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 healthcare setting. Self-elimination of such neoplasms may not give a result, or vice versa, lead to their injury. You will learn where you can remove warts from the next article.
Who Can Get Warts?
Anyone can get warts, but the most likely to be infected with the papillomavirus are:
- children and adolescents;
- adults and children who have a habit of biting their nails or chewing on beards;
- people 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, different types of warts are distinguished. Below are the signs (what the person sees) and symptoms (what the person feels) that are common with some types of warts.
Vulgar (common) warts
If a child has a wart on their face, be sure to check their hands - you will most likely see warts there as well. The virus usually spreads to the skin on the face when touched or when a child bites his nails.
Vulgar warts:
- most common on the fingers, around the nails and on the backs of the palms;
- more common in places where the skin is often damaged, for example in places where there are smudges or when the habit of biting nails;
- most often they look like a small lump (compaction) with an uneven rough surface;
- they may have black spots on the surface (actually they 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:
- they appear most often on the soles of the feet;
- it can grow, join and form so-called clusters (mosaic warts);
- more often flat or growing inward (due to the pressure created by walking);
- they are painful, especially with pressure;
- often causes the sensation of a pebble in the shoes;
- they may have black spots on the surface.
flat warts
- it can appear anywhere, but, as a rule, they occur more often 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, they usually appear in large numbers, from 20 to 100 at a time.
Filiform warts (acrochords)
- they look like long strands or thin finger-like growths;
- they are most common on the face: around the mouth, eyes and nose;
- they 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, 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, can provoke the occurrence of a precancerous condition and are considered to be 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 located on the external genital organs and mucous membranes, are recognized as particularly dangerous: these are types 70, 66, 56, 33, 31, 18, 16. Many people who develop warts ask themselves 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 growth injury, it is necessary to treat or remove neoplasms because the presence of foci of a viral infection causes it to spread to other areas of the skin, and there is also a risk of the neoplasm degenerates into malignant. 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 them.
Do not postpone your visit if:
- The neoplasm is bleeding or tearing has occurred;
- If the wart becomes painful, itching, burning occurs
- It changes color, becomes heterogeneous in color, changes shape and size
- The number of warts is growing, multiple outgrowths of the daughter appear
- If the wart is located in a prominent place, it is often traumatized and causes psychological distress.
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 recommended for the following reasons:
- Self-elimination of accumulation 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 there is still such a risk, and after 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, the dermatologist usually only needs to look at them to establish a diagnosis. 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 will be 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, sometimes they do not go away on their own.
Consultation with a dermatologist is necessary if:
- warts change shape, color, size;
- warts hurt you;
- the number of warts increases.
There are many different methods of removing warts. The choice of this or that method depends on the age of the patient, the state of health and the type of wart.
Wart - body gain
Papillomas (warts) are often confused with moles. Warts, like moles, can be removed in the same way. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, traditional surgery still leaves a mark on the skin.
Surgical removal of warts is usually not recommended because warts often grow back.
With cryodestruction and laser removal, it is not always possible to precisely 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, a combination of several methods is sometimes used. Other warts treatments include topical salicylic acid, duct tape, and chemical treatments.
Basic methods of removing warts
As practice shows, many patients try to get rid of it using folk methods. However, it is always worth understanding that folk methods alone are not very effective, and in some cases they can even turn out to be dangerous. The correct process is possible only if the specialist fights not only with the skin manifestations of the virus, but also with its own basis. There are several methods of getting rid of these neoplasms:
- Radio waves. . . A relatively new method, but already well tested. With the help of a special apparatus, a radio wave of a certain frequency is exposed to the formation of the skin. 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 performed, you can always be sure that you will not experience negative sensations.
- A liquid nitrogen.Another well known method. Nitrogen freezes the wart and its root, thanks to which a really fast and high-quality removal is performed.
To remove warts, dermatologists can use:
- cryotherapy(liquid nitrogen) is the most common method of removing vulgar warts in adults and older children and is not overly painful. But usually the procedure has 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 consists of scraping the wart with a sharp knife or a special tool (curette). After the curettage, electrocoagulation is performed and a bandage is applied to 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 given positive results, the dermatologist can 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 defenses. Prescribed in cases where other types of therapy have not given 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 will allow 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 the 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 many ways in which the removal of warts with folk remedies is quite successful, but this does not at all mean that you should forget about traditional medicine and constantly self-medicate.
Any recipe for removing warts, any video about removing warts, reviews of people and cosmetologists - this is just 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: any 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 have decided to introduce you to some methods that are used to remove warts at home. We hope that this material, as we have advised, will remain informative for you only.
Since the cost of removing warts in some clinics and beauty salons scares people a little, they try to cure neoplasms on their own, so it happens.
Bulb treatment
A medium-sized raw 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, must be diluted with clean water until a homogeneous suspension is formed, which must be applied daily to the warts until they disappear.
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 must 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 branch of a branch of any tree and hold it over an open fire. When it starts to burn, it is necessary to cauterize the neoplasm with heat. This should be done several times, after 5-7 days the wart will disappear.
As you can see, in addition to the fact that you can buy drugs to remove warts at the pharmacy, you can still grow them at your summer cottage or find them at your home. It is up to you to experiment or not, to think, but we have made our choice and we have already recommended it to you several times.
After removal of the papilloma
Remember that simply removing warts does not eliminate the virus from the body. After a long or not long time, papillomas can reappear. This is due to the presence of viral particles. To get rid of the virus for a long time, it is necessary to prevent. 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 last at least eight hours a day.
- Eat well.
- Try not to overcool, avoid colds after removing warts for the first three months and, better, six months.
- Check for intestinal dysbiosis. If available, follow a probiotic treatment course.
- Consult an infectious disease specialist or immunologist. Your doctor will prescribe antiviral drugs that stimulate your immune system.
When thinking about removing a wart, first visit a competent specialist.
Papillomas with suspected malignancy are best removed on 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 hurt 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;
- Dry feet with warts, moisture tends to spread warts.