A wart on a finger is a benign tumor that has a viral nature. The causative agent that causes the appearance of such growths is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe growths, because of that. rarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that treatment is not necessary at all. This article provides detailed information about the cause of the disease, external symptoms and modern treatment methods.
Causes of a wart on a finger
Warts are not uncommon, therefore. The human papillomavirus that causes their growth is highly contagious and does not protect either adults or children. The causative agent, which gets on the skin, enters the tissues with the least damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different levels of viral load are observed at different times, i. e. e. the population of the microorganism either increases or decreases. For a long time, the disease can be asymptomatic. The gestation period can vary greatly in each case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this undoubtedly affects the nature of external manifestations. So the increased activity of the virus causes the same warts to appear on the fingers, feet, 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 frequency. However, most often the growth of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by the contact of the upper limbs with an infected surface, whether it is the hands of a virus carrier or objects that he has recently used - a pen, a pair of knives, a towel, a book, etc. s. etc. . All public housing is considered an increased risk, but especially where humidity is increased.
Even a child from a mother can be infected. This happens during childbirth.
With the placement of warts on the fingers, there is an increased risk of self-infection, i. e. e. rapid spread of infection to the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the sensitivity of the growth to frequent injuries, which result in a large amount of the germ being released to the surface, and the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other skin surfaces and can transfer the virus to them.
The fact is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is rather vague and includes many provocative factors. First, the development of a viral infection is facilitated by a decrease in the immune status of an infected person, when the body becomes unable to resist the activity of the virus, keep its population at the same level and prevent the uncontrolled growth of epithelial cells in the form of warts on the finger or other body parts. Here, too, everything is unclear, because the reduction of immunity also has various reasons. This is an unbalanced diet and drug abuse, bad habits and mental and physical overload.
What else causes warts on fingers? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, skin diseases, etc. fl. , lead to activation of the pathogen. A unique 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, dry and weathered skin, nail biting and burrs can all be causes of finger warts.
What do fingertips look like?
Most people confuse warts with other skin growths such as epidermis, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum and often choose the wrong treatment options on their own or completely ignore the external symptoms of the disease and expose themselves to the risk of spreading infection, and others to the risk of infection.
In order not to make such a mistake, it is better to study in detail what warts on a finger look like, what types they are and go to the hospital in time 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. Because of this, when the integrity of the growth is damaged, minor bleeding occurs very often, which increases the risk of spreading infection and infection of the wound. This is partly why trying to cut away this hardened tissue is very unthinkable.
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 coalesce so that extensive skin damage occurs.
It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates a strong activity of the infection 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 tumor begins to darken or redden, if there is a visible change in its structure and swelling, a blood vessel appears or it is arbitrary. removal of diseased fluid from the growing part.
Warts in color 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 as follows:
- Rude warts. The second name is normal. They often appear not only on the inside of the palm, but also on the entire surface of the fingers, sometimes they affect the periungual 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. In diameter 2-7 mm. The structure of the structure is quite dense and slightly coarse. It is drier than healthy skin. May burst and cause pain.
- Superficial flat warts. Their surface protrudes slightly beyond the skin. The shape is rounded, although when they spread and merge, outgrowths with an uneven outline also appear. The color can be both brown and pale yellow. The diameter of one flat wart on a finger is from 3 to 4 mm. Their presence on the skin is usually not accompanied by pain.
- Deep flat warts. This type of skin formation often causes pain due to its structure. Outside the skin, the growths look flat with a slight indentation in the middle, but their root grows deeper into the skin layers. Of course, this causes considerable daily discomfort, which more often than other reasons causes a person to go to the doctor. The shape of the deep warts is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as the surface warts.
- Underweight warts. The name was not chosen by chance. Such growths occur precisely in the area under 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 a low activity of the virus, they give almost no symptoms, but with a significant weakening of health and lack of proper hygiene, they grow, get into the tissues under the nail, provoke rejection of the plate from the nail bed. . In this case, it is no longer possible to talk only about an aesthetic defect. Pain and agony appear, gradually the formation reaches the matrix and destroys it irrevocably.
Many people believe that treatment for such ailments is not mandatory if they try to strengthen the immune system so that the body can handle it on its own. However, this view is mostly wrong. After all, there are many reasons for treating warts on the fingers and other parts of the body. First of all, such tumors are quite contagious, and a person with even one wart can infect several healthy people, since the disease can proceed in a more serious form. Secondly, many children, teenagers and adults are simply very embarrassed by the presence of such skin pictures, which, of course, causes a desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on a finger. What can we say about pain, susceptibility to injury and the risk of an oncological process.
Ways to treat finger warts
Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on a finger. Each has advantages and disadvantages and should only be used as directed by a doctor and in combination with drug therapy, because simply removing a growth by any method does not reduce viral activity and does not guarantee that it will not recur. return of disease in the near future.
