Wart on the finger: causes, symptoms and treatment

A wart on the finger is a benign neoplasm that has a viral nature. The causative agent that provokes the appearance of such growths is the human papillomavirus. Warts are considered safe formations, because. they rarely cause cancer. However, this fact does not mean that no treatment is required. This article provides detailed information on the etiology of the disease, external signs and modern methods of treatment.

Causes of warts on the finger.

Warts are not uncommon, because. the human papillomavirus that causes their growth is highly contagious and spares neither adults nor children. The causative agent, coming into contact with the skin, gets into the tissues through the slightest damage and remains in the body forever. At the same time, different levels of viral load are observed at different times, that is, the population of the microorganism increases or decreases. For a long time, the disease can be asymptomatic. The incubation period can vary significantly in each case and ranges from 1-6 months to several years. All this, undoubtedly, affects the nature of external manifestations. Thus, an increase in the activity of the virus causes the appearance of those same warts on the fingers, feet, knees and other areas of the skin.

The safest way to become infected is direct contact with an already infected person. HPV is often transmitted sexually, so unprotected or promiscuous sex is the most likely cause of the increased incidence. However, most often the growth of warts on the fingers is caused precisely by contact of the upper extremities with infected surfaces, be it the hands of a virus carrier or objects that you have just used: a pen, cutlery. , a towel, a book, etc. All public places are considered places of greater danger, but especially those in which there is a higher level of humidity.

Even a mother's baby can become infected. This happens during childbirth.

With the localization of warts on the fingers, there is an increased risk of autoinfection, ie. rapid spread of infection to the face and other parts of the body. The reason for this is the susceptibility of the growths to frequent injuries, which lead to the release of a large amount of the pathogen to the surface, and the fact that the fingers are in contact with all other skin integuments and can transfer the virus to them.

The reality is that the answer to the question of why warts appear on the fingers is quite ambiguous and involves many provoking factors. First of all, 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, maintain its population at the same level and prevent uncontrolled growth of wart-like epithelial cells on the finger or other parts of the body. Here, too, everything is ambiguous, because the decrease in immunity also has various reasons. This is an unbalanced diet, and drug abuse, and bad habits, and emotional and physical overload.

What else causes warts on fingers? Various acute and chronic diseases, such as severe colds, diabetes mellitus, HIV, venereal diseases, skin pathologies, etc. , lead to the activation of the pathogen. An individual 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 lesions, dehydrated and worn skin, nail biting, and burrs can all be the cause of finger warts.

What are finger warts like?

Most people confuse warts with other skin growths such as corns, lichen planus, keratosis, molluscum contagiosum, and often choose the wrong treatment options on their own or completely ignore the external manifestations of the disease, exposing themselves at the risk of spreading the infection. and others to the risk of infection.

In order not to make such mistakes, it is better to study in detail what the warts on the finger look like, what types they are, and go to the hospital in a timely manner to make an accurate diagnosis and determine effective treatment. regime.

The 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, very often minor bleeding occurs, which increases the risk of infection spread and wound infection. This is partly why attempting to cut through these hardened tissues is strongly discouraged.

Warts first appear in a single amount, just one or two. But due to problems in the functioning of the immune system, more and more formations may appear. Sometimes they even merge, due to which an extensive skin lesion is formed.

It is worth considering that a rapidly growing focus indicates a strong activity of the pathogen 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 neoplasm begins to darken or redden, if there is a visible change in its structure and swelling, suppuration appears, or there is an arbitrary one. removal of pathological fluid from the body of growth.

The color of the warts can be yellowish, in tone with the skin, gray-brown. In some cases, the black dots are visible on the surface; these are just places where thrombosis of small blood vessels has occurred.

