Warts - symptoms and treatment

What is a nipple? We will analyze the causes, diagnosis and treatment methods in an article by a dermatologist with 37 years of experience.

Warts on hand

Definition of disease. Causes of disease

Wartsare irregular benign benign skin lesions in the form of localized overgrowth of the upper layer of skin (epidermis) with papules (nodules) or plaques.

The frequency of warts in adults is 7-12%, in school-age children - up to 10-20%.

Warts are very similar to other growths on the skin. Usually, a person cannot accurately determine the disease on their own, so a dermatologist must be consulted for a diagnosis.

Human papilloma virus is the cause of warts. The type of virus affects the type of wart that can develop. Thus, each type of human papilloma virus infects the tissue in the locality that is most characteristic of it.

HPV type Preferred
localization
Types of nipples
1 Feet, knees, palms,
hands, toes
Plantar and palmar warts,
rarely simple warts
2, 4 Hands, fingers, knees,
less often - feet
Simple nipples,
occasionally plantar, palmar
and mosaic nipples
3, 10 Shins, arms, face Straight nipples
7 Hands, fingers Butcher's nipples
5, 8, 9, 12, 14,
15, 17, 19-24
Face, arms,
front torso
Epidermodysplasia verruciform

Virus infection usually occurs by contact - direct contact with infected and healthy skin (for example, during handling) or indirectly (through handrails, toys, etc. ). So, you can get infected with the human papilloma virus, which causes warts in various places - in public transport, school, work, home, places with high contact and humid environment (swimming pools, saunas, gyms). A small trauma to the epidermis through which viruses enter, as well as inflammation of the skin, contribute to the infection.

Also contributes to the appearance of warts:

  • immunodeficiencies (including HIV infection);
  • warm and humid environment;
  • need for professional contact with meat and fish ("butcher's nipples").

Some types of human papillomavirus are transmitted from parents.

But frogs and toads, despite the horrific stories we so often fear in childhood, cannot be infected - this is one of the most popular myths about this disease, which has no basis.

If you find similar symptoms, talk to your doctor. Do not engage in treatment - it is dangerous for your health!

Nipple symptoms

Symptoms will vary depending on the type of wart.

Frequent wart on examination and dermatoscopy

Common nipple:

  • Round dense papule of normal color, 1-10 mm and more.
  • The surface of the papule is covered with cracks, layers.
  • If the papule is on the finger, the imprint disappears and is distorted. The same goes for drawing with the palm of your hand.
  • Simple warts are found singly or in several pieces - they usually appear at the sites of the biggest injuries (hands, fingers, knees).
  • When examined with a dermatoscope, the doctor may see small brown spots - thrombosed (clogged) capillaries. Patients often refer to these points as “roots”. This is the main sign to the doctor: a dermatologist can use it to distinguish the wart from other similar diseases (for example, molluscum contagiosum and keratoma).

Plantar (horny) wart:

  • The main symptom that usually causes the patient to see a doctor is pain when pressing and walking.
  • Such warts are usually found on the legs.
  • When you see a doctor, a keratinous, uneven plaque of normal color is usually visible, although in the first stage you may see a uniform, smooth papule. With keratinization, capillaries can only be seen if the keratinized layer of skin is removed.
  • The sole pattern of the sole is distorted.
  • Plantar warts are usually solitary, but there are 2-6 warts;
  • These warts are often mixed with corn (especially dry) - this is a description of the problem that patients usually see.
Straight nipples on the face

Straight (juvenile) nipple:

  • Looks like a round, clear, smooth papule of normal, pink or brown color, 1-5 mm in size.
  • Appears on the hands, lower legs, very often on the face.
  • There are always a few such warts - they are located in groups.

Epidermodysplasia verruciform (senile wart):

  • Large, round, numerous fused neoplasms of normal pink or brown color.
  • They most commonly appear on the face, arms, and front of the torso.
  • Can be confused with keratoma, shingles and skin cancer.

Pathogenesis of the nipple

When it enters the body, the human papilloma virus can be dormant for a long time - a person usually does not even know it exists. When factors favorable to the virus appear, it begins to "multiply" in the epithelium, leading to tissue changes.

Unlike other viruses, the human papilloma virus does not destroy the epithelial cells themselves - they die naturally, in the process of keratinization and scaling.

Local factors and the state of the immune system affect the spread of infection. For example, people with HIV infection or kidney transplantation are more likely to develop warts. Moreover, these neoplasms are often difficult to treat. With normal immunity, the virus does not affect the deep layers of the skin, so many people get warts after a few months.

The main stage of the appearance of warts is the acceleration of the rate of cell division and growth with the help of viruses. This rapid metabolism leads to thickening of the skin layers. As the tissues grow in a specific, small area, a tubercle called a wart appears.

