Skin diseases are considered one of the most unpleasant and annoying diseases known to mankind. They harm not only human health, but also affect self-esteem, good mood and relationships with others. Moreover, pathological formations on the skin look ugly and unaesthetic, which is especially worrying for women of all classes and ages.
Common diseases of the epidermis are warts. We will talk about the causes and treatment of this ailment in this article. We will also find out whether it is possible to get rid of it with the help of folk methods or only medication can help.
Disease definition
Before you find out what the treatment of warts at home is, you need to learn more about the disease itself.
There are several definitions of the term “warts”. Most often, it refers to neoplasms on the surface of the skin of a benign etiology that appeared as a result of infection with individual strains of human papillomavirus.
These manifestations occur in both men and women, regardless of age and social status. Neoplasms are both small (one to two millimeters), and large (about one and a half centimeters), they are localized on almost any organ of a person - arms, legs, neck, face and so on.
Over time, warts change in color (from light to dark or black), which indicates their pollution. Also, such pathological formations are able to combine, forming a rather large and dense tumor on the surface of the epidermis.
What do warts look like? It is very important to know, since the method of its treatment will depend on the appearance of the neoplasm. Photos of warts (more precisely, some of them) will be filed in the article below.
Classification of ailment
Before you get acquainted with the various methods and means of treating warts, you need to find out their varieties. In medicine, several types of skin formations are distinguished:
- Ordinary warts (another name - simple). This is a very common type of disease, occurs in seventy percent of cases. It is found most often in children attending elementary school. Neoplasms occur on the hands, less often - the face, in the folds of the lips, oral mucosa. They are rounded, dense, dark colored papules, the diameter of which can reach one centimeter. Most often, ordinary warts can go away on their own or after removing the so-called “maternal” wart - the largest, around which all the others are collected. Are warts on the arms treatable? Yes, and you can read about it below in the corresponding section.
- Plantar warts appear where the shoes strongly compresses the skin. Occur due to the fact that the foot often sweats. Such neoplasms are yellow-gray plaques with a keratinized uneven surface. Most often they occur separately, but they can also be clusters of three to seven warts. When walking, such tumors cause wild pain. How is plantar wart treated? This can be read below.
- Flat warts (another name is youthful). This pathology is rare (in only four percent of cases recorded), but it is most often observed in male patients. Such neoplasms are small (up to half a centimeter in diameter), have a smooth surface and are localized, as a rule, on the outside of the palms, legs and face. May occur at the site of cuts, have a light brown color with a pinkish tinge.
- Condylomas (in other words, genital warts). They are small skin growths of pink color, which are able to merge together, forming a soft texture of large size. Most often, such neoplasms are found on the genital organs or near them. Dangerous, as they can grow and provoke infectious diseases of the genital organs and the development of oncology.
- Senile warts (another name - keratomas). They occur most often in old age, gradually growing, they can be localized in a rather large territory of the epidermis, thereby causing aesthetic and other inconveniences to a person. Most often appear on the back, chest, neck.
So, we familiarized ourselves with the main classification of cutaneous pathologies. It is very important to know their difference in order to carry out high-quality treatment of warts with folk remedies or pharmacological preparations. However, before discussing treatment methods, let's find out why these cutaneous neoplasms occur.
What triggers the pathology?
It's no secret that the causes and treatment of warts on the hands and other organs are closely interrelated. What is the culprit of these manifestations?
The most common cause of warts is the human papillomavirus, which is found in almost every inhabitant of our planet. For their manifestation, usual overwork, hypothermia, decreased immunity, and so on are enough. An important factor is various injuries of the skin, in the place of which warts can occur.
Another way to acquire this ailment is infection from another person. Through normal household contact, infection can be transmitted. Shaking hands or hugging a person who has warts can lead him to pass on his ailment to others. Unprocessed manicure, a sauna or bath, someone else’s bedding or towels - all this can cause unwanted formations on the skin. Also, do not forget about sexual contacts through which not only viruses and infections can be transmitted, but also condylomas, keratomas and other types of warts.
