to the alkaloids contained in it, warts are treated quickly. They dry up and leave. The procedure should be repeated until the wart disappears completely. Be careful when using celandine juice, it should not get into healthy skin, as it is quite caustic.
Removal of warts and papillomas by cauterization
The method is painful, but, according to many people, it is quite effective. It is necessary to take a dry stick of a branch of each tree and hold it over an open fire. When it starts to burn, you need to cauterize the neoplasm with heat. This should be done several times, after 5-7 days the wart will disappear.
As you can see, in addition to the fact that you can buy wart removal medication at the pharmacy, you can still grow them in your summer cottage or find them in your own home. It's up to you to experiment or not, think, but we have made our choice and have already recommended it to you several times.
After removal of the papilloma
Remember that simply removing the warts does not eliminate the virus from the body. After a long or not very long time, papillomas may reappear. This is due to the presence of viral particles. To get rid of the virus for a long time, prevention must be carried out. How to do it?
Vitamin therapy. Perform a course lasting two to three months, focusing on the high concentration of zinc in the complexes of vitamins and minerals taken. Zinc inhibits the multiplication of viral particles. Thus, the human papilloma virus dies once and for all.
- Good personal hygiene. Good skin care.
- Avoid stress, overwork, normalize daily routine. Sleep should last at least eight hours a day.
- Eat well.
- Try not to catch a cold too much, avoid colds after removing the warts in the first three months, and better yet - six months.
- Check for intestinal dysbiosis. If possible, take a course of probiotic treatment.
- See an infectious disease specialist or immunologist. Your doctor will prescribe antiviral drugs that stimulate your immune system.
When thinking about removing a wart, first visit a competent specialist.
Papillomas with malignant suspicions are best removed in an appointment with an oncologist.
Such formations are best subjected to a controlled histological examination.
prevention
To prevent the appearance of warts, dermatologists recommend the following:
- do not damage the warts;
- wear sandals or other special shoes when visiting the pool, as well as in public showers and locker rooms;
- do not touch other people's warts;
- Wipe dry feet with warts, moisture tends to spread the warts.