The most common types of warts on the finger are the following:

• common warts. The second name is ordinary. Quite often they 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 subjected to tension and burrs. Flesh-colored formations are more common, but yellowish-brown or grayish-brown ones are also found. The shape is nodular or domed. Diameter 2-7 mm. The build-up structure is quite dense and slightly rough. It is a skin more dry than healthy. It can crack and cause pain.
• Superficial flat warts. Its surface only slightly protrudes above the skin. The shape is rounded, although as they spread and merge, irregularly contoured outgrowths also appear. The color can be both brown and pale yellow. The diameter of a flat wart on the finger is 3-4 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 down the center, but their root grows deeper into the layers of the dermis. This, of course, causes considerable daily discomfort, which, more often than other reasons, causes a person to go to the doctor. The shape of the deep formations is irregular, the color and size are usually the same as those of superficial warts.
• subungual 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 low activity of the virus, they practically do not give symptoms, but with a significant weakening of health and the absence of proper hygienic treatment, they grow, penetrate into the tissues under the nail, causing rejection of the nail plate from the nail bed. . In this case, one can no longer speak only of an aesthetic defect. Pain and suppuration appear, gradually the formation reaches the womb and irrevocably destroys it.

Many believe that the treatment of such an ailment is not mandatory if you try to strengthen the immune system so that the body can cope on its own. However, this view is largely wrong. After all, there are many reasons for the need to treat warts on the fingers and other parts of the body. Firstly, such neoplasms are quite contagious, and a person with a single wart can infect several healthy people, in whom the disease can develop in a more serious form. Secondly, many children, adolescents and adults are simply very embarrassed by the presence of such formations on the skin, which, of course, causes a desire to find an effective way to remove a wart on the finger. What can we say about pain, susceptibility to injury and the danger of the oncological process?

Ways to treat warts on the finger.

Modern medicine knows many effective ways to remove a wart on a finger. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages and should be used only as prescribed by a doctor and in combination with drug therapy, because the mere removal of growths by any method does not suppress viral activity and does not guarantee the absence of recurrence of the disease. illness. disease in the near future.

Removal of warts on the fingers in the clinic.

At the appointment with a dermatologist, a detailed diagnosis is made, the results of which, in addition to the main health indicators, determine the strain of the virus that caused the disease, as well as the risk of developing an oncological process. Often, tests may be required for comorbidities, such as HIV, which can also cause warts on the finger and aggravate the course of the disease.

Accordingly, multilateral treatment is prescribed. It includes excision of growths by one of the modern instrumental methods, including:

• laser removal. The most popular method. It is offered by almost all clinics. Special equipment allows you to burn an epithelial tumor almost painlessly, avoiding bleeding. The healing time of the scabs is minimal. Tissues after such exposure are quickly restored, due to which there are practically no traces in the form of scars on the skin.
• radio wave removal. The method is based on the force of radio waves, which simply cut the growths without bleeding. With the help of a radius knife, you can remove warts on the fingers, practically without touching healthy tissue. The procedure is quite expensive, but it is recognized as highly effective and safe.
• electrocoagulation. The acting force is a current of various frequencies. It cauterizes the wart cells on the finger in a matter of seconds. At the same time, the vessels are sealed, which prevents bleeding.
• surgical way.It is not performed without local anesthesia, because. removal is done with a scalpel. Less frequently named than other options. The main indication is a large lesion, if it is necessary to take material for histological examination, as well as the presence of deep ingrowths on the skin and under the nail plate. During the procedure, healthy tissue is often injured. After healing, scars often remain. The price of surgical intervention is calculated individually in each individual case.
• cryotherapy. Widely used method. The body of the wart on the finger is removed by exposure to ultra-low temperature liquid nitrogen. This option is characterized by good performance, painless, without the 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 smoothly.
• chemical method. Removal of a wart on a finger is carried out with harsh chemicals, such as trichloroacetic acid. It is better to entrust the implementation to a qualified specialist in order to prevent burns of healthy tissues. The impact must be very precise and only on the body of the reconstruction. After healing, scars may remain. The cost of the procedure depends on the chosen drug and is calculated by the doctor individually.

