Small warts: why they are dangerous and why they occur.

Warts are benign growths on the skin that can form on any part of the body in people infected with HPV. There are many types of warts caused by this virus, some of which develop into malignant ones if not removed in a timely manner.

The growth is common and can appear on the arms, legs, genital area, face and back. The formation of warts on the stomach and the inside of the palm accounts for the smallest percentage.

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.

Complications of small warts

Even the smallest warts on the chin or other parts of the body can cause complications.
Including life-threatening ones.

Some types of papillomavirus can cause cancer.

These are squamous cell skin cancer, cervical carcinoma, cancer of the penis, esophagus, larynx, and rectum.

The appearance of a tumor is usually preceded by precancerous processes.

They can be identified during the examination.

These processes have been going on for years.

Therefore, if a person monitors his health and visits a doctor, then he is protected from these complications.

Because if foci of pathologically altered epithelium are detected, they can be removed.

As a result, transformation into cancer does not occur.

If a person ignores his illness, is not examined and is not treated, then he puts himself at risk.

People who are not bothered by small warts or if they are in places inaccessible for self-examination do not go to the doctor.

Other possible complications:

wart rupture and bleeding;
inflammatory processes due to bacterial superinfection;
scar formation as a result of mechanical damage to warts.

Sometimes borderline tumors develop.

With anogenital localization, human papillomavirus infection can occur in the form of giant Buschke-Levenshtein condyloma.

It is characterized by infiltrative, destructive growth.

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.

Healing after removal of small warts

After removing small warts, the wounds heal very quickly.

In young people, the healing time usually does not exceed 1 week.

After this time, the crust is torn off.

In its place only a pink spot remains.

Over time, the color of young skin is compared with the surrounding skin.

Scars do not form after removal if it was performed correctly.

There are almost no complications after removal.

They are possible only if a person tore off the scab prematurely, soaked it in water for a long time, or the wound was exposed to contamination.

To reduce the risk of infection, your doctor may prescribe treatment with local antibacterial agents.

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”.

Preparations for the treatment of small warts

You can remove warts using the following methods:

cytotoxic;
chemical;
physical.

The first two involve treating the skin with special preparations.

With the cytotoxic method, the skin is treated repeatedly.

With chemical treatment, a single treatment is carried out, as a result of which the wart tissue dies and is rejected.

Podophyllotoxin is mainly used for cytotoxic removal.

This is an extract of the roots of Podophyllum thyroid.

Apply it for 3 days in a row.

Then they take a break for 4 days.

If the warts do not disappear, the course is repeated.

There can be no more than five such courses in total.

If there is no effect, other, more effective treatment methods are used.

Possible side effects of using podophyllotoxin:

redness;
burning;
pain;
ulcers at the site of application;
edema.

When removing warts on the penis, balanoposthitis may develop.

If an excessively large dose is used or a large area is treated, the components of the drug may be absorbed into the blood.

Then systemic side effects occur:

nausea;
dizziness;
diarrhea;
increase in body temperature;
a decrease in the number of blood cells due to suppression of red bone marrow function;
the appearance of ulcers in the mouth.

Chemical removal methods are also used.

For this purpose, concentrated solutions of alkalis or acids are used.

That is, substances that cause chemical burns of the skin followed by necrosis and tissue rejection.

Such drugs are often used by patients on their own.

Although this possibility is not specified in the instructions.

It states that removal can only be performed by a doctor experienced in performing this type of procedure.

Chemical removal is dangerous if done incorrectly.

It is necessary to treat the skin located nearby with Vaseline or oil.

Otherwise it will also be damaged.

When using a large amount of solution or increasing the exposure time, scar formation may occur.

They are formed as a result of a deep burn of the skin.

When trying to remove small warts on the penis, phimosis may form.

The disadvantages of home removal of formations are as follows:

Is it dangerous;
hurt;
is fraught with side effects;
not always effective;
After removal, there remains a high risk of relapse.

Therefore, it is better to remove these formations using physical methods.

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.

Causes of warts

Of course, toads and other amphibians have nothing to do with the appearance of warts. But viruses do—namely, the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is the causative agent that forms these tumors. You can become infected with the virus in a variety of ways: from sexual contact to a simple handshake. In addition, HPV is very resistant to antiseptics and tenacious, and therefore can be picked up through the use of common household items (towels, slippers, etc.) and in public places.

HPV is transmitted through mucous membranes and (less likely) through microcracks in the skin. This means that people with chronic dermatological diseases that are accompanied by itching (for example, psoriasis) are more likely to become infected with papillomavirus - the skin does not provide adequate protection, and it is easier for the virus to enter the body.

Let's look at the most popular papillomavirus infection scenarios:

Sexual intercourse. This is how anogenital neoplasms mainly spread - this is a type of wart that is localized on the mucous membrane around the genitals. By the way, a condom is not 100% reliable protection against such infection: the virus can enter the body through microcracks around the genitals. Treatment of warts of this type is the most difficult and unpleasant.
General life. HPV is resistant to many antiseptics, so common things can contribute to the transmission of the virus. You can become infected with the virus from household members, using, for example, a shared towel.
Public places. In public toilets, swimming pools, locker rooms and other similar places, the papillomavirus can exist for some time, waiting for a “victim”. Therefore, in public places you should, if possible, not touch anything with bare parts of your body (for example, you should wear slippers in the pool - this is where plantar warts are most often infected).
During childbirth. If the mother is infected with HPV, then during childbirth the child has a high chance of becoming infected with the virus.
Touching. This happens quite rarely, but a person can still become infected with HPV through simple touches - for example, shaking hands. The virus is transmitted through microcracks in the skin. Accordingly, if the integrity of the skin is compromised, the risk of infection becomes higher.

Please note that HPV infection does not always mean that a person will develop warts. In approximately 90% of cases, the carrier has no clinical manifestations. In the remaining 10% of cases, HPV causes warts of various types to appear on the skin.

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!

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.

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.