Warts on hands: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Warts on the hands are predominantly benign neoplasms. The appearance of such growths is associated with increased human papillomavirus activity. The disease is highly contagious and requires special complex therapy.

Causes of the appearance of warts on hands

Warts are an unpleasant external manifestation of an infectious skin disease. The culprit is the human papillomavirus.

How does HPV infection, which causes warts to grow on the hands:

• Contact method. . . In most cases, infection by this pathogenic microorganism occurs through direct contact between the skin of a healthy person and an infected person. A simple handshake may suffice. Therefore, the most common occurrence is the occurrence of warts on the hands, as the hands are the part of the body that most contact. In addition to this option, it is possible to notice the possibility of transmission of the pathogen when using things and objects that the person with the disease has touched. Therefore, you can be infected by relatives at home. Sometimes the virus survives for some time on various wet surfaces, for example, in bathrooms, changing rooms, public transport, etc.
• Autoinfection. . . If a similar neoplasm has appeared in one part of the body, the risk of autoinfection is possible. More precisely, the spread of the virus to healthy tissue. This happens when growths are traumatized with nails or other objects. If the hygiene of the wound and hands is not carried out in a timely manner, it can easily cause an increase in the injury.
• from mother to son. . . Under this option, the child's infection occurs from the mother during childbirth.

It should be noted that sexual contact with a carrier of the virus is rarely the cause of the appearance of warts on the hands. This method of transmission often causes another type of benign neoplasm.

HPV is highly infectious. It is difficult to avoid infection. The disease affects men and women, adults and children. Most of the time, warts appear on the hands in children and adolescents.

From the moment the virus enters the body until the first external manifestations appear, it can take 1 to 6 months. Although in some cases only a carriage is seen, in which the warts never start to grow. This is possible if the person's immunity is strong enough and does not allow the virus to multiply and activate.

Thus, HPV can wait a long time for the right moment - a significant weakening of the immune system.

Various types of mental trauma, improper regimen of work and rest, drug abuse, unbalanced diet, adherence to bad habits and unfavorable environmental conditions can affect the immune state towards its decrease.

The predisposing factors for the appearance of these formations are numerous, consider the most obvious reasons why warts appear on the hands:

• Acute and Chronic Diseases. . . Any illness and lack of timely and competent treatment can significantly weaken the immune system. An increased risk of getting HPV from the development of warts on the hands is with HIV, eczema, psoriasis, etc. The risk of virus penetration into the epidermis increases with the presence of even the smallest cracks in the skin.
• individual characteristics. . . Hyperhidrosis, that is, increased sweating on the palms of the hands, is a provocative factor, as it promotes the formation of a special pathological microflora and high humidity, which are favorable conditions for the reproduction of HPV.
• Failure to comply with personal hygiene rules. . . Explaining what causes hand warts in the absence of skin care is quite simple. For example, dry skin can cause small cracks and irritations to form, through which the virus can safely penetrate its interior. It is noteworthy that the infection can be prevented even after shaking the hand of an infected person, if it is commonplace to wash your hands in a timely manner.

With strong protective functions, the body can handle the infection on its own. In the best case, recovery takes 2-3 months. According to statistics, this is about 20% of cases. Sometimes the recovery process with the help of one's strength takes 2 years.

How are the warts on your hands?

Many people, having discovered skin cancers themselves, wonder how to cure warts on their hands. However, before starting treatment, you must make sure that you have exactly the warts, and for that you need to be able to distinguish these benign growths from others - calluses, keratosis, lichen planus and molluscum contagiosum.

The most important difference is that warts on hands and other parts of the body have small blood vessels. This can be understood as an accidental lesion of the tumor or when trying to remove it yourself - bleeding of varying intensity occurs.