No method offers a guarantee of 100% effectiveness and absence of recurrence. The result depends not only on the type of wart, its localization, but also on the qualifications of medical personnel and the equipment and preparations used. During the recovery period, an important role is played by the patient himself, who must follow all the instructions of the doctor: daily treat the places to remove warts on the fingers, avoid injuries, hypothermia of the palms, take the prescribed drugs, remove the bad habits and normalize the diet. Only then will he not have to decide again how to get rid of a wart on his finger.

Treatment of warts on the fingers with medicines.

Competent medical treatment of warts on the fingers involves taking drugs whose action is aimed at suppressing a viral infection, raising the immune state, restoring the balance of minerals, vitamins and other beneficial compounds.

Types of medical products intended for the treatment of warts on the fingers:

• oral preparations. This category includes means of complex effects: antiviral and immunomodulatory. At the moment, there are no drugs that can completely kill the human papillomavirus, so one of the tasks of modern medicine is to simulate natural immunity in order to increase the body's resistance and significantly reduce the viral load, stopping 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 and normalize all metabolic processes.
• External cauterizing agents. They may contain cauterizing acids and other components that contribute to the destruction of growths. Use at home is associated with the risk of burns, so the procedure must be carried out very carefully. Some drugs work on the principle of cryodestruction, others on the principle of chemical destruction.
• Vitamin and mineral complexes.. They are prescribed to prevent a nutrient deficiency in the body, restore metabolism and the performance of individual organs and systems, including the immune system.

Folk remedies for warts on the finger.

The effectiveness of traditional medicine does not diminish disputes. Some argue that it is ineffective and that people simply waste precious time by refusing to go to the doctor, others consider that it is the only correct way to safely cure most diseases.

In search of the correct 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 options for complex therapy, including instrumental removal of growths, taking HPV-specific drugs, and suitable folk remedies.

Popular folk remedies to treat warts on fingers:

• plum compresses. Dissolve salt (20 g) in water (150 ml), add vinegar (20 ml) here, stir and dip half of the pitted plum into this solution. Infusion time - 2 hours. Remove the plum, crush the pulp. Apply the resulting suspension to the warts and fix it with a bandage or plaster for 2-8 hours.
• Thuja oil for warts. It is applied externally 4-5 times a day. Daily use of this remedy ensures a rapid recovery of epithelial cells.
• Tui tincture.Thuja leaves (20 g) are poured with vodka (100 ml). Insist 14 days. Lubricate the areas affected by warts on the fingers several times for 3 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice a day for 14-20 days.
• coniferous tincture. Take young coniferous twigs and juniper fruits in equal quantities. Mix and grind all raw materials. Put 50 g of the resulting mixture in a glass dish and pour 200 g of alcohol. Leave for about 3 weeks. Strain and use to lubricate the growths. It is enough to apply 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. Put the mass in a glass jar and fill it with table vinegar in a volume of 100-150 ml. Close the lid well. Leave to 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 decoction. To prepare it, you need to boil 2. 5 liters of water, add horse chestnut leaves (120 g) to it and boil for 15 minutes over low heat, strain and pour the broth into a container. When it cools down to 36-40 degrees, lower your palms. The duration of taking such a bath is 20 minutes. It is necessary to carry out 8 procedures in 2. 5 weeks, ie. repeat every 3 days at bedtime.
• herbal infusion. Such a tool affects the whole body in one complex. But its most important property is the stimulation of immunity to fight the virus. Systematic reception stops the growth of warts on the finger. For the preparation, mix and then crush 20 g of juniper needles, plantain leaves, chicory and dandelion root, birch leaves, as well as 30 g of horsetail and nettle. Store in a glass container with a lid. For a decoction, take 20 g of the mixture, place in an enamel saucepan, pour boiling water (500 ml) and leave for 60 minutes. Filter and consume inside before meals, 100-150 ml 3-4 times a day.

Regardless of what caused the weakening of the immune system and provoked the growth of epithelial tumors, warts that have arisen on the fingers and toes, on the elbows, knees, feet and in other places require special attention and an adequate treatment. Timely admission to the hospital, as well as the choice of appropriate methods of removing growths and treating HPV, will allow you to recover faster and forget about the unpleasant manifestations of a viral disease for a long time.