Papillomas on the body are benign formations that develop when a person is infected with HPV. The growths on any part of the body can be either single or multiple.
The rapid growth and appearance of a large number of papillomas is considered a weighty argument for choosing a method for removing these formations and for choosing an effective antiviral treatment.
Why do papillomas appear on the body?
The human papilloma virus is considered to be the reason for the formation of papillomas on the body, which can penetrate into the epithelial layer of the skin through the smallest cuts, abrasions, wounds.
You can become infected with a microorganism through close bodily contact with a person with HPV or with a carrier of this infection.
For a long time, the virus retains its viability in a humid and warm environment, and therefore the possibility of infection exists when visiting public baths, saunas, health centers.
Often, the transmission of the pathogen by papillomas occurs through the use of individual hygiene items by several people - towels, nail scissors, washcloths.
When a virus is infected through sexual contact, papillomas, or rather genital warts, grow more often on the genitals and areas of the body next to them, less often they are found in other areas.
After infection with HPV, it may not manifest itself for a long time, and in some patients it is destroyed by the immune system within two years. The activation of the virus and, accordingly, the appearance of papillomas on the body occurs if the human body is influenced by factors provoking the disease.
These factors include:
- Decreased functioning of protective forces.
- The negative impact of depressive conditions, stress.
- Long-term smoking and alcohol abuse.
- Long-term antibiotic treatment and oral contraceptives.
- Disorders in the work of the digestive system.
- Frequently recurring acute respiratory infections, flu.
There is a high likelihood of papillomas on the body in women. Men are more often carriers of this virus, but their external manifestations are much less worried about them than the fair sex.
In obese people and with excessive sweating, the risk of papillomas is increased, and they form mainly in the skin folds. Papillomas can appear in any age range, and their development in children is not excluded.
Localization and symptoms
You can notice the formation of unusual growths on any part of the body, including the scalp, soles, natural folds.
Skin tumors can be of different sizes, colors, shapes. How papilloma will look on the body depends on what strain of the virus the person is infected with.
HPV, which leads to the growth of papillomas on the skin, refers to non-oncogenic or low-oncogenic types of microorganisms and therefore in most cases such formations are benign.
There are several types of papillomas that can affect any part of the body, these are:
- Vulgar or protozoan papillomaslook like small areas of flesh-colored or slightly darkish seals. There are no subjective sensations in the process of their growth, but they begin to grow in most people from their hands and fingers.
- Threaded.First, a small speck appears on the body, which eventually stretches in length. At the end of this formation there is a growth in the form of a droplet, and it itself is attached to the skin through a thin leg.
- Plantargrowths are characterized by discomfort and soreness when walking. Plantar papillomas are often confused with common calluses.
- Flatpapillomas rise slightly above the skin, prone to merging with each other. In color, they practically do not differ from other skin on the body.
In some cases, before the appearance of papillomatous growths on the body, people may notice the appearance of itching and a slight burning sensation at the site of growth of epithelial cells altered by the virus.
The formation of more than a hundred viral tumors on the body is usually referred to as papillomatosis. When warts and papillomas are injured, bleeding occurs, and in the absence of proper hygiene and when wearing not too clean linen, secondary infection with inflammation and other unpleasant symptoms is possible.
Self-infection is also possible, which occurs when papillomas are scratched and during further spread of the virus from the original focus to other areas of the skin.
Papillomas on the body are more of an aesthetic problem. Many people, noticing growths in their open areas of the body, begin to experience self-doubt, and they develop depressive states. Growing papillomas have their own characteristics, depending on the place of their formation.
Armpit growths
In the armpits, papillomas are formed, which are no different from other viral growths, but have their own characteristics of the course. Under the armpits, you can often see small nodules of a flesh-colored, yellowish or brown hue. These nodules are hanging and attached to the skin by means of a leg.
At first, one tumor may appear, then several, they may merge with each other, and this outgrowth resembles a cauliflower.
Armpit papillomas are prone to inflammation. The culprit for this is the sweat secreted by this zone, it irritates the growth, which leads to itching, scratching and infection.