The color spectrum of benign and safe warts is varied. Growths may be skin color, light yellow, light brown, grayish brown. Sometimes, on its surface, black dots can be seen - sites of thrombosed vessels. At the same time, the coloration of human papillomavirus neoplasms in light brown, black is not typical. Any color change should alert the person and request an urgent trip to the hospital to determine how to treat hand warts. The fears must also be caused by those tumors that become inflamed, become infected, and begin to grow at an accelerated rate.

Wart sizes range from 1 to 10 mm. They are either single or formed in groups of several. With a very weak immune response, neoplastic tissues grow rapidly. Individual growths can grow together.

Any type of wart causes hyperkeratosis - excessive thickening of the upper layer of the epidermis. That's why these growths can be easily felt, they stand out clearly against the background of healthy cells with a coarser and more solid structure.

Most of the time, two types of warts appear on the hands:

• common warts. . . They are also called vulgar. A preferred location for this type of neoplasm is the hands. It can easily spread to the skin of the face. Color is skin color, yellowish-brown or greyish. It is in these warts that blackheads can often be seen. The growths are keratinized eminences above the skin. In shape, these warts on the hands resemble a dome-shaped nodule or papule. Its structure is dense, the surface is irregular with small villi, characterized by increased tissue dryness. Size is usually 2 to 7 mm in diameter. Most of the time, they don't cause pain.
• surface flat warts. . . Another name is young. The back of the hands is often affected. Color - from light yellow to brown. In appearance, they resemble flat nodules of a round or irregular shape. Size is 3-4mm. They practically do not protrude on the skin.
• Flat warts are deep. . . The second type of flat warts. Representatives of this species grow inward. These are very specific formations. They also have an irregular shape, ranging from light yellow to brown. It doesn't particularly protrude on the skin, but within the outer surface of the buildup there is a slight depression in the middle. The size of a single neoplasm is 3-4 mm. Most of the time, it is the deep warts on the hands that require treatment. they, as a rule, transmit quite strong painful sensations.

Warts are a source of infection. At the same time, they bring great physical discomfort to the owner and form complexes in him, embarrassment with his appearance, as his hands are almost always visible. Therefore, even without the presence of pain and dangerous changes in the structure of these growths, it is advisable to go to the hospital and know how to remove the warts from your hands.

Ways to Treat Warts on Hands

The determination of the causes of warts on the hands and treatment must be carried out by a qualified physician, who has at his disposal not only knowledge and experience, but also all kinds of tools to make a diagnosis. Thus, with the help of laboratory tests, the type of human papillomavirus, the viral load is determined, and the risk of developing adverse consequences is assessed. Based on the results, a complex therapy is prescribed, which includes not only the ingestion of medications, but also the instrumental removal of malignancies, which are dangerous. Self-medication can often lead to a lack of therapeutic effect or the development of complications.

Treating Warts on Hands with Medicines

A dermatologist treats the treatment of warts on the hands. Its main task is to suppress virus activity and prevent the spread of infection. For this, antivirals are used both for external use and for oral administration.

The most popular remedies used to treat hand warts are:

• Ointments for disinfecting and fighting viruses. . . Topical treatment can reduce the spread of the infection through the skin, thus reducing the risk of infection for others. Many drugs effectively suppress the virus's activity, slowing the uncontrolled growth of neoplasms. They also contribute to the rapid healing of skin lesions, relieve inflammation.
• External means for growth destruction. . . The active substances have an aggressive effect on growing cells, promote their destruction and bring about the complete elimination of warts on the hands and other parts of the body. Its use is desirable within the walls of a medical institution in order to avoid undesirable consequences in the form of damage to healthy tissue. Separately, we can see the spray with dimethyl ether and propane. The drug works on the principle of cryodestruction and effectively removes epithelial tumors caused by HPV.

It should be noted that, to date, no specific drug has been found against human papillomavirus. However, there are medications that can reduce viral activity and prevent the growth of warts on hands, feet and other parts of the body. Thus, in a separate column, it is worth highlighting the drugs intended for oral administration. They actively stimulate the immune system, helping the body to produce special immune cells, and are also capable of having a visible antiviral effect.

