Warts on Face and Hands

Warts on Hands: Distinctive Features, Causes, and Ways of Treatment

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Stephanie S. Gardner, MD, has been a rehearsing dermatologist for as far back as 20 years. This specialty is considered the most popular in this field.

Most often, either common warts or flat warts appear on hands. They can appear singly on the fingers, or in groups, on the palms.These are dense formations that rise above the skin surface having a diameter of 0.1-1 cm. In most cases, several warts appear at once. Almost everyone is familiar with such problem as hand warts, especially children of school age (about 20%). Warts, of course, are not a fatal or painful disease, but very unpleasant, since they have an unaesthetic appearance. In addition, when contacted with other people, they can become infected. Therefore, when the appearance of warts on the hands, it is important to immediately begin their treatment.

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What Types of Warts Are Found on Hands?

Flat warts on hands are up to 4% of all warts. Flat warts are found in children and young people several times more often than in adults. Single or multiple outgrowths on the skin do not cause discomfort if they are not damaged in everyday life, for example, when doing work about the house.Warty growths appear at the beginning of active reproduction of HPV. Activation of papillomavirus can occur due to severe stress, reduced activity of the immune system, severe infectious diseases, hormonal changes in the body. Unlike a common wart, a flat wart has a smooth surface and clear boundaries. The skin pattern of the wart is absent. Flat wart often has a pink or light brown shade, its size does not exceed 5 mm.

Predisposing factors for the formation of common warts on the hands:

  • permanent damage to the skin of the fingers and hands;
  • the habit of gnawing nails, biting off burrs;
  • reduced general and local immunity;
  • household contact with an infected person when the virus enters the blood through microdamages and abrasions;
  • frequent visits to saunas, public pools and gyms against the backdrop of non-compliance with the rules of individual safety.

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Wart on Elbow

Externally, the wart on the elbow is a small formation of a rounded shape with an uneven surface and clear boundaries. The color of the growth is determined by its appearance; it can vary from a yellowish and flesh tone to a gray and dark brown color. Most often, the skin on the elbow is affected by common warts. Warts, covered with a layer of cornified cells, can be easily distinguished from moles on an uneven, rough surface. The exception is a flat wart, which has a smooth structure.

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Wart on Arm

Characteristic signs of warts located here: the lack of pain; the disappearance of the skin pattern on the surface; for new warts, it is characterized by a smooth shiny surface; for old ones – covered with horny layers; black dots are visible on the surface of the enlarged wart (these are thrombosed capillaries).

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Wart on Palm

Externally, the wart in the palm of your hand may resemble a normal callus. But such warts have several distinctive factors. These are: warts have a color approximate skin tone; such a wart of about 1 centimeter, more in diameter is rare; it has a compacted structure. These warts are most often solitary but several small ones may appear around a large one. When a tumor appears, it has a transparent and soft surface. Later, it is covered with a thick layer of horn. Warts do not cause any painful and unpleasant sensations. Pain can occur only with the penetration of the roots of the wart to the muscle layer. In such cases, black dots appear on the surface of the wart.

 

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What Should You Do After Discovering Warts on Your Hands?

When warts appear on the fingers of a child and an adult, first, it is necessary to see a dermatologist. The doctor will conduct dermatoscopy, if necessary, prescribe histological examination. The main method for determining the number and type of HPV is the PCR method. The appearance of warts is directly associated with a decrease in immunity. That is why it is recommended to conduct immunological studies to determine the provoking factors and eliminate their effect on humans. Frequent relapses of warts occur in people with immunodeficiency states, severe chronic diseases that suppress the protective functions of the body.

Warts, like nevi (moles), can become malignant or inflamed. This happens due to prolonged skin contact with the sun, alkalis, acids, household chemicals. It is easy to damage a wart on a hand when washing dishes and even when you are wearing gloves.

Visit a dermatologist with the following external changes of the wart on the hands:

  • darkening of the hand wart;
  • an excessive growth of warts on the hands, which are often damaged;
  • the presence of a cosmetic defect that must be eliminated;
  • an extraction of blood or some fluid from the surface of warts;
  • soreness, redness and swelling of the tissues of the hands affected by warts.