Papillomatous growths under the armpits can be touched when shaving or wearing too tight clothing. Injury causes bleeding, contributes to the spread of the virus to nearby areas of the body.
Eyelids
Papillomas growing over the centuries are clearly visible to others, and therefore cause a lot of moral suffering to their owners, especially young girls. But this problem is not only aesthetic. Growing education often interferes with blinking, creates an obstacle when looking at objects, and this leads to a deterioration in visual function.
Eyelid papillomas differ in appearance. It can be both flat and convex growths, which in most cases have a rough surface. Filamentous papillomas growing on the upper eyelid obstruct the field of view and make it difficult for women to apply makeup. It is impossible to remove formations in the eye area on your own - an incorrectly selected agent causes burns to the conjunctiva and cornea.
Lip
Lip papillomas are most often flat or pendulous formations. Initially, a slight swelling develops, matching in color with the main tone of the lips. Gradually, such a formation may become lighter or darker. With prolonged presence of the papilloma on the lips, it becomes keratinized and its outer surface becomes whitish.
Depending on the location of the papillomas on the lips, accompanying changes appear, these can be cracks around the tumor, dryness. Some warts interfere with talking or eating, and therefore they are injured and there is inflammation of the border of the lips - cheilitis.
Nose
When localized on the face, warts often choose the nose as their place of growth. Papillomas can form both outside on the wings of the nose, septum, and inside. And if an external wart rather spoils the appearance, then internal tumors in some cases disrupt the process of normal breathing and can become inflamed in case of colds.
Transitional cell and inverted viral papillomas have the ability to invade deeply located tissues, including the bony structures of the nose. In this case, bone destruction occurs and there is a risk of papillomas degeneration into malignant formations.
In the groin
In the groin area, there are usually two types of papillomas, these are genital warts and filamentous tumors - acrochords.
In women, viral formations are localized inside the vagina, on the cervix, often grow on the labia and the area adjacent to the groin. In men, papillomas in the groin can be seen on the penis; upon examination, they are detected in the urethra itself, in the anus.
Several filamentous formations can quickly turn into a whole network of growths, which will resemble a fringe in appearance. When the papillomas are located inside the vagina, there is a risk of infection, injury and inflammation, which can be understood by the appearance of burning sensation, discharge, and an unpleasant odor.
There is a spontaneous disappearance of papillomas in every fifth person, but there is also a high risk of genital warts degenerating into malignant tumors. In this regard, when growths appear in the groin, it is always necessary to undergo a complete diagnosis, which allows to identify the oncogenicity of the virus.
Hands and feet
Papillomas growing on the skin of the upper and lower extremities have a different structure, color, growth rate and spread. More warts appear on the fingers, near the nails. Ordinary and flat papillomas often develop on the hands. The warts are dense to the touch, the surface is slightly rough, if the initial formation is damaged, there is a risk of new papillomas appearing nearby.
Papillomas in children appear more often, which is associated with the peculiarities of the skin and with the high susceptibility of the child's body to infections. In babies, flat warts are often localized on the knees, as babies crawl a lot. Plantar papillomas grow on the feet, characterized by a burning sensation and some pain when walking.
It is possible to distinguish papillomas from calluses by the absence of a skin pattern on viral growths. Young, healthy people with well-functioning immune systems self-heal within three to four months.
Head
Papillomatous elements located on the scalp look like loose plaques.
The color of such formations is from flesh to dark brown.
At the beginning of its growth, such a plaque is invisible, but with an increase in its size, there is a risk of injury when combing the hair.
Papillomas on the head are more typical for older people, but such formations rarely degenerate into cancerous ones.
Virus Danger
Viral growths on the body are caused by those HPV strains that have low oncogenic activity. This means that the risk of their degeneration into cancers is minimal. But still, there is a likelihood of developing atypical cells and this predisposes to injury to papillomas, their infection, rapid growth and an inflammatory reaction.
Noticing inflammation, secretion of various secretions, ichor, painful sensations, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible for advice.
Genital warts in the groin and genitals are rated highly in terms of the degree of danger. Such growths are mainly caused by the activation of the oncogenic type virus and therefore require increased attention.
