Warts are benign growths that affect the skin. Basically, papillomas do not pose a threat to health, without causing physical discomfort. However, their unpleasant appearance provokes a desire among many to get rid of them as quickly as possible. In this connection, some people try to get rid of them: tear them off, comb them, or otherwise mechanically influence the growth. This is unsafe, as it can lead to the formation of purulent warts. Why are purulent warts dangerous? How to treat them? Answers to these questions can be obtained by reading this article.
Toads have nothing to do with it...
Anyone who wants to get rid of warts with the help of witchcraft, a rotten stump, a potato or something like that can, with a clear conscience, be dissuaded from these procedures. Such methods of “treatment” were relevant in the old days, when people had no idea about the nature of warts. Nowadays, it is known that warts are a viral disease and are caused by the human papillomavirus, abbreviated as HPV. Depending on the type of virus, warts are different... Remember how your mother scolded you as a child for picking up frogs? At the same time, she always said that frogs give warts. In fact, this is not so. Warts are a viral infectious skin disease. These are common contagious epithelial tumors caused by more than 60 types of human papillomaviruses; some of them can become cancerous. Warts can appear at any age, but are more common in older children; they rarely occur in older people. The appearance and size of warts depend on their location and the degree of irritation and trauma to which they are exposed. The defeat occurs in different ways. The infection may manifest itself as single or numerous warts. Often they disappear completely over time, either as a result of treatment or spontaneously; however, it happens that warts persist for years or disappear, but reappear in the same or different places.
Internal reasons
If a wart on the body becomes inflamed without obvious reasons, this may be due to internal factors, including:
- infectious and inflammatory processes occurring in the body;
- severe decrease in immune defense;
- disorders of the thyroid gland and hormonal imbalances;
- disorders of the gastrointestinal system, liver and kidneys;
- manifestations of allergies;
- pregnancy period;
- alcohol or drug addiction;
- poisoning of the body with pesticides.
In rare cases, warts can develop into malignant tumors. Such formations can hurt, bleed, increase in size and turn black.
Flat, thread-like, pointed...
Warts are caused by several types of viruses. Especially common is the one that “grows” ordinary, simple warts
.
These are small (2-10 mm in diameter), dense benign tumors with clear boundaries, an uneven surface, round or irregular in shape, light gray, yellow, brown or grayish-black. Most often they appear in places prone to trauma (for example, on the fingers, elbows, knees, scalp), but they can also appear in other areas of the body. Plantar warts
, as their name suggests, occur on the soles of the feet.
Because the soles are a place of constant friction, plantar warts can be quite painful; They can be distinguished from calluses by the tiny, pinprick-like drops of blood that appear when you cut off the top of the wart. Filiform warts - small, long and narrow growths - usually form on the eyelids, face, neck, and lips. Flat (juvenile) warts
- smooth, flat, yellowish-brown nodules - are usually found on the face and along scratch marks, most often in children and young people.
There are also warts with unusual shapes, such as pedunculated or cauliflower-shaped warts, most often occurring on the head and neck. Genital warts
(condylomas) affect the external genitalia of men and women. They look like small soft and moist bubbles of pink and red color. They grow quickly, and at the same time a narrow stalk can form at the base.
Anyone can have the virus...
The virus enters the body through the skin or mucous membrane, then “follows” the subepithelial layer and penetrates the nervous tissue. Done: now the virus is your property for life and its location explains the connection between skin rashes and the state of the nervous system: for a wart to materialize, any nervous shock, fear, frustration, excitement or self-hypnosis is enough: “What if they appear!?” Then they will definitely appear. It’s just that many people are affected by viruses, but for the time being they don’t know about it. The virus can “sleep” without causing harm. It can “travel” along nerve pathways inside the body and even settle harmlessly, for example, in the spinal cord. But as soon as you get more excited, he always turns out to be ready to make his way back to the skin and reward the owner with “decoration”.
Common causes of inflammation of skin tags
The most common external causes that provoke inflammation of the wart:
- constant injury to the growth by clothing, underwear or shoes;
- accidental injury to the wart with sharp nails or objects (when combing, shaving, hair removal, etc.);
- excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays;
- Aggressive effects of household chemicals.
Also, the causes of inflammation can be various internal problems in the body, provoked by heredity, hormonal imbalances, frequent stress and nervous tension.
As a result of improper manipulations associated with trying to remove a wart at home, the growths can also become inflamed. In this case, nearby skin is also affected.
The most dangerous situation is the possible degeneration of a benign neoplasm into a malignant one, in which the papilloma looks thickened and expanded, pain occurs when you press it, and the color changes from pink-brown to black.