Classification and stages of nipple development

There is no generally accepted classification of warts. However, there are several common varieties:

  • Common wartis the most common type (70% of warts are just them). Such neoplasms are not felt and only cause aesthetic discomfort to the person.
  • Plantar wart- appears on the feet, is painful, therefore requires treatment. Trauma to the skin due to uncomfortable, narrow shoes with chopping contributes to the formation of such a wart.
  • Straight nipples- more common in young adolescents. This happens due to the unstable hormonal background of the youth, which affects the whole body. Usually straight nipples are almost invisible.
  • Senile warts- are typical for the elderly. They often appear on the part of the body that is covered with clothing, but they can also appear on the face and hands. If there is no discomfort, such warts should not be treated - healing in older people can be much slower than in younger people, due to a slow metabolism.
Nipple and nipple mosaic

Other authors distinguish several other types of this wart:

  • Mosaic warts(HPV 2, 4) - neoplasms on the palms and soles of the feet. They look like foci of hyperkeratosis, ie. Thickening of the stratum corneum (usually in the front of the foot), covered with deep cracks.
  • Cystic warts(HPV 60) are a very rare type of growth on the foot. It is a soft knot with cracks. After opening, a white-yellow curd-like discharge appears.
  • Filiform wartsare thin horny growths near the mouth, nose or eyes.
  • Butchers' warts(HPV 7) - appear on the hands and fingers of people who are in constant contact with meat and fish. Present as hypertrophied neoplasms similar to cauliflower, but normal in color.

In addition, the types of warts differ depending on their position.

Thus, anogenital warts, tumor-like neoplasms that appear on the genitals (especially where the skin passes into the mucosa) are a common disease. They are usually caused by HPV types 6 and 11.

Nipple complications

The main reason why patients with warts go to the doctor is an aesthetic defect that can affect the patient’s quality of life, his self-confidence and develop a lot of complexes. Complications may include cracking of the nipple surface and the addition of infection, and in some types of warts, pain when walking.

Warts do not usually degenerate into malignant neoplasms, they are quite harmless, however, in very rare cases such a complication can still occur in people with suppressed immunity.

Other complications occur when you try to remove the growth yourself. In this sense, inflammation and aesthetic defects in the form of scars can occur, as well as further spread of the virus through the skin, which is why a person can wake up in the morning after self-removal of one wart with several new ones.

Remember that under the guise of a wart can hide a completely different disease, which can not be determined without the advice of an experienced doctor.

Nipple dermatoscopy

Nipple Diagnosis

Examination (clinical picture) and medical history (medical history) are usually sufficient to make a diagnosis.

To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor can perform a histological examination - examination of neoplasm cells.

It is very important to make a differential diagnosis - to distinguish warts from other diseases. For example,common wartsmust be distinguished from the following diseases:

  • Molluscum contagiosum- occurs more often on the body and genitals, less often on the arms and legs. It is a hemisphere that has an impression on the surface, and when pressed from the side, a whitish "slurry" is released.
  • Epidermal warty nevus- more often lonely, a person has from birth. It rises above the surface of the skin, often covered with hairs.
  • Basalioma- a roller-shaped tumor with nodules, covered with a crust in the middle. Typical for the elderly.

Palmar-plantar wartsmust be distinguished from the following diseases:

  • Keratoderma- large areas of keratinization and skin inflammation. No clogged capillaries.
  • Palmar-plantar syphilis- multiple painless neoplasms, the skin exfoliates along the periphery. The reaction to syphilis is positive.
  • Corn- usually painless, can only cause pain if pressed vertically.

The doctor must also distinguish other types of warts from a number of diseases. If another pathology is suspected, it may prescribe additional diagnostics (for example, detection of antibodies to viruses, CT or MRI).

Wart treatment

Warts are treated for aesthetic purposes and to improve the quality of life of the patient. The doctor can prescribe it only after examination and accurate diagnosis. Independent attempts to get rid of warts are unacceptable, because a patient without medical education and the necessary equipment is not able to accurately determine the disease, and complications after such "treatment" occur much more often than recovery.

There are several ways to treat warts. All are usually performed under the supervision of a doctor, and some of them - only in the doctor's room of the clinic.

Chemical treatments for warts

Chemical treatments

Milk-salicylic collodion and salicylic patches are used to remove the wart. The percentage of drugs and the method of their application (long-term wearing of plaster, applications, etc. ) depend on the frequency and localization of the neoplasm.

Zinc and 2-chloropropionic acid solutions can also be used. In this case, a chemical composition is applied to the previously treated surface, which is left on the wart until the color changes (depending on the type of wart). The procedure is repeated several times after 7, 14 and 21 days. Before each procedure, the tissue is removed mechanically.