Removal of warts on fingers at the clinic
When making an appointment with a dermatologist, a detailed analysis is carried out, the results of which, in addition to the main indicators of health, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. It may often be necessary to test for co-morbidities such as HIV, which can also cause finger warts and increase the disease process.
Therefore, a multifaceted treatment is prescribed. It involves removal of the growth using one of the modern instrumentation methods, including:
- Laser removal. The most popular method. It is available at almost all health centers. Special equipment allows you to burn out epithelial tumors almost painlessly and prevent bleeding. The healing time of the crusts is minimal. The tissues after such exposure are quickly restored, so there are almost no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
- radio wave removal. The method is based on the intensity of radio waves that simply cut out the growth without bleeding. With the help of a radio knife, it is possible to remove warts on the fingers, almost without touching healthy tissue. The method is quite expensive, but it is recognized as very effective and safe.
- Electrocoagulation. The active force is a current with a different frequency. It cauterizes the wart cells on the finger in seconds. At the same time, the blood vessels are closed, which prevents bleeding.
- Surgery.It is not performed without local anesthesia, because. removal is done with a scalpel. Ordered less often than other options. The main indication is a large lesion, if material needs to be taken for biopsy, as well as deep ingrowths in the skin and under the nail plate. During the operation, healthy tissues are often injured. After healing, scars often remain. The price of surgery is calculated individually in each individual case.
- Cryotherapy. A widely used method. The body of a wart on a finger is eliminated by exposure to liquid nitrogen at an ultra-low temperature. This option is characterized by good results, painlessness, no need for local anesthesia. However, during the recovery period - about 7-10 days - all the doctor's recommendations should be followed so that the treated areas heal quickly and without problems.
- Chemical method. Removal of a wart on a finger is carried out using aggressive substances, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to leave the procedure to a qualified specialist to avoid burning healthy tissues. The blow must be very precise and only on the body of the structure. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the operation depends on the selected drugs and is calculated by the doctor individually.
No method provides a 100% guarantee of effectiveness and non-repeatability. The outcome depends not only on the type of wart, its location, but also on the skill of the medical staff 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 places to remove warts on the fingers, prevent injuries, hypothermia in the palms, take the prescribed medicine, eliminate bad habits and normalize the diet. Only then you will not have to decide again how to get rid of a wart on the finger.
Treatment of warts on fingers with medication
Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers involves taking drugs aimed at suppressing the viral infection, raising the immune status and restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds.
Types of treatments indicated for the treatment of finger warts:
- Oral preparation. This category includes means of complex effects - antiviral and immunosuppressive. At the moment, there are no drugs that can completely kill the human papillomavirus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to imitate the natural immunity to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load, stop the growth of warts on the fingers and other places.
- 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.
- Cleansing exterior material. They can contain both cauterizing acids and other factors that contribute to the destruction of growth. Use at home is associated with the risk of burns, so the operation should be carried out with great care. Some drugs work on the principle of cryogenic destruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
- Vitamin and mineral complexes. They are prescribed to prevent nutrient deficiencies in the body, restore metabolism and function of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.
Folk remedies for warts on the finger
The effectiveness of traditional medicine does not reduce controversy. 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 cure most diseases.
In search of the right answer to the question of how to reduce a wart on a finger, it is better to use the golden mean. Consult a doctor and discuss with him the options for complex treatment, including removal of growths, taking HPV-specific drugs and appropriate folk remedies.
Popular folk remedies for treating warts on fingers:
- Plum compresses. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, stir and dip half of the coarse plum into this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Remove the plum, mash the pulp. Apply the resulting slurry to the warts and secure 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 remedy ensures rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
- Tui tincture.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Require 14 days. Lubricate the areas affected by warts on your fingers several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
- Barrveig. Take young conifers and juniper fruits in equal amounts. Mix and grind all ingredients. Place 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass bowl and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate the growth. It is enough to use 1 time a day.
- Lemon peel infusion. Remove the peel from 1-2 lemons and chop it, you can use a knife, you can use 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. Let it 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 healthy skin.
- Horse chestnut extract. To prepare, 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, filter and pour the broth into a bowl. 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 perform 8 operations within 2. 5 weeks, i. e. e. repeat every 3 days before bedtime.
- Herbal infusions. Such a tool affects the whole body in a complex. But its most important feature 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 of juniper needles, leaves, chicory root and dandelion, birch leaves, as well as 30 g of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, put in an enamel pan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Filter and consume inside before a meal, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.
Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and the growth of epithelial tumors, warts that have formed on the fingers and toes, on the elbows, knees, feet and other places require special attention and proper treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as the selection of adequate methods for removing growths and treating HPV, will allow you to recover faster and forget about the unpleasant symptoms of a viral disease for a long time.