Warts can appear on everyone's body. In many cases, they disappear on their own, but sometimes it becomes necessary to remove them. Removing warts is, of course, best done in a health care setting. Self-disposal of such neoplasms may not give a result, or vice versa, lead to their injury. You will learn about where you can remove warts from the next article.
Who May Have Warts
Everyone can get warts, but the most likely to be infected with papillomavirus are in:
- children and adolescents;
- adults and children who have a habit of biting their nails or biting off barbs;
- persons with weakened immune systems.
In children, warts usually go away without treatment. A dermatologist should be consulted if the warts bother the child (for example, painful) or multiply very quickly.
Signs and symptoms
Depending on the appearance and location on the body, several types of warts are distinguished. The following are the signs (what the person sees) and the symptoms (what the person feels) that are common with some types of warts.
Vulgar (common) warts
If a child has a wart on his face, be sure to check his hands - most likely there you will also see warts. The virus usually spreads to the skin of the face when touched or when a child bites his nails.
Vulgar warts:
- are more common on the fingers, around the nails and on the back of the palms;
- more common in places where the skin is often damaged, for example, in places where there are burrs, or when the habit of biting nails;
- most often they look like a small nodule (compaction) with an uneven rough surface;
- may have black dots 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 more often on the soles of the feet;
- can grow, combine and form so-called clusters (mosaic warts);
- more often flat or growing inward (due to the pressure that is created when walking);
- are painful, especially with pressure;
- often cause the feeling of a pebble in the shoes;
- may have black dots on the surface.
Flat warts
- can appear anywhere, but, as a rule, more often occur in children on the face, in men - on the chin, in women - on the legs;
- Smaller and smoother than other types of warts
- as a rule, multiple and located in groups, usually appear in large numbers - from 20 to 100 at a time.
Filiform warts (acrochords)
- look like long threads or thin finger-like outgrowths;
- are more common on the face: around the mouth, eyes and nose;
- tend to grow rapidly.
Do i need to get rid of warts and why
For each type of papillomavirus in medicine, a numbering system is used. It is known that HPV types numbered 57, 26-29, 14-17, 12, 10, 7 1-5 - are guilty of the appearance of various types of warts, from 1 to 4 - cause plantar warts, 49, 28, 3 and 10 -flat, HPV 27 - ordinary.
Oncogenic HPV types require special attention, such as 52, 39, 33, 31, 30, 70, 40, 51, 55, 61-64, they can provoke the occurrence of a precancerous condition and are considered the most dangerous. When localized on the penis, in the vagina, on the cervix - HPV types 16, 11, 13, 31, 33, 35 - form genital warts and papillomas.
The following papillomaviruses, which can be localized on the external genital organs and mucous membranes, are recognized as especially dangerous - these are types 70, 66, 56, 33, 31, 18, 16. Many people who develop warts ask the question, is it possible 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 discomfort, an increased risk of injury to the growth, 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 the neoplasm degenerating into a malignant one. Be sure to consult a dermatologist to find out 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 tearing has occurred;
- If the wart becomes painful, itching, burning occurs
- Changes color, becomes heterogeneous in color, changes shape and size
- The number of warts is growing, multiple daughter growths appear
- If the wart is localized in a conspicuous place, it is often traumatized and causes psychological discomfort.
Removing a wart at home on your own may not be safe. All doctors are unanimous in the opinion that removing a wart at home is dangerous and not advisable for the following reasons:
- Self-disposal of the build-up most often leads to the formation of a scar, scar or burn of 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 the transformation of a true wart into a malignant neoplasm is not great, but still there is such a risk, and after the self-removal of any neoplasm, without diagnosis and hysteroscopy of the removed material, there may be adverse consequences.
How are warts diagnosed?
In the case of warts, in order to establish a diagnosis, the dermatologist usually only needs 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 wart and send the sample to the laboratory, where it is examined under a microscope. Don't 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 disappear on their own.
A dermatologist's consultation 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 state of health, as well as on the type of wart.
Wart - body gain
Often papillomas (warts) are confused with moles. Warts, like moles, can be removed in the same ways. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, traditional surgery leaves a mark on the skin anyway.
Surgical removal of the 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 the effect on the tissue. Electrocoagulation allows you to control the depth of exposure, but the risk of scarring remains. Therefore, sometimes a combination of several methods is used. Other treatments for warts include topical salicylic acid, duct tape, and chemical treatments.