Another chemical method is a combination of nitric, acetic, oxalic, lactic acid and copper nitrate trihydrate. In this way, only relatively small neoplasms are treated - up to 5 mm. A solution was also left to change the color of the nipple. After 3-5 days, the patient comes for a re-examination, if necessary, another procedure is prescribed for 1-4 weeks.

Nipple treatment with liquid nitrogen

Cryodestruction

This method consists of freezing the nipple with liquid nitrogen: a moistened swab is pressed on the damaged skin (capturing the surrounding tissue by a few mm) for 1-5 minutes. Some lesions require several treatments four weeks apart to resolve.

The main disadvantages of cryodestruction are its pain and delayed action compared to other methods, in which often only one procedure is sufficient for removal.

Electrocoagulation

Under the influence of electric current, the wart is removed in layers. Such an operation is performed under local anesthesia.

This method is more effective than cryodestruction, but has a significant drawback: electrocautery often leaves scars at the site of wart removal. For those patients seeking cosmetic repairs,Skin after laser removal of warts on the legthis method will not be the most appropriate.

Laser destruction

The laser also removes warts in layers. The light guide contacts the skin for a few seconds to three minutes, depending on the size. The scab that appears is then excised and the bottom of the wound treated again with a laser. The patient is then instructed on how to treat the wound. The operation itself is performed under the influence of local anesthesia.

Radio wave operation

Radiowave surgery is one of the most modern and gentle methods of removing some benign tumors, including warts.

The method is based on the generation of electromagnetic waves of different frequencies: from 100 kHz to 105 MHz. During the procedure, the tissues resist the passing waves, due to which molecular energy is released in the cells, which heats the skin. Under the influence of heat, the cells actually evaporate - a neat cut is obtained. At the same time, no mechanical forces act on the affected tissue.

Advantages of this method:

  • security;
  • rapid wound healing;
  • good cosmetic effect - scars and scars are excluded;
  • relative painlessness - local anesthetic is applied before mini surgery;
  • exclusion of secondary infection due to automatic electrode disinfection when the device is turned on.

The effectiveness of this method is recognized worldwide, however, it is quite difficult to find a clinic that uses the method of radio wave surgery.

Which treatment to choose

All of the above methods have several drawbacks:

  • In the first few weeks, the operated area looks unattractive - crusts, darkening of the tissue. This should be taken into account if warts are found on visible parts of the body (for example, on the face).
  • Unpleasant odor and some degree of pain during surgery.

In addition, each of these methods has contraindications, which you must learn in a preliminary consultation with a dermatologist.

But the main drawback ishigh probability of recurrence, especially if the warts were widespread. With each of these methods, doctors are not fighting the root cause of the disease, but with its consequences, as of todayhuman papilloma virus is not curable.

Therefore, therapy is focused on:

  • or destruction of neoplasms that appear at the site of introduction of the virus;
  • or to stimulate an antiviral immune response;
  • or a combination of these approaches.

Destructive treatments are most commonly used. Their efficiency reaches 50-80%.

Childhood is usually not a contraindication to surgical treatment. Therefore, many of them (including radio waves) are also used to treat warts in children. The exception is the chemical removal of warts due to the possibility of adverse reactions to the substance.

What to do after operation

Be sure to follow your doctor's advice after any of these surgeries.

After removing the tumor by any of the methods presented, the doctor usually prescribes treatment at the site of removal. It is forbidden to remove the "crust" on its own, moisten the wound and expose it to direct sunlight.

If the patient is constantly suffering from warts, then he should consult an immunologist - he may need drug therapy, which will increase the immune system's resistance to the manifestations of human papilloma virus.

Forecast. Prevention

If the patient does not have immunodeficiency, the warts may disappear on their own, but this will take a long time - from a few months to a few years. Thus, in 65% of cases, the warts return independently within two years. If after two years the wart is still standing, removal is recommended. It is recommended to remove multiple increments immediately.

With normal immunity and proper removal method (depending on the size and type of wart), it is possible to remove pathogenic tissue and achieve a good cosmetic effect. With reduced immunity and other predisposing factors, the remaining human papilloma virus in the body causes relapses.

There is no specific disease prevention. But is infection inevitable?

You can reduce the likelihood of a virus by following a few rules:

  • Avoid walking barefoot in public places where there is a possibility of skin injury and virus infection (swimming pools, public showers, gyms).
  • Choose quality footwear, change it often. Try to keep your feet dry. Heat and humidity are excellent reproductions of human papilloma virus.
  • To avoid perungual warts, only go to certified nail technicians and make sure they use sterile instruments.

For the prevention of anogenital warts, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a tetravalent vaccine against human papilloma virus is also highly effective. There are currently no vaccines available to prevent other types of warts.

If you find a single wart, then do not try to distort, cut or excise yourself - this can contribute to inflammation and further spread of the virus through the skin. After such "removal", instead of one wart in the morning, you can wake up with ten.