Warts are skin growths in the form of nodules or papillae. This is the most common skin pathology and occurs in more than 90% of the world's population. Warts can appear in anyone, at any age, on absolutely all areas of the skin, from the face to the feet. The disease is usually contagious, it all depends on the person's immune system.
What causes warts?
There is a common belief that touching a frog causes warts to appear. It's a hoax. The causative agent of the disease that causes the formation of warts is human papillomavirus infection. According to statistics, this infection causes about 20% of all cancers.
The risk of HPV infection increases significantly:
- when using foreign and commonly used personal hygiene items;
- in public places (swimming pool, bathhouse, etc. ), especially when walking barefoot;
- in case of damage to the skin;
- with increased sweating of hands and feet;
- upon contact with an infected person (handshake, sexual contact, etc. );
- when walking in tight, uncomfortable shoes that cause friction on the skin of the foot;
- when using non-sterile instruments (in a beauty salon, etc. ).
Are warts always dangerous?
Most warts are completely harmless and can theoretically disappear within a few weeks or at most a month. In this case, patients are more likely to be concerned about a serious cosmetic defect that causes psychological discomfort and interferes with a fulfilling lifestyle.
Warts are usually painless unless they are on the soles of the feet or another part of the body that is subject to constant blows or contact. But there are cases of itching and discomfort in the affected area.
How to recognize warts: symptoms and signs
An inexperienced person may confuse warts with other skin growths, for example, moles, calluses and melanomas.
The main differences between warts and moles:
- moles have a dark or black tint, while warts have a light color;
- warts grow very close to the skin, moles are separate structures, as if they were attached to the body;
- Moles are soft and smooth to the touch, warts are hard, tough and rough.
It is also easy to distinguish a wart from a callus. When pressing on the growth, painful sensations will occur, and if it breaks off, traces of hemorrhage will be visible underneath. Under the callus there is new, tender skin.
You can distinguish a wart from a melanoma by color and shape. This dangerous disease is characterized by heterogeneous red and black shades, proliferation and an uneven contour.
It is not difficult for a dermatologist to make the correct diagnosis through a visual examination. But a good specialist will not be satisfied with a simple inspection. He will definitely use a special magnifying device - a dermatoscope. If a pathogenic process is suspected, it will be necessary to scrape off the surface layer.
In the case of anogenital warts (located around the anus and on the genitals), consultation with a gynecologist or proctologist is necessary.
What is the structure of benign neoplasms?
The growths consist of cells that have partially retained their original functions and are capable of growing slowly. They are similar in structure to the tissues from which they originated. They can exert pressure on nearby tissues, but not penetrate them, since they have a capsule in their structure. They respond well to surgical and hardware treatment and, as a rule, do not cause relapses.
There are always congenital formations on the skin: moles or warts, as well as acquired ones. The latter are formed on the surface or in the subcutaneous layer as a result of metabolic disorders, decreased immunity or under the influence of a virus.
Common warts (simple, vulgar)
Common warts are dense, dry growths characterized by an irregular surface that is rough to the touch, variable size, and rounded shape. They look like a hard, keratinized bubble up to 1 cm in diameter, rising significantly above the surface of the skin.
The surface of common warts is usually covered with grooves and projections, so the new growth looks vaguely like a cauliflower or raspberry with black dots inside.
This is the most common type of wart and accounts for up to 70% of all skin neoplasms. Simple warts can appear on the skin at any age, but they most often affect children and young people. This is due to the fact that they have weaker immunity than adults.
Common warts usually appear on the hands (fingers and back of the hands), knees and elbows, sometimes on the face or feet and, very rarely, on the mucosa of the mouth.
Small, scattered growths may form next to the large "parent" wart. Young neoplasms are usually flesh-colored, over time they acquire a dirty gray or gray-brown tint, less often yellow or pinkish. This is due to its uneven porous surface, on which dirt accumulates.
Common warts are usually not a cause for concern: they do not cause unpleasant symptoms, they do not hurt or itch. However, they can cause pain if they are in areas subject to impact or in contact with clothing. The growths may heal on their own over time, especially if they occur in childhood.
Why do benign formations appear on the skin?
Cosmetologists and dermatologists do not know the exact mechanism of its formation. The most frequent cause is:
- injuries;
- virus;
- systemic diseases of the body, for example xanthomas, arise due to excess fat in the blood;
- long-term skin diseases;
- exposure to aggressive substances;
- excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation;
- X-rays;
- inheritance (for example, seborrheic dermatosis).
