Warts and papillomas: why they appear and how they are removed in Tashkent

Where do warts come from?

The human papillomavirus is not one virus, but a large group, including over a hundred types, and different types cause different formations. Some are responsible for ordinary warts on the hands, others for plantar warts, others for flat warts, and others affect the mucous membranes. Infection occurs by contact: the virus gets on the skin and takes root where there is damage - a hangnail, cut, abrasion, crack, scuff from a shoe. It hardly takes root on whole dry skin.

This explains the geography of the rashes. Warts love the hands of those who bite their nails and hangnails, the soles of visitors to swimming pools and public showers, where the skin is softened by moisture, the face and legs of men and women who shave - the razor spreads the virus through fresh micro-cuts. The incubation period is very long: from several weeks to several months, so it is almost never possible to remember the specific moment of infection, and attempts to establish “from whom” are usually pointless.

• Infection occurs through direct contact with the skin of another person or through objects: towels, shoes, shower floor, manicure tools
• Wet and softened skin becomes infected more easily, hence the role of swimming pools, bathhouses and common locker rooms
• Self-infection is a very common mechanism: by scratching or shaving a wart, a person transfers the virus to neighboring areas
• Shaving the face and legs spreads flat warts in characteristic linear chains
• Increased sweating, tight shoes, working with water, and the habit of biting nails contribute to the appearance of
• With reduced immunity, there are more warts, they are larger and more resistant to treatment

What are they?

The appearance depends on the type of virus and where the formation is located. It is useful to understand this, because both the prognosis and the method of treatment depend on the type.

• Common warts are dense nodules with a rough, keratinized surface, most often on the fingers, the back of the hands, and near the nails; often there is one large mother and several small ones around
• Plantar - grow inward under the pressure of body weight, look like a patch of thickened skin with black dots in the center and hurt when walking; they are often confused with a callus
• Flat, or youthful - small smooth nodules of flesh-colored or yellowish color on the face, back of the hands, legs; typical for teenagers and often located in lines as they comb or shave
• Thread-like - thin elongated growths on the eyelids, neck, around the mouth and nose, more often in adults
• Periungual - grow around and under the nail plate, are painful, difficult to treat and can deform the nail
• Anogenital condylomas are a separate group caused by other types of sexually transmitted viruses; they are dealt with by a venereologist and gynecologist, and the approach there is fundamentally different

You can distinguish a plantar wart from an ordinary dry callus by several signs, although the final word still rests with the doctor. With a callus, the skin pattern - the lines on the sole - runs through the formation continuously, and the wart interrupts it. Small black dots are often visible in the center of the wart: these are thrombosed capillaries, and not “roots” or “rods,” as is commonly thought. And the main difference is in the sensations: a callus hurts when pressed directly from above, and a wart hurts when compressed from the sides. Doctors use this simple technique right at the appointment.

Will they go away on their own?

Yes, this is possible, and this outcome is not uncommon: the immune system eventually recognizes the infected cells and destroys them, after which the wart disappears without a trace, without a scar. In children, about two-thirds of common warts go away on their own within two years. But this option has a downside that you need to be aware of when making a decision.

• The timing is unpredictable: for some it’s several months, for others it’s years, and it’s impossible to say in advance
• In adults, spontaneous resolution occurs less frequently and more slowly than in children.
• As long as the wart exists, it remains a source of infection - both for others and for your own skin
• Plantar warts grow larger and more painful over time, making waiting impractical.
• Periunguals can damage the growth zone of the nail, and then the deformation of the plate will remain for a long time
• It is logical to remove cosmetically noticeable formations on the face and neck without waiting for an indefinite period

A reasonable tactic looks like this: a single small wart on a child’s hand, which does not interfere or is not injured, may well be left under observation. Painful plantar pain, rapidly multiplying rashes, formations on the face, near the nail or in places of constant friction are a reason to treat actively. And in any case, before choosing a tactic, an examination is needed: under the guise of a wart, completely other formations, including dangerous ones, can be hidden, and you cannot waste a year waiting in such a situation.

