A wart on the finger is a benign neoplasm that is viral in nature. The causative agent that causes 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 no treatment is required 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, becauseThe human papillomavirus that causes them to develop is highly contagious and spares neither adults nor children. The causative agent, penetrating the skin, enters 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. 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, no doubt, affects the nature of external manifestations. Thus, the increase in the activity of the virus causes the appearance of the same warts on the fingers, feet, knees and other areas of the skin.
The surest way to get infected is by direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often sexually transmitted, so unprotected intercourse or sex is the most likely reason for the increased incidence. However, most often the development of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by the contact of the upper extremities with infected surfaces, whether it is the hands of a carrier of the virus or objects that he has just used - pen, cutlery, towel, book, etc. All public places are considered places of increased risk, but especially those where there is an increased level of humidity.
Even a baby from a mother can be infected. This happens during childbirth.
With the localization of warts on the fingers, there is an increased risk of autoinfection, i. e. the rapid spread of the infection to the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the sensitivity of the growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large amount of the pathogen on the surface, and the fact that the fingers come into contact with all other skin sheaths and can transfer the virus to them.
The reality is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is rather ambiguous and includes many causative factors. First of all, the development of a viral infection is facilitated by the reduction of the immune status of an infected person, when the body cannot resist the activity of the virus, maintain its population at the same level and prevent the uncontrolled growth of epithelial cellsin the form of a wart on the finger or other parts of the body. And here everything is ambiguous, because the decrease in immunity has a number of reasons. This 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. A single feature such as hyperhidrosis or increased sweating also stimulates the growth 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 worn skin, nail biting and burrs can all be causes of finger warts.
What do finger warts look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin growths, such as callus, 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 at risk of infection.
In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to study in detail what warts on the finger look like, what types they are, and go to the hospital in time to make an accurate diagnosis and determine an effective treatment.
Benign epithelial changes caused by HPV have a capillary network that nourishes their cells. Because of this, when the integrity of the growth is destroyed, very often a small amount of bleeding occurs, which increases the risk of spreading infection and contamination of the wound. This is partly why trying to cut out these hardened tissues is highly discouraged.
Warts appear initially in a single amount - 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 with each other, so an extensive skin lesion is formed.
It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates a strong activity of the pathogen and causes an urgent trip 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 redden, if there is a visible change in its structure and swelling, swelling appears, or there is an arbitrary removal of pathological fluid from 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 just places where thrombosis of small blood vessels has occurred.
The most common types of finger warts are:
- Vulgar warts. The second name is common. Quite often they appear not only on the inside of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes affecting the perigonal space, where the skin is subject to tension and burrs. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but brownish-yellow or grayish ones are also found. The shape is nodular or domed. 2-7 mm in diameter. The structure of the accumulation is quite dense and slightly rough. It's more dry than healthy skin. It can crack and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts. Their surface protrudes slightly above the skin. The shape is rounded, although as they spread and merge, there are processes with an uneven outline. The color can be both brown and light yellow. The diameter of a flat wart on the finger is from 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 indentation in the center, but their root grows deeper into the dermis layers. This, of course, causes significant daily discomfort, which, more often than other reasons, makes a person go to the doctor. The shape of deep formations is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as those of superficial warts.
- Subcutaneous warts. The name was not chosen at random. Such growths appear just below the free edge of the nail plate. At first, 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 the absence of proper hygienic treatment, they develop, penetrating the tissues under the nail, causing the rejection of the plaque from the nail bed. In this case, it is no longer possible to speak only of an aesthetic defect. Appears painful and purulent, gradually the formation reaches the uterus and irreversibly destroys it.
Many believe that the treatment of such a condition 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 incorrect. 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 many healthy people, in whom the disease can progress to a more severe form. Secondly, many children, teenagers and adults are simply 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 the pain, susceptibility to injury and risk of the oncological procedure.
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 the doctor's instructions and in combination with drug therapy, because the simple removal of growths by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee the absence of recurrence of the disease innear future.
Removal of warts on the fingers in the clinic
At the appointment with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is carried out, the results of which, in addition to the main health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Often, tests may be required for co-morbidities, such as HIV, which can also cause finger warts and worsen the course of the disease.