Most skin lesions are benign.
Plantar warts (pointed)
Plantar warts are a type of common wart. The manifestation of the disease is most often observed in children and between 20 and 30 years old. Of all skin warts, plantar warts occur in 30%.
Warts on the soles of the feet appear as round, hard bumps with papillae in the middle. Inside the wart, characteristic black dots are seen - many small thrombosed capillaries. Along the edges there is a small roll of keratinized skin. The visible part, which rises only 1-2 mm above the skin surface, can reach 2 cm in diameter and is only a quarter of the total size of the plantar wart, which forms mainly in the deep layers. of the epithelium (skin). ).
Externally, the column resembles a callus. A plantar wart can be differentiated (distinguished) from a callus by the visible disruption of the skin pattern according to the wart.
This type of neoplasia usually affects the feet (soles, sides and toes), and less frequently the palms. They appear on the skin as small, punctual, whitish skin lesions that are sometimes itchy. Over time, its surface becomes rougher and changes color, from yellow to dark brown.
Plantar warts in themselves do not pose a threat to health, but when walking they cause a person significant discomfort, cause pain, which often intensifies and can even bleed. This is due to the location of the tumor and the specific characteristics of its growth. As the spine grows inward, the weight of the body when walking compresses the pain receptors.
The incubation period of the disease varies from several days to several years. The infection enters the body and waits for a favorable environment to activate. Plantar warts return without treatment in 50% of cases. But this process lasts from 8 months to a year and a half.
Without treatment, plantar warts will increase in size and multiply, even to the point of producing large clusters of tumors. This can even lead to a temporary loss of a person's ability to work due to excruciating pain that prevents them from walking.
Depending on the characteristics of the lesion and its location, plantar warts are divided into 3 types:
- simple;
- periungual;
- mosaic.
Do benign formations hide danger?
Benign neoplasms are unpredictable structures that can manifest at any time or not at all. The process of their transformation into malignancies has not been fully studied. There is no clear answer to the question of what exactly activates this process. Mechanical trauma, excess ultraviolet radiation, metabolic disorders, and other factors are thought to contribute to degeneration. One way or another, if you have a benign skin lesion, you should not experiment and rely on chance. In addition, today the removal does not cause difficulties.
Periungual plantar warts
Periungual warts are small, rough formations with cracks on the surface, located on the hands and feet of a person, that is, near the nail plate or deep under it. Externally they resemble cauliflower heads.
They can be flat, pointed or hemispherical. As a rule, periungual warts are gray, but they can also be flesh-colored. They are not too dense, like simple plantars, but have a fairly deep root.
This disease mainly affects children and young people. The main factor in contracting the infection is skin microtrauma around the nail. Particularly at risk are those who bite their nails and pet stray animals, as well as people who carelessly remove cuticles, use unsanitized tools, and work in water without gloves.
This type of neoplasm does not pose a threat to human health, it is mainly just a cosmetic defect. Periungual plantar warts do not cause discomfort or pain when pressed. However, a wart under the nail is not so harmless: over time, the neoplasm causes depletion of the nail plate and its further destruction.
In addition, various bacteria and viruses enter through cracks on the surface of the growths, which are easily formed due to frequent manual work and lead to reinfection. Additionally, as warts grow, the cracks may cause pain. The cuticle is often lost and a tendency to become inflamed (paronychia) develops.
Removal of the tumor is necessary to stop the proliferation of growths, which easily spread to healthy fingers. The location of the wart under the nail plate makes treatment and removal very difficult. When it appears in childhood or adolescence, it may disappear on its own.
Where do warts come from? They are contagious!
Like herpes, warts are the result of a virus. More than one hundred types of viruses are responsible for the development of warts, the majority of which are HPV. Since there are oncogenic types of HPV, some formations can be especially dangerous in terms of cancer, for example, those that develop around the genitals.
No matter what warts are or where they are located, never scratch, rub or scratch them, as they can transmit millions of viruses to other areas of the skin where new growths may appear.
It is very easy to contract wart viruses. For example, infected human epithelial cells end up in pool water. They swim in the water and easily find their prey. The wart virus can also be transmitted through direct physical contact, simply by shaking hands. The penetration of viruses into the body is facilitated by small lesions on the skin.