So, we identified the culprits and identified the causes of warts on the hands. We will talk about the treatment of neoplasms in various skin areas below.
General points
Before you start home treatment for warts, you should know that not one, even the most powerful and effective drug, can eliminate the main cause of their appearance - papillomavirus.
Moreover, not a single remedy (even medication) has a 100% guarantee that warts will disappear forever. Not always treatment helps get rid of neoplasms. In addition, the disease is able to recur, that is, disappeared growths can appear again.
Before treating warts, it is also important to understand that over time they can be eliminated on their own (such a course of the disease is observed in almost fifty percent of patients). In addition, if you decide to use aggressive methods of dealing with growths, you must be prepared for the fact that after their disappearance there may be scars or scars visible to others.
And the most important thing. Starting treatment for warts on the arms, legs, face or anywhere else is recommended with the simplest and most inexpensive methods. If they do not help, then you can take advantage of the already more intense and expensive.
Surgical Disposal
Most often, this method is used when it is no longer possible to get rid of skin neoplasms with medications or folk remedies. What does surgery include?
Most often, these methods are practiced:
- Electrocoagulation In other words, the elimination of warts with the help of a current that helps not only “cut off” the growth, but also disinfects the wound, and also stops bleeding.
- Laser coagulation. As is clear from the word itself, the method involves the elimination of neoplasms using a laser under local anesthesia. After the eradication of the growth in its place, a shallow recess forms, which is delayed for two to three weeks.
- The surgical method involves excising the warts with a scalpel, after which the wound is sutured.
Also, the attending dermatologist may advise the removal of warts with liquid nitrogen. This method involves the careful application of nitrogen to the growth, after which it turns into a dense white bubble and dries out over time.
The methods listed above can be used to treat warts on the fingers, face and other places of their dislocation in both adult patients and children. However, it should be remembered that such removal of unwanted growths should take place within the walls of a medical institution. Moreover, it entails painful sensations. And, of course, any removal of warts implies a gentle attitude to the excision site. That is, for several weeks it is best not to wet the wound, do not cover with cosmetics and so on. If removal of the neoplasm on the foot has occurred, then the attending doctor may recommend not loading the leg, that is, walking less.
Are there other medical methods for treating plantar warts, as well as ordinary, flat and others?
Pharmacy treatment
You can get rid of all kinds of skin growths at home, however, this must be done only after consultation with your doctor. What drugs can a specialist prescribe to improve the result?
First of all, drugs that increase immunity. It can be vitamins and immunostimulants. Also, antiviral or antibacterial agents will not be out of place.
What drugs can be recommended for the direct elimination of warts?
Here is some of them:
- “Verrucacid.” Most often, the remedy is prescribed for the treatment of warts on the foot and palms, as well as ordinary and flat. The composition of the drug includes phenol and metacresol. The substance should be applied to the growth using the applicator included in the kit. If necessary, the procedure must be repeated the next day (and so no more than five days). Avoid getting the drug on healthy skin around the tumor. For this, it is better to grease it with oil or oil before applying the product.
- “Cryopharma”. It is a spray with a cooled refrigerant, which is recommended to be applied using an applicator. After treatment, the wart should first turn white, then turn red. After which, the growth is converted into a blister and disappears.
- “Solkoderm”. It is a mixture of several potent acids. Before use, the place where the wart is located must be steamed, then dried and treated with medical alcohol. After applying the medication, the treated area of ​​the skin must be slightly pressed down with the applicator. If the wart does not brighten, it is recommended to apply the product again. After the neoplasm darkens and a crust forms, it can in no case be torn off on its own.