As a result, multilateral therapy is prescribed. It involves excision of growths with one of the modern instrumental methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular method. It is offered by almost all clinics. Special equipment allows you to almost painlessly burn an epithelial tumor, preventing bleeding. The healing time of crusts is minimal. Tissues after such exposure are quickly restored, so there are practically no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
- radio wave removal. The method is based on the power of radio waves, which simply cut the growths without bleeding. With the help of a radio knife, you can remove warts on the fingers, practically without touching healthy tissue. The procedure is quite expensive, but it is recognized as highly effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The active force is a current of various frequencies. It cauterizes the wart cells on the finger in seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgical way.It cannot be done without local anesthesia, becauseremoval is done with a scalpel. It is appointed 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 implants in the skin and under the nail plate. During the procedure, healthy tissues are often injured. After healing, scars often remain. The price of surgery is calculated separately in each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. A widely used method. The body of the finger wart is removed by exposure to liquid nitrogen at extremely low temperatures. This option is characterized by good performance, painless, no need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - approximately 7-10 days - all the doctor's recommendations should be followed so that the treated areas heal quickly and without problems.
- Chemical method. The removal of a wart on the finger is carried out using aggressive chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the application to a qualified specialist to prevent burns of healthy tissues. The impact should be very precise and only on the body of the accumulation. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the procedure depends on the selected drug and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method provides a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and absence of recurrence. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its localization, but also on the qualifications 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 treatment of the wart removal sites on the fingers, injury prevention, hypothermia of the palms, taking prescribed medications, eliminating bad habits andnormalization of nutrition. Only then you will not have to decide again how to get rid of a wart on your finger.
Treatment of warts on the fingers with drugs
Appropriate medical treatment of finger warts involves taking medications whose action is aimed at suppressing a viral infection, strengthening the immune status, and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins, and other beneficial compounds.
Types of medical products intended to treat finger warts:
- Oral preparations. This category includes means of complex effects - antiviral and immunomodulatory. Currently, there are no drugs that can completely kill the human papilloma virus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to simulate natural immunity in order to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load, stopping the growthof warts on fingers and other parts.
- 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, normalizing all metabolic processes.
- External cauterizing agents. They can contain both cauterizing acids and other ingredients that contribute to the destruction of growths. Home use is associated with the risk of burns, so the procedure must be carried out with great care. Some drugs work by the principle of cryodestruction, others by the principle of chemical destruction.
- Complexes of vitamins and minerals. They are prescribed to prevent nutrient deficiency in the body, restore metabolism and the performance of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for warts on the finger
The effectiveness of traditional medicine is not subject to controversy. Some argue that it is ineffective and that people are simply wasting valuable time by refusing to go to the doctor, others believe that it is the only correct way to safely treat most diseases.
Looking for the right answer to the question of how to reduce a wart on the finger, it is best to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him the options for complex treatment, including removal with instruments, 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 pulp to the warts and fix 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 rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tincture of Tui.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Insist 14 days. Lubricate the areas affected by finger warts several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Tincture of conifers. Take young conifer branches and juniper berries in equal quantities. Mix and grind all the raw materials. Place 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass container and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave for about 3 weeks. Drain and use to lubricate growths. It is enough to apply once a day.
- Lemon peel infusion. Remove the peel from 1-2 lemons and chop finely, you can use a knife, you can use a meat grinder. Place the mass in a glass jar and fill with table vinegar to a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid tightly. Leave to insist for a week, do not forget to shake every day. Then remove the cake and treat the warts on the fingers with the resulting infusion, trying not to touch the healthy skin.
- Horse chestnut decoction. To prepare, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add chestnut leaves (120 g) 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 bedtime.
- 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. Systematic intake stops the growth of warts on the finger. To prepare, mix and then grind 20 grams of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory root and dandelion, birch leaves, as well as 30 grams of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For decoction, take 20 grams of the mixture, put them in an enamel pan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Filter and consume inside before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and caused the development of epithelial tumors, warts that have 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 appropriate methods for the 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.