Warts on the fingers are benign neoplasms of a viral nature. The causative agent provoking the appearance of such growths is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe formations, because. rarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not needed at all. This article provides detailed information on the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.
Causes of warts on the fingers
Warts are not uncommon, because. The human papillomavirus that causes it to grow is highly contagious and does not affect adults or children. The causative agent, getting on the skin, enters the tissues through the slightest damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different viral load levels were observed at different times, ie. the population of microorganisms increases or decreases. For a long time, the disease can be asymptomatic. The incubation period can vary significantly in each case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this, without a doubt, affects the nature of external manifestations. So, increased activity of the virus leads to the appearance of these same warts on the fingers, feet, knees and other areas of the skin.
The surest way to get infected is direct contact with someone who is already infected. HPV is often transmitted sexually, so unprotected or casual sex is the most likely cause of the increased incidence. However, most often wart growths on the fingers are caused precisely by the contact of the upper limb with an infected surface, be it the hand carrying the virus or an object he has recently used - a pen, cutlery, a towel, a book, etc. All public places are considered places of increased danger, but especially those with high levels of humidity.
Even babies from mothers can be infected. This happens during childbirth.
With the localization of warts on the fingers, there is an increased risk of self-infection, i. e. rapid spread of infection to the face and other parts of the body. The reasons for this are the susceptibility of the growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large number of pathogens to the surface, and the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other skin layers and can transfer viruses to them.
In fact, the answer to the question why warts appear on the fingers is rather ambiguous and involves many triggering factors. First of all, the development of 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, maintains its population at the same level and prevents the uncontrolled growth of the virus. Epithelial cells in the form of warts on fingers or other body parts. Everything is ambiguous here, because decreased immunity also has a number of reasons. This is an unbalanced diet, and drug abuse, and bad habits, and emotional and physical overload.
What else causes warts on the fingers? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes mellitus, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. , Causes the activation of the pathogen. Individual features such as hyperhidrosis or increased sweating also stimulate the development of pathogenic microflora.
Lack of daily care and lack of personal hygiene also allows HPV to infect more areas of the skin. Unwashed hands, untreated wounds, dehydrated and weathered skin, nail biting and grinding can all be causes 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 manifestations of the disease, exposing themselves to the risk of spreading infection, etc. to the risk of infection.
In order not to make such a mistake, it is better to study in detail what a wart on a finger looks like, its types and go to the hospital in time to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe an effective treatment. regimen.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have capillary networks that nourish their cells. Therefore, when the integrity of the growth is broken, light bleeding very often occurs, which increases the risk of spreading infection and infection in the wound. This is partly why it is highly discouraged from trying to cut through this hardened tissue.
Warts first appear in one batch - just one or two. But due to problems with the functioning of the immune system, more and more formations can appear. Sometimes they even coalesce, resulting in extensive skin lesions.
It should be noted that rapidly growing foci indicate strong pathogenic activity and cause an emergency trip to the doctor. You also need to go to the hospital to find out how to treat warts on the fingers if the neoplasm begins to darken or redden, if there are visible changes in its structure, and swelling, pus appears, or there is an arbitrary removal of pathological fluid from the body of the growth.
The color of warts can be yellowish, matching the skin, gray-brown. In some cases, black dots are visible on the surface - these are just places where thrombosis of small vessels has occurred.
The most common types of warts on the fingers are as follows:
- vulgar warts. The second name is normal. They appear quite often not only on the inside of the palms, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes affecting the periungual space, where the skin is subjected to tension and grinding. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but some are brown-yellow or grayish in color. The shape is nodular or dome. With a diameter of 2-7 mm. The structure of the building is quite dense and somewhat rough. It is drier than healthy skin. Can crack and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts. Its surface protrudes only slightly above the skin. The shape is rounded, although when it spreads and merges, some grow with uneven contours. The color can be brown and pale yellow. The diameter of one 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 is often painful due to its structure. Beyond the skin, the growths look flat with a slight indentation in the middle, but the roots grow deeper into the dermis. This, of course, provokes considerable everyday discomfort, which, more often than any other reason, makes a person go to the doctor. The formations are irregular in shape, color and size are usually the same as superficial warts.
- subungual warts. The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths occur just in the area below the free edge of the nail plate. Initially, warts on the fingers are flat and have a smooth surface, then they become rough and keratinized. With low viral activity, they practically do not cause symptoms, but with a significant deterioration in well-being and in the absence of proper hygienic care, they grow, penetrate the tissue under the nail, provoking rejection of the plate from the nail bed. . In this case, it is no longer possible to talk only about aesthetic defects. Pain and pus appeared, gradually the formation reached the matrix and destroyed it irrevocably.
Many believe that treatment of such a disease is not mandatory if you are trying to strengthen the immune system so that the body can cope with it 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 one wart can infect several healthy people, whose disease can progress to a more serious form. Secondly, many children, adolescents and adults are very embarrassed by the presence of such skin formations, which, of course, causes a desire to find effective ways to remove warts on their fingers. What can we say about pain, susceptibility to injury and the danger of the oncological process.