In children, warts often appear under the nails as a result of finger sucking or chewing, which can be painful and difficult to treat. Children can easily contract viruses while playing. As a result, one in four children has viral warts on their hands or feet.
Whether or not we get infected with the virus depends on how strong our immune system is. A strong immune system suppresses the infection that causes warts.
Mosaic plantar warts
Mosaic warts are a special type of neoplasm. They are plaques, called clusters, that form as a result of the fusion of many small plantar warts very close together. The arrangement of the plates resembles a mosaic (hence its name).
This formation is usually observed in a small, localized area. It can reach a diameter of about 6-7 cm. In the early stages of development, mosaic warts look like small black pinpricks. As they develop, they take on the appearance of a white, yellowish or light brown cauliflower, with dark spots in the middle. These spots are formed due to thrombosis of blood vessels.
This type of wart is quite rare. They usually affect the hands or soles of the feet, and are especially common under the fingers. Unlike simple plantar warts, mosaic warts cause little to no pain when walking because they are flatter and more superficial.
Mosaic warts are very contagious. They are difficult to treat due to the multiplicity of sources of viral infection. The success of treatment is facilitated by its timely initiation. As a general rule, mosaic growths are prone to recurrence even after surgical removal.
Benign and malignant skin neoplasms: what are the differences?
Benign pathologies do not pose a threat to human life. If they reach large sizes, they can interfere with the proper functioning of various body systems. On the contrary, malignant ones grow rapidly and aggressively, penetrating surrounding tissues and forming metastases over time. Some damage vital organs and cause death.
Sometimes benign skin tumors change due to external or hereditary causes. They acquire the ability to degenerate into malignant pathologies. These conditions are called borderline or precancerous and represent a great danger to health and life, although they do not always present pronounced symptoms.
Flat warts (juvenile)
Flat warts are a fairly common type of tumor and the least problematic. They present as small lenticular lesions (several mm in diameter) or smooth papular lesions. They can grow singly, which is quite rare, or in large numbers, close to each other.
There are several stages of the disease:
- mild: one or several painless warts;
- medium – from 10 to 100 painless growths;
- severe: more than 100 neoplasms.
If they are located in places that experience excess pressure (friction from clothing, shoes, etc. ), they cause pain.
Flat warts are easily identified and have a white, brown, yellowish or pinkish hue, similar to the color of flesh. They are about the size of the head of a pin and, compared to other types of warts, are softer and flatter. In fact, at the point where a flat wart develops, the skin rises slightly (up to a height of about 5 mm), forming a kind of raised circular area.
The growths usually appear on the face, knees, elbows, back, legs, and arms (especially the fingers). People of absolutely any age become victims of this disease. But it most frequently affects children and adolescents (20% of schoolchildren suffer from it), hence the second name for warts: juvenile.
In a close group of schoolchildren, 80% show resistance (resistance) to the virus. In adults, irritation and inflammation after shaving contribute to tumor proliferation.
The incubation period of the infection can last up to 8 months. In most cases, the disease is only a cosmetic defect. Juvenile warts are painless unless caused by mechanical pressure or injury and can sometimes be itchy, but they are extremely contagious.
The virus is practically not transmitted through shared objects, the main route of infection is contact with the skin. Flat warts multiply so easily that it is enough to touch a healthy part of the body to cause the birth of a new formation.
The peculiarity of this type of warts is that in most cases it does not require treatment: they can disappear as suddenly as they appeared, especially in children. In adults, the disease must be treated and the virus is very resistant to drug treatment.
Transmission of warts by direct contact.
Minor trauma or maceration causes epithelial barrier dysfunction and subsequent loss of skin integrity, paving the way for viral infection and wart formation. The incubation period ranges from 3 weeks to 8 months after exposure. In most cases, spontaneous regression is observed.
Laser wart removal
Nowadays, laser surgery is one of the best ways to get rid of warts. This is a painless and safe procedure that can be used in areas of maximum sensitivity. Removal of tumors with a laser is very effective: the probability of relapse is minimal. This is significantly influenced by the severity of the disease.
Warts are removed by layer-by-layer cauterization of the affected area, thanks to which the doctor controls the depth of the effect. At the same time, the laser beam cauterizes the blood vessels, thus preventing bleeding at the exposure site.