Hand warts are prone to frequent relapses. And until you find the cause of their appearance, no methods will stop the new aggravations. It is necessary to suppress the active reproduction of HPV.

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What Are the Causes of Hand Warts?

It is not a secret for anyone that the human papillomavirus is the one that causes unpleasant warts, which appear as a sign of the fact that the person is infected and his/her immunity has decreased. One and the same person can have more than one type of the mentioned virus. It is possible to define which type you have even without having an examination and blood tests.  The location of warts on your body can tell much about the type of the virus that hides inside.

In case, you have noticed warts on hands, you should know that these are the 2d and the 4th virus types. Most often, the warts on the hands do not pose any threat to health. Outgrowths on the skin provoked by the human papilloma virus are not prone to malignancy. But there are cases of tissue degeneration, and they are associated with a combination of high doses of ultraviolet radiation and exposure to traumatic factors.

The skin of the hands is often in contact with water and detergents, due to which the outgrowths on the skin soften and are easily injured. Excessive insolation is very harmful to benign growths. If the warts on the hands are damaged, it is better to remove them immediately.

 

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What Are the Causes of the Finger Warts?

Why are fingers affected? Warts between fingers most often appear due to the following reasons:

  • these are the most injured areas of the body;
  • contact with the carrier of the virus or with everyday objects occurs, as a rule, through hands (handshakes, handrails of stairs, door handles, etc.).

 

A person with a virus may not be aware of its existence in the body for many years. The appearance of warts is mainly due to a decrease in the immunity of an infected person. The opposite situation is also possible: under the influence of immunity, the warts that have already appeared are independently resolved.

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Recommendations on How to Get Rid of Warts on Hands

How to get rid of warts on fingers and hands? It is better to entrust treatment to the doctor. The specialist will prescribe a drug for local use or perform a minimally invasive surgical operation, which often does not even require anesthesia. Antiviral therapy is used only in advanced cases, when warts are ubiquitous or often recur after removal.

Warts do not resemble any disease: without treatment, most diseases begin to progress. With warts, the situation is not like this. They may not respond to the most effective methods of treatment, but may resolve themselves. The following pattern has been observed: independent resolution of warts within two months occurs in 20% of cases; within three months – in 30% of cases; within two years – in 50% of cases. Children are prone to have the wart self-resolution. Less commonly, the warts disappear independently in adults, in children with reduced immunity, and in the case of persistent development.

In most cases, warts do not need treatment, they usually disappear as soon as the immune system is restored. However, there are exceptions. Therefore, to exclude the possibility of a more serious disease, it is necessary to verify with the dermatologist that the growth that has appeared on the skin of the hands is really a wart. Warts can behave differently. If the treatment of warts on the hands is absent, then these formations can gradually increase in number and size; remain unchanged for a long time; or even disappear on their own.

If you selected a competent treatment of warts on hands, then the following scenarios are possible:

  • warts will completely disappear at the very beginning of treatment;
  • they are gradually resolved as treatment progresses;
  • do not change and appear again, despite all the methods used to remove warts.

It should be understood that no method of treating warts is able to eliminate the human papillomavirus from the body. Only the manifestations of the infection are removed, but the virus remains. To avoid relapse after removing a wart, you need to strengthen the immune system.

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What Drugs Can You Take to Get Rid of Hand Warts?

The essence of the treatment of warts – the destruction of growths on the skin. You can do this with the help of drugs or physical effects. These methods can be combined.

Treatment of warts on the hands is carried out by the following groups of drugs:

  • locally necrotizing;
  • means for cryotherapy;
  • keratolytics;
  • external antiviral drugs for warts and agents that increase immunity.