How to treat warts on fingers
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to get rid of warts on fingers. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and should be used only as prescribed by a doctor and in combination with drug therapy, since simply removing the growth by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee non-recurrence. disease in the near future.
Wart removal on finger in clinic
At an appointment with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is made, the results of which, in addition to the main indicators of health, determine the type of virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Often, testing for co-morbidities, such as HIV, may be required, which can also cause finger warts and exacerbate the course of the disease.
As a result, multilateral care is prescribed. This includes excision of the growth by any of the modern instrumental methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular method. This is offered by almost all clinics. Special equipment allows you to almost painlessly cauterize epithelial tumors, preventing bleeding. Minimal crust healing time. Tissues after such exposure quickly recover, so there are practically no scars on the skin.
- radio wave disappearance. This method is based on the power of radio waves, which cut growths without bleeding. With the help of a radio knife, you can remove a wart on your finger, practically without touching healthy tissue. The procedure is quite expensive, but is recognized as very effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The acting force is a current of various frequencies. It burns wart cells on fingers in seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical method.It does not do without local anesthesia, because. removal is carried out with a scalpel. Appointed less frequently than other options. The main indications are large lesions, if necessary, take material for histological examination, as well as the presence of deep growths in the skin and under the nail plate. During the procedure, healthy tissue is often injured. After healing, scars often remain. The price of surgical intervention is calculated individually in each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. Widely used method. Body warts on the fingers are removed by exposure to liquid nitrogen at very low temperatures. This option is characterized by good performance, painless, no need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - it is necessary to follow all the doctor's recommendations so that the treated area heals quickly and without problems.
- chemical method. Removal of warts on the fingers is carried out using aggressive chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust its application to qualified specialists in order to prevent burns to healthy tissues. The impact has to be very precise and only on the body build. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the procedure depends on the selected drug and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method gives a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and no relapses. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its localization, but also on the qualifications of the medical personnel and the equipment and preparations used. During the recovery period, the patient himself plays an important role, who must follow all the doctor's instructions: daily treat the place for removing warts on the fingers, prevent injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take prescribed medications, get rid of bad habits and normalize the diet. Only then will you no longer have to decide how to get rid of warts on your fingers.
Treatment of warts on the fingers with drugs
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers involves the use of drugs whose action is aimed at suppressing viral infections, improving the immune status and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds.
Types of medical products intended for the treatment of finger warts:
- Oral preparation. This category includes means of complex action - antivirals and immunomodulators. 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, stopping the growth of warts on fingers and other places.
- external use. Some drugs are intended for antiseptic treatment, others accelerate tissue regeneration, still others have an antiviral and local immunostimulating effect, still others nourish skin cells, normalize all metabolic processes.
- External cauterizing agent. They may contain cauterizing acid and other components that contribute to the destruction of growths. Home use is associated with a risk of burns, so the procedure must be carried out with extreme caution. Some drugs work on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Complex of vitamins and minerals. They are prescribed to prevent nutritional deficiencies in the body, restore metabolism and performance of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for warts on the fingers
The effectiveness of traditional medicine does not subside disputes. Some argue that it is ineffective and that people only waste valuable time by refusing to go to a doctor, others consider it the only correct way to safely cure most ailments.
In search of the correct answer to the question of how to reduce warts on your fingers, it is better to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him options for complex therapy, including instrumental removal of growths, taking special HPV drugs and appropriate folk remedies.
Popular folk remedies for treating warts on the fingers:
- Plum compress. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, stir and immerse half of the pitted prunes in this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Discard the plums, grind the pulp. Apply the resulting gruel to the wart and fix it with a bandage or plaster for 2-8 hours.
- Thuja oil for warts. It is applied externally 4-5 times a day. Daily use of this drug ensures the rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tui tincture.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Insist 14 days. Lubricate the affected area on the finger several times for 3 minutes. This procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Coniferous tincture. Take equal amounts of young coniferous twigs and juniper berries. Mix and grind all the raw materials. Place 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass dish and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave it for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate growths. It is enough to apply 1 time per day.
- Lemon peel infusion. Remove the zest from 1-2 lemons and chop, you can use a knife, you can use a meat grinder. Put the mass in a glass jar and fill it with table vinegar in a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid tightly. Leave to infuse for a week, don't forget to shake it every day. Then take out the cake, and treat the warts on your 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 over 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 such a bath is 20 minutes. It is necessary to carry out 8 procedures in 2. 5 weeks, e. g. repeat every 3 days at bedtime.
- Herbal infusions. Such a tool affects the whole body in a complex way. But its most important property is the stimulation of immunity to fight viruses. Systematic reception stops the growth of warts on the fingers. For preparation, mix and grind 20 g of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory and dandelion roots, birch leaves, as well as 30 g of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For the decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, put it in an enamel saucepan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Strain and consume orally 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 appear on the fingers and toes, on the elbows, knees, feet and in other places require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as adequate choice of methods of eliminating 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.