Popular drugs with antiviral and immunostimulant activity used to treat HPV in the presence of warts on the hands:

• A preparation with inosine. The strong antiviral effect is complemented by a stimulating effect on the immune system. A comprehensive solution to the problem of HPV from different strains provides an increase in immune response and suppression of viral activity.
• Synthetic Purine Nucleoside Analog. This is a direct acting drug, it targets viruses, including HPV. The result of treatment is a noticeable decrease in viral activity.
• Inducer of endogenous interferon synthesis. The action is specific - it activates the body's defenses, triggering various immune processes. Accelerates interferon production.
• Preparation with acridone acetate meglumine. Increases the body's resistance to the effects of HPV. Reduces viral load and prevents the growth of warts on hands.
• Popular immunostimulant drug. An increase in the immune response leads to the fact that the virus loses its ability to integrate into healthy cells, while its population is significantly reduced.

If your health is severely weakened, your doctor will recommend taking vitamin and mineral complexes to restore nutrient balance and the performance of each structural unit in your body.

After comprehensive treatment of warts on the hands, patient evaluations indicate that complex therapy has a great effect, and the percentage of relapses is much lower than with simple removal of epithelial tumors by instrumental methods without the use of antiviral and immunostimulant drugs .

Removal of warts on hands with instrumental methods

Removal of the affected epithelium is a mandatory procedure if the warts cause discomfort, grow quickly and change structure, or are frequently sore. Furthermore, any mechanical effect on the growths can cause bleeding, the addition of a secondary infection, the development of an inflammatory process. Therefore, it is not recommended to remove the warts from the hands by yourself.

There are several modern methods of instrumental removal of skin neoplasms. They are characterized by a high degree of efficiency. Most of them are considered minimally invasive. The absence of pain during the procedures is guaranteed by local anesthesia.

The most popular methods for instrumental destruction of warts on the hands are:

• electrocoagulation. . . This method is great for removing common warts that protrude above the skin level, but it also helps to eliminate deep epithelial neoplasms. A special device with a loop at the end synthesizes the high frequency current and simply stops the buildup. No bleeding occurs during manipulation. The resulting crust comes off in 5-7 days. A scar after electrocoagulation remains only after deep exposure.
• surgical excision. . . In most cases, it is prescribed if a growth sample needs to be taken for analysis and in the presence of a large lesion. The removal of warts on the hands is performed with a surgical scalpel. Healthy tissue is often excised during this procedure. After the procedure, cosmetic stitches are applied for 7 to 10 days. After the tissues have completely healed, scars may remain. The cost of surgery is calculated individually for each patient.
• laser removal. . . By many criteria, it is considered the most successful method - minimal painful sensation, high security, precise effect on education. With the help of a laser, the wart cells on the hands are burned. The remaining slots are tightened after 2-3 weeks.
• cryodestruction. . . The deep freezing of tissues, carried out in a matter of seconds, causes the death of the treated tissues. Under the influence of liquid nitrogen, the wart on the hands begins to turn slightly pale and thicken. The surrounding fabric swells slightly and may turn red. After that, the wart's body turns into a blister that can fill with fluid. Within a week, it shrinks and a scab remains in place. The skin recovery time from this point onwards is about 2 weeks.

The scabs, blisters, sores formed as a result of the procedures should never be pulled out. This can lead to infection and longer recovery time. Also, due to such actions, they often leave unattractive scars.

The cost of each procedure depends on the location of the warts on the hands, the number of growths and the total area of the lesion. Furthermore, different clinics may offer the same service at different prices depending on the type of equipment used and the qualifications of the medical staff.

Treating Warts on Hands with Folk Remedies

Many people refuse to visit a doctor for various reasons and are looking for an answer to the question of how to get rid of warts on your hands at home.