Beware of abrasions and cuts
You can “catch” the virus from a sick person through direct contact, for example, by shaking hands. Or through infected objects: toys, handrails in public transport. Two to three hours of virus life in the external environment is enough for someone to become infected: the infection is quite common. Factors predisposing to infection are sweating (which, by the way, also depends on the state of the nervous system) and microtraumas on the skin. Microtraumas always exist; they are inevitable during household work: washing, cooking, cleaning, and in children they occur even during such innocent activities as modeling from plasticine.
Prevention
To prevent the appearance of tumors and inflammatory processes on the skin, you should adhere to the following rules:
- maintaining hygiene (wash your hands after returning from the street, do not use personal belongings and clothes of other people);
- refusal of unprotected casual sexual contacts;
- in public places (swimming pool, sauna, beach) protect your feet with special shoes;
- strengthen the immune system (eat right, avoid stress, exercise, spend more time in the fresh air, use vitamin complexes);
- If there are warts on the body, periodically carefully examine them to identify changes, and avoid tight, chafing clothes and shoes.
Warts love nervous people...
In a person with a normal, healthy psyche, simple warts in most cases spontaneously disappear after a year or two. Anyone who is easily suggestible, whose nervous system leaves much to be desired, will be helped by whatever he does, but only by firmly believing that this will make the warts disappear. For example, sometimes for adults, well, very excitable individuals, the dermatologist has a completely win-win method: take a bottle of tap water from the cabinet and announce that this is a wonderful, rare remedy that “only I have”... After the second application, warts appear like The cow licks it with her tongue!
Treatment with medications
For pain and inflammation, various local remedies are used that have anti-inflammatory and bactericidal effects. The most effective ointments are Betadine, Ichthyol, Vishnevsky. They must be applied to the damaged surface of the papilloma several times a day, covering the area with a bandage.
It is also recommended to use antiviral drugs that affect the cause of inflammation (Oxolinic ointment, Viferon, Acyclovir, Panavir).
There are also medicinal methods of getting rid of warts using drugs with salicylic acid, Celandine balm, etc. They should be used only after consultation with a doctor and in the absence of contraindications.
Forget about potatoes and threads, consult a doctor
This trick will not work for a person with a strong nervous system. Therefore, leaving aside funny stories with dead cats and medicine from the tap, I must say: if you find some excess on your skin, do not rush to your dear folk medicine. Self-medication can be fraught with complications. For example, when you remove warts on your own, severe inflammation often occurs, which provokes the spread of this virus around, and after a week you may see 21 warts instead of one. In another case, bluish-red dense keloid scars may form. So it’s still not worth taking risks with this - it’s better to consult a dermatologist (appointment schedule). In addition, in appearance, warts can resemble completely different, much more serious neoplasms. The doctor, having determined that you have a harmless wart, will choose the appropriate way to remove it.
Removing warts with liquid nitrogen
The method of removing warts with liquid nitrogen is now considered the most popular and effective treatment method. The procedure is practically painless, there is no contact with blood, which prevents the spread of infection, and no scars remain. Its essence is that unwanted formations on the skin are frozen during the evaporation of liquid nitrogen and die. Impact doses of cold are a very effective prevention of infection. In addition, this method is the most preferred for removing plantar warts.
Remove, burn, freeze or treat?
Removal of moles and warts
- Cost: 2,000 rub.
More details
In our Center, all possible methods are used to remove warts - cryodestruction, electro- or laser coagulation. The removal procedure is performed under local anesthesia, so it is completely painless. But the most effective and least traumatic method, according to our observations, is radio wave coagulation, which has been successfully used in our clinic for about five years. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that getting rid of the external signs of HPV - warts - does not indicate complete expulsion of the virus from the body. To date, no medications have yet been invented that can “kill” the virus, so warts may periodically reappear, and, of course, they need to be removed. In addition, it is advisable for people suffering from warts to do an immunological blood test and consult an immunologist who can select drug therapy to increase the stability of the body's immune system. This will help achieve stable remission - a period during which the disease manifests itself minimally or not at all.
Folk remedies for relieving inflammation
It is possible to treat condylomas at home using traditional medicine that helps relieve inflammation. The following home remedies are recommended to treat inflamed growths:
- Garlic cream. Mix a suitable cream with crushed garlic in a 2:1 ratio, apply a gauze pad with the applied product to the damaged area of skin and secure with a bandage for 3 hours. After removing the bandage, rinse the growth with warm water.
- Tea tree oil, which is a good antiseptic and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Apply a cotton swab to the wart 3-4 times a day.
- Celandine juice, which should be carefully applied to the wart several times a day, without touching the surrounding skin.
- Compresses from decoctions of chamomile, calendula, plantain, burdock root. All herbs have an anti-inflammatory, calming effect.
Treatment with traditional methods includes the internal use of infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs that help strengthen the immune system and relieve inflammation (rose hips, echinacea, eleutherococcus, etc.).