During the diagnosis, the strain of the causative agent of the disease is identified and on the basis of the entire examination, the method of removal and the scheme of antiviral therapy are selected.
Diagnostics
When a patient turns to a dermatologist, a preliminary diagnosis is made already during an external examination. In the presence of growths on the genitals, it is necessary to determine the virus strain, which is achieved by PCR diagnostics.
Women also undergo colposcopy, cytology tests are taken and, if necessary, a biopsy of the material taken from the site of the altered tissues is prescribed.
If an oncogenic type of virus is detected, an additional examination should be carried out twice a year.
How to treat papillomas on the body and face?
People do not always decide to remove papillomas located on the body. For some, they do not interfere at all, for others they are located in closed areas of the body.
But doctors recommend that you definitely start treating papillomatous elements if they:
- They are located on frequently injured parts of the body - under the arms, on the neck, eyelids, nose, lip, head, leg, arm and groin. In men, there is a high probability of scratching papillomas on the face when shaving.
- Have a high growth rate and a tendency to the appearance of daughter growths.
- Found on the genitals.
- Change their color, external surface, become painful.
The doctor often offers a comprehensive treatment for viral formations. It includes removing all growths and taking antiviral and immunomodulatory medications.
It is necessary to understand that it will not be possible to completely remove the virus from the skin, you can only transfer it to an inactive state, which will be maintained throughout life by high immunity. In addition to the main treatment, alternative therapy methods are used.
Modern removal methods
Modern medicine offers dozens of methods for removing papillomatous growths on the human body.
This is laser and radio wave exposure, destruction with liquid nitrogen and thermocoagulation. Chemical methods are also used, that is, the application of various solutions and ointments that destroy it to the wart.
When papillomas are located on the upper and lower eyelids, they are removed with liquid nitrogen (cryodestruction) or with a laser. Thin skin on the face and eyelids has a high tendency to scar formation, therefore, papillomas located in these places should be removed only by professional doctors.
It is recommended to destroy flat formations on the lips with a laser, and threadlike ones by electrocoagulation.
How to get rid of HPV with medication
You can get rid of papillomas on the body with the help of drugs used externally. Their application destroys the virus and promotes the gradual destruction of the growth, after several procedures the papilloma disappears.
In the presence of a large number of papillomas on the body and genitals, it is imperative to undergo a course of drug therapy. It consists of taking systemic antiviral agents and drugs, the mechanism of action of which is aimed at increasing the functioning of the immune system.
The dosage of drugs and the total time of their administration is selected on an individual basis.
Folk remedies
Several traditional medicine methods have also been used successfully to remove small and fresh papillomas on the surface of the body. Homemade recipes will only help if you use them for a long time, regularly and at the same time increase your defenses.
Folk remedies for papillomas on the body:
- It is recommended to lubricate warts up to several times a day with the juice of celandine, fresh potatoes, sour apple, raw egg white.
- Chop two garlic cloves and mix with a spoonful of baby cream. The resulting ointment is applied in the form of a compress to the build-up, covered with a film and fixed for several hours.
- A crushed sheet of celandine should be applied to the papilloma for several hours.
- It is necessary to put the blooming dandelion heads tightly in a glass jar and fill them with triple cologne. Preparation of the infusion takes two weeks in a cool place, after that it is filtered and used to lubricate the necessary areas on the body up to 5 times a day. The infusion is stored in the refrigerator.
When treating papillomas at home, it is imperative to strengthen your immunity, lead a healthy lifestyle, and give up long-term bad habits. Helps reduce viral activity by fasting.
Prevention
The human papillomavirus, unfortunately, can be infected even if you lead a decent life. Reduces the risk of infection by strong immunity, eating natural and healthy foods.
You must always keep your body clean, heal even small scratches on the skin in time. It is imperative to use only your own towel, scissors, tweezers. When visiting nail salons and beauty salons, choose only proven and reliable ones.
It is advisable to practice sex with only one partner. After sex, it is imperative to carry out genital hygiene. Adolescents should be fully aware of what early sexual intercourse leads to and not using barrier contraceptives.