To eliminate warts and fight human papillomavirus, traditional healers use many improvised means, foods and plants. However, you need to understand that the effectiveness of traditional medicine in treating HPV is quite weak, so it should not be trusted, refusing to take medication and professional removal of skin growths.

In some cases, the treating physician may recommend supplementing traditional methods of treating hand warts with folk remedies. Among the tasks are the same - maintaining immunity and increasing the body's antiviral activity, normalizing the balance of nutrients, in addition to local antiseptic treatment.

Recipes for Effective Folk Remedies:

• herbal infusion. . . To cook, take 25 g of birch leaves, juniper needles, dandelion root, banana leaf, chicory root and 30 g each of nettle leaves, agine grass and horsetail grass. All ingredients are poured with boiling water in a volume of 1 liter, boiled for 10 minutes over low heat, insisted for 10-12 hours. It should be taken four times a day, half a glass.
• Herbal Infusion. . . For cooking, eat absinthe herb (10 g), birch buds (15 g), lemon balm (20 g), thyme herb (25 g) and juniper berries (30 g). All ingredients are mixed. For fermentation, take 40 g of the herb mixture, pour 400-500 ml of boiling water, infuse for 1-1, 5 hours, filter and bring inside. The dose received is calculated for 1 day. Treatment for warts on hands is 2 to 5 weeks.
• hand baths. . . The starting material is tea tree oil (3 drops) and lemon juice (half the fruit). Both ingredients are diluted in 2 cups of warm water. Place in palm mixture and hold for 20 minutes. After the procedure, the softened wart particles on the hands must be removed. The tool has an antiviral effect, smoothes the skin, accelerates tissue regeneration and fights pathogens.
• Pine-lemon mixture for warts. . . It is necessary to mix lemon and pine oil in equal proportions. The resulting mixture is applied to affected areas 3-5 times a day to smooth growths, have an antiseptic effect and accelerate the regeneration of healthy tissue.
• Wart orders. . . Patchouli oil is applied to a bactericidal adhesive and placed over the buildup. These applications can last for several hours. To accelerate the therapeutic effect, the procedure must be performed 2 to 3 times a day until the wart on the hands disappears completely.
• absinthe infusion. . . The dried grass wormwood crushed into a volume of 60 g is poured into 250 ml of boiling water. Insist 2, 5 hours in a thermos, filter. In the infusion, a gauze bandage is impregnated and compresses made twice a day.

It is sometimes practiced to remove warts with celandine, onion, potato juice, lemon, Kalanchoe, acetic acid.

Reviews of real patients on the treatment of warts on hands

The choice of treatment methods is the prerogative of physicians, but it will not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with possible HPV therapy options and cancer removal methods before going to the hospital. Feedback on hand wart treatment posted on Internet forums will help to preliminary assess the effectiveness of a given regimen. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with some stories about how to get rid of the external manifestations of HPV:

1. "My son has warts on his arms. Immediately, they simply anointed him with an antiseptic, but when they started to grow near the nails, the pain appeared. We decided to remove it in the safest and most effective way, as we were told - by radio waves. The son, by the way, did not complain of pain during the procedure, there was no blood. The skin recovered very quickly. Then they also took an interferon-based medicine. Now there is not a single wart. "
2. "I caught these growths somehow all of a sudden. They were very sick. At home I tried garlic and applied celandine, but it didn't work. They had to remove them with a laser, the warts on my hands were deep, so the scars were deep. It took about two weeks to heal, the scars are gradually healing, but I'm still drinking antiviral pills and an immunity drug. "
3. "But folk remedies didn't help me, they just started a wound. I had to go to the surgeon because a lot of this mess grew. It's good that, although the doctor didn't seriously disfigure my fingers, he stitched them up carefully. It took about three weeks. to recover. Now I take pills and make decoctions for skin regeneration. "

Treating warts on hands is responsible business. Prescribing medications and determining the best method of destruction should be done exclusively by a qualified medical professional in order to prevent the spread of the disease and reduce the risk of infection for those around.