- Superchistotel. It is the most inexpensive and effective tool designed to remove warts and other skin growths. Before its use, the skin around the neoplasms is lubricated with cream or oil, then the wart is treated with one drop of a liquid. The procedure is repeated if necessary for three days (once a day)
- Salicylic acid. Best used as a patch. In this case, the skin is steamed, treated with alcohol and a patch is glued to the wart. It must not be removed for two days. After that, the patch is removed and a new one is glued, if the neoplasm has not disappeared.
Treatments for small patients
As a rule, for the treatment of warts in children , the same drugs are used as for adults. However, in this case, the elimination of growths occurs under the closer scrutiny of doctors and specialists.
For example, such preparations as oxolinic and salicylic ointments, Perhydrol, an interferon-based ointment, and others can be used. A very common and gentle method for treating small patients can be the application of a methoxypsoralen-based product with subsequent exposure to the tumor site of ultraviolet radiation.
As a complex therapy, experts prescribe oral administration of magnesium and vitamin A, the use of drugs based on interferon, and so on.
Of course, the use of this or that remedy should take place under the supervision of a doctor and only after its permission.
Parents are afraid to use an aggressive medication and avoid surgery. In such cases, the attending physician may recommend the use of traditional medicine. They will be discussed below.
Time-tested methods
Not only children, but also adults can be treated with folk methods. They are believed to be safer and not so aggressive.
To cure warts at home, you can stock up on the following foods:
- garlic;
- vinegar;
- celandine;
- laundry soap.
Below are examples of how you can use these components to get rid of warts without leaving your home.
Garlic and vinegar - an aggressive mixture
How to prepare an effective tool using these components? For example, you can chop four cloves of garlic and pour them in half a glass of apple cider vinegar. The mixture should be infused for two weeks, and then wipe the affected area once or twice a day.
You can also take one teaspoon of finely grated garlic, mix it with a teaspoon of lard (melted) and four teaspoons of table vinegar. The resulting mixture must be applied to the wart before bedtime.
Some recommend mixing vinegar and wheat flour in such a proportion that a porridge is formed. It also needs to be applied to the affected area of ​​the skin before bedtime.
The course of treatment for all the methods described above is at least two to three days. However, no need to get involved. It is best to apply any means to warts no longer than five days, so as not to burn the skin and cause even more damage to your health and beauty.
Celandine and Dandelion - Natural Cleaners
The celandine plant is the most common way to deal with growths on the skin.
It is necessary to break the stem of a flowering plant, squeeze out a yellow liquid from there and grease the lesion with it. Such manipulations are recommended to be carried out several times a day for a rather long period - about three weeks.
The same treatment principle applies to dandelion juice.
Bitter grass
According to numerous recommendations, wormwood is also an effective tool in the fight against skin tumors. To do this, it can be taken orally (one tablespoon per glass of boiling water) and simultaneously lubricated with a strong decoction of the lesion. The course of treatment should also be long - about a week. You can lubricate the skin for a longer period (about two to three weeks).
Other folk recipes
From time immemorial people used onions to treat warts. Half the head of the vegetable was completely filled with vinegar and infused for a couple of hours. Then the bulb was applied to the growths on the skin and bandaged. The duration of the drug is ten to twelve hours, so it is best to use it at night.
Recently, the use of laundry soap in the fight against skin neoplasms has become popular. Firstly, it is recommended to wash and wash clothes with this detergent. Secondly, a piece of laundry soap should be applied to the affected area and bandaged, leaving it overnight. This tool helped some to get rid of warts in a few days!
A rather effective method of dealing with skin growths are baths with a large amount of sea salt. To prepare them, it is necessary to dissolve two hundred grams of salt crystals in a liter of hot water. Then, hands or feet affected by warts are lowered into the solution. The procedure takes thirty minutes. If you carry out such manipulations once a day, then after five to seven days you can forget about unpleasant growths on the skin.
As you can see, there are many recipes that help to get rid of warts at home. Consult with your doctor, do not be afraid to try something new, and you will surely get rid of unpleasant neoplasms, wherever they are.