Why you can’t cut and burn at home

Home removal is the most common cause of complications, which are then brought to the attention of a dermatologist. There are several reasons why you shouldn’t do this, and they are all practical.

1. Вы не знаете наверняка, что это. Под видом бородавки могут скрываться другие образования кожи, в том числе злокачественные, и повреждение такого очага откладывает диагноз и ухудшает прогноз.
2. Кровь и обрывки ткани разносят вирус: типичная история — вместо одной бородавки через месяц восемь вокруг.
3. Рана на пальце или подошве легко инфицируется; на стопе это чревато глубоким воспалением, особенно у людей с сахарным диабетом.
4. Агрессивные вещества — эссенция, ляпис в неумелых руках, соляная кислота of хозяйственных средств — выжигают здоровую кожу вокруг и оставляют рубец, который заметнее исходной бородавки.
5. Рубец на опорной поверхности стопы болит при ходьбе годами и лечится хуже, чем сама бородавка.
6. Перевязывание ниткой перекрывает кровоток, вызывает омертвение и нагноение, а само образование при этом часто остаётся.

How to clean at the doctor's

There is no universal method that would suit everyone and never cause relapses - and this should be accepted in advance. The choice depends on the type of wart, its size, location, age of the patient and what has already been applied. Often the methods are combined, and the course requires several visits.

• Keratolytic agents with salicylic acid - gradual softening and removal of the stratum corneum; the method is slow, requires several weeks of daily use, but gentle and well suited for children
• Cryodestruction with liquid nitrogen - freezing of the formation; Usually you need several procedures at intervals, after each a bubble is formed, and then a crust
• Laser removal - precise layer-by-layer evaporation of tissue under local anesthesia, convenient for periungual and plantar formations
• Radio wave and electrosurgical removal - excision with simultaneous stop of bleeding; If necessary, the removed material can be sent for research
• Immunomodulatory and cytostatic external drugs - used for multiple and persistent rashes as prescribed by a doctor
• Surgical excision - rare, for large and questionable formations when histological evaluation is necessary

After any method, there remains a wound that needs to be properly cared for: do not wet it on the first day, treat it as the doctor said, do not rip off the scab and protect from the sun until complete healing, so that there is no dark spot left. Relapses are possible with all methods, because the virus can persist in the surrounding apparently healthy skin. This is not a doctor’s mistake or a sign of “incorrect” removal, but a feature of the infection itself. When reappearing, the approach is changed or methods are combined.

Children, feet and how to avoid getting infected again

Warts are very common in children, especially at school age: the skin is thinner, there are more microtraumas, and the habit of biting nails and hangnails acts as a direct route for the virus. Parents should know that aggressive methods in childhood are used carefully - a painful procedure on the finger of a seven-year-old child often brings more harm than the wart itself.

• Do not walk barefoot in the pool, sauna and public shower - use slates
• Dry your feet thoroughly, especially between the toes; change socks daily to combat sweaty feet
• Do not use someone else’s shoes, towel, pumice stone, or manicure tools; monitor sterilization in the salon
• Avoid biting nails and hangnails, treat cuts and cracks promptly
• Do not shave an area of skin where there are warts - this will spread them in linear rows
• Do not touch or comb existing formations, and if there are plantar formations, seal them while visiting the pool
• Do not peel off scabs after removal and do not pick at healing wounds.

Separately, about the prevention of infection with those types of viruses that are truly dangerous to health. There is vaccination against HPV, aimed primarily at types associated with cervical cancer and anogenital warts. It has nothing to do with ordinary warts on the hands and feet and does not protect against them - these formations are caused by other types of viruses. You should not mix the two topics: the issue of vaccination is discussed with a gynecologist or pediatrician separately and for other indications.