Basic methods for removing warts
As practice shows, many patients try to get rid of them using folk methods. However, it is always worthwhile to understand that folk methods by themselves are not very effective, and in some cases they may even turn out to be dangerous. The correct process is only possible if the specialist fights not only with the skin manifestations of the virus, but also with its very basis. There are several methods for getting rid of these neoplasms:
- Radio waves. . . A relatively new, but already well-proven method. With the help of a special apparatus, a radio wave of a certain frequency is exposed to the skin formation. The advantage of the method is that it allows you to remove both the wart itself and its root.
- Electrocoagulation.This term hides the cauterization of the neoplasm using a special electrode. Thanks to local anesthesia, under which all procedures are carried out, you can always be sure that you will not experience any negative sensations.
- A liquid nitrogen.Another well-known method. Nitrogen freezes the wart and its root, due to which a really prompt and high-quality removal is carried out.
To remove warts, dermatologists can use:
- Cryotherapy(liquid nitrogen) is the most common method for removing vulgar warts in adults and older children, and it is not overly painful. But usually the procedure needs to be repeated. And the use of this method in dark-skinned people can lead to the formation of dark spots on the skin.
- Electrosurgery and curettage. . . Electrosurgery (electrical moxibustion) is an effective way to remove vulgar, filiform and plantar warts. Curettage is a method that involves scraping the wart with a sharp knife or a special instrument (curette). After scraping, electrocoagulation is performed, and a bandage is placed on the wound.
Often these two procedures are used together. A dermatologist can remove warts by curettage before or after cauterization.
The doctor can also surgically remove the wart.
In cases where the above methods have not yielded positive results, the dermatologist may use one of the following methods:
- Laser treatment performed under local anesthesia;
- Cauterizing chemicals are commonly prescribed to treat flat warts. Such peeling is carried out daily at home, for this they use salicylic acid and glycolic acid preparations;
- Immunotherapy in the treatment of warts is a way to activate the body's own 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 can reappear in the old place and reappear in a new place. Sometimes it seems that new warts appear faster than old ones disappear. This happens if the virus infects cells adjacent to the wart before the wart is removed. That is why new warts usually appear near the place where the old one was.
Self-treatment and removal
There are a huge number of ways by which the removal of 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 removing warts, each video about removing warts, reviews of people and cosmetologists - this is only an introductory material that shows that the removal of warts in children and adults is possible without consequences.
But you should never experiment and make hasty conclusions - every neoplasm on 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 present you some of the methods that are used to remove warts at home. We hope that this material, as we advised, will remain for you only informational.
Since the cost of removing warts in some clinics and beauty parlors scares people a little, they try to treat neoplasms on their own, it happens like this.
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 carried out until the wart disappears.
Wood ash treatment
Wood ash, preferably fresh, should be diluted with clean water until a homogeneous slurry is formed, which should be applied to the warts daily until they come off.
Removal of warts with celandine
The wart is smeared with fresh celandine juice in the morning and evening. Due to the alkaloids contained in it, warts are quickly treatable. They dry up and go away. The procedure should be repeated until the wart disappears completely. Be careful when using celandine juice, it should not get on 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 any tree and hold it over an open fire. When it begins to smolder, 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, besides the fact that you can buy drugs for removing warts at the pharmacy, you can still grow them in your own summer cottage or find them in your home. It's up to you to experiment or not, to think, but we have made our choice and have already recommended it to you several times.
After removal of 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. In order to get rid of the virus for a long time, prevention should be carried out. How to do it?
Vitamin therapy. Conduct a course lasting two to three months, focusing on the high concentration of zinc in the vitamin and mineral complexes taken. Zinc inhibits the multiplication of viral particles. Thus, the human papillomavirus dies once and for all.
- Good personal hygiene. Good skin care.
- Avoid stress, overwork, normalize the daily routine. Sleep should take at least eight hours a day.
- Eat well.
- Try not to overcool, avoid colds after removing warts for the first three months, or better - six months.
- Check for intestinal dysbiosis. If available, take a course of probiotic treatment.
- See an infectious disease specialist or immunologist. Your doctor will prescribe you antiviral drugs that stimulate your immune system.
When thinking about removing a wart, first visit a competent specialist.
It is better to remove papillomas with suspected malignancy at an appointment with an oncologist.
Such formations are best subjected to a control histological examination.
Prevention
To prevent the appearance of warts, dermatologists recommend the following:
- do not injure the warts;
- wear sandals or other special shoes when visiting the pool, as well as in public showers and changing rooms;
- do not touch other people's warts;
- Wipe dry feet with warts, moisture tends to spread the warts.