Local necrotic drugs:

  • The active ingredient of the drug (podophyllotoxin) causes necrosis of the elements of the wart. This remedy for warts on the hands is contraindicated in women during pregnancy and lactation and children. Preparations in the form of a solution. Also developed on the basis of podophyllotoxin.
  • Solkoderm – a solution that has a cauterizing and mummifying effect, followed by the formation of a necrotic scab. The active ingredients are nitric, lactic, acetic and oxalic acids, copper nitrate.
  • Verrucacid – a complex means of cauterizing action. Active substances are phenol and meta-cresol – coagulate proteins. It is not recommended for children under 7 years old. Conducting cryotherapy at home has become available with the help of drugs that are able to effectively freeze warts. They are the following keratolytic drugs – melting tissue:
  • Collomack is a therapeutic solution with keratolytic, irritant, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effects. Active substances – salicylic acid, lactic, polidocanol-600. It is recommended for adults and children over 1 year.
  • Plaster salipod from warts. It has a pronounced keratolytic and antiseptic effect. The active ingredients are salicylic acid and sulfur. Not recommended for the treatment of warts in children.

To avoid relapse, after removing the wart, you must use external antiviral agents (Viru-Merz gel, for example). Effective therapy is impossible without restoring immunity and maintaining it at the proper level. To improve the immune system by using these groups of drugs: immunomodulators; stimulants; vitamin complexes.

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What Methods of Hand Wart Treatment Can the Doctor Suggest?

Which method is it better to choose to remove warts on hands? Check the most popular ways of getting rid of warts on hands effectively. They are the following:

  • Laser (positive effect is achieved due to evaporation or coagulation of skin cells). The laser vaporizes the warts on the hands. The method is the most safe and effective. The laser removes warts without contact, while maintaining the conditions of sterility and infectious safety. After the procedure, a scab forms, which disappears in a week.
  • Liquid nitrogen (cure occurs due to the death of tissue warts under the influence of frost). During cryodestruction, the wart freezes on the hand with vapor of liquid nitrogen. At the same time using a cotton or hardware applicator. With it, process each new education within 10-30 seconds. During this time, a characteristic white deposit is formed on the surface of the outgrowth of the skin, which indicates that tissue necrosis has occurred under the influence of low temperatures.
  • Surgical treatment (used in case of damage to a large area; a mini operation is performed under local anesthesia and involves the imposition of cosmetic intracutaneous sutures). Surgical treatment of warts gives good results. If local preparations are used, there is usually a high risk of recurrence. Failure to follow the instructions may cause injuries to healthy tissue. Surgical removal of warts is carried out by specialists in the conditions of the cosmetology room. The doctor can control the depth of skin damage, avoiding complications.
  • Electrocoagulation (cutting of a wart with electric current during coagulation of tissues). The wart becomes charred. The electrode smooths the edges of the skin to healthy tissue. In about 1 week you will have no crust. This method is good because you shouldn’t worry about scars.

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Are There Natural Remedies You Can Try to Remove Hand Warts?

Many people prefer not to resort to methods of official medicine but to use proven natural remedies to remove warts on hands. Despite the fact that some of them can be really effective, they can only be resorted to with the approval of the attending physician. One of the most effective means in the fight against warts, is considered the juice of celandine and duct tape. It should be applied very carefully, regularly applying to the pathological area, until it disappears completely. Acetic acid and fresh onion juice have a similar effect. Following another recipe, you need to brew in three liters of boiling water three tablespoons of dry peppergrass. After two hours, the broth is poured and heated. The hand affected by the warts must be hovering over the broth for 10-15 minutes.

You can increase the effectiveness of hand wart treatment if you start to avoid accidental injuries to the skin of your hands. Try to wear gloves, especially when using annoying household chemicals. If a small abrasion still appeared, immediately treat it with hydrogen peroxide, iodine, alcohol or any other antiseptic. And one of the recommendations is to refuse a cut manicure.

It is difficult to prevent the appearance of warts but there are things you can do. The most important thing is to strictly follow the rules of hygiene, do not walk barefoot in public places (sauna, swimming pool, bath, shower, changing room). Also, do not touch other people’s warts, and in general, stay away from those people who have them. It is also necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat right and balanced diet, and strengthen the immune system.

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By admin July 26, 2019
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