Three methods of laser coagulation are common:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser. Procedures that use this laser are more painful. Although the CO2 laser seals the blood vessels, it also kills the wart tissue. In this process, there is a possibility of damaging healthy tissue. Wounds usually take longer to heal and scarring may occur. The efficiency is around 70%.
- Erbium laser. It is characterized by a shorter wavelength. The likelihood of scar formation after healing is significantly reduced.
- Pulsed dye laser. This laser more effectively seals the blood vessels that feed the wart. It does not damage as much of the healthy tissue as a CO2 laser does. It is also the only type of laser approved for use in children. The effectiveness of this treatment method is approximately 95%.
| Advantages | Defects |
| Minimum probability of scar formation (depending on the degree of neglect of the pathology) | High price |
| Rapid tissue healing | |
| High efficiency of the method. | |
| Minimal damage to healthy tissue. | |
| Speed of the procedure |
Wart removal is performed under local anesthesia. A scab remains at the cauterization site that disappears in 14 days. After the procedure, the patient quickly returns to his normal lifestyle, provided all the doctor's recommendations are followed.
Treatment of filamentous papillomas.
In 90% of cases, filamentous warts do not heal on their own (as, for example, juvenile or vulgar warts in childhood can heal on their own).
They need to be treated. Especially if these formations are injured.
For example, if the papilloma is on the neck, it can be injured by a chain or collar of clothing. If it is on the face, with glasses, under the breast, with a bra. You should keep in mind that such permanent damage can cause inflammation of this formation and its pain.
Official methods and treatment methods
Laser Filamentous Wart Removal – Read a detailed article on laser removal.
The simplest, fastest and most economical way to treat this type of papillomas. The doctor directs the laser beam at the skin formation, which evaporates and burns. The skin must first be numbed with novocaine so that the patient does not feel pain. And wear safety glasses on your eyes.
The entire procedure takes no more than 1 minute per wart. The consequences are a small scab on the wound. After 3 to 5 days, this scab falls off and healthy, clean skin forms in this place.
Extraction using the radio wave method: read the article on radio wave surgery.
The principle of operation is as follows: a device for radio wave surgery ("Surgitron") creates a high-frequency radio wave that destroys wart tissue in the same way as a laser, that is, evaporates it.
The entire procedure is carried out in the same sequence as the laser treatment method: first (mandatory! ) Local anesthesia, then exposure for 1 to 2 minutes (it all depends on the size of the formation being removed). The consequences of radio wave treatment are exactly the same as those of laser.
Removal of filamentous papillomas with liquid nitrogen: read information about liquid nitrogen.
This method is popular due to its simplicity. It is not necessary to numb the skin with injections, nor the presence of a doctor. The procedure can be performed by any nurse or cosmetic clinic worker.
Principle of operation: liquid nitrogen, at a temperature of minus 195 degrees, freezes the wart tissue. A doctor or nurse, dosing the effect on the skin over time, does not allow frostbite to occur on adjacent healthy areas of the skin around the pathological formation.
After the procedure is completed, in 90% of cases, the papillomas will disappear on their own within 3-4 days.
Electrocoagulation of filamentous warts.
Today, this method is used much less frequently, as it is a more traumatic method. Papillomas are removed with an electric knife. In this case, a burn and wound forms on the skin, which then takes longer to heal.
Removal with radio knife.
The most effective modern method of getting rid of warts is removal using radio waves. First of all, this is due to the fact that in this procedure the instruments do not come into contact with the patient's body: they are produced at a radio wave frequency.
Other advantages of wart removal by radio waves should be noted:
- complete painless;
- speed of the procedure;
- exclusion of edema and infiltration;
- absence of postoperative complications;
- absence of scars at the site of wart removal;
- quick rehabilitation period.
The procedure is also performed under local anesthesia. After exposure, a scab forms on the affected area of skin, which disappears on its own in 7 to 10 days.
Prevention of skin tumors.
Unfortunately, medicine has not yet learned how to prevent the appearance of various formations on the skin. But dermatologists give their patients the following preventive recommendations:
- do not delay contacting a doctor if a tumor appears on the skin;
- remove formations only after a specialist and diagnostics confirm their benign nature;
- avoid excessive sun exposure;
- use sunscreen, especially if you are prone to moles and hyperpigmentation;
- do not come into contact with chemically active and carcinogenic substances;
- Do not eat foods that contribute to the development of cancer (smoked meats, sausages, animal fats, meat products with food stabilizers).