A wart is a benign skin tumor of viral etiology that looks like a nodule or papilla. It is caused by various human papillomaviruses. The pathogen is transmitted by contact with a sick person or by transferring the virus from a sick person through common objects. A risk factor for infection is a skin breakdown (wounds, atopic dermatitis or other).
The following types of warts are distinguished: common warts, flat warts, condyloma acuminata, and senile warts. Common, flat warts and condyloma warts are caused by a common virus. The incubation period is 2-5 months.
Each type of warts is caused by a different type of human papillomavirus.
Common (vulgar) warts are dense, dry, limited, painless, keratinized, irregular, villous surface, ranging in size from a pinhead to a pea. They may coalesce to form large plaques. Most commonly found on the hands.
A variation of common warts - plantar warts - appear in the pressure points of shoes, especially in very sweaty people. Very dense, keratinized, grayish-purple color plant warts are very painful, which prevents walking, sometimes causing a temporary disability.
Flat, or juvenile warts usually occur in children and young adults. They look rounded or irregularly shaped flat nodules that are located on the back of the hands, as well as on the skin of the face. The appearance of flat warts promotes skin irritation (often occur along the lines of scratches, cuts). The formation of flat warts on the body is associated with infection with papillomavirus, namely its fourteenth, fifteenth and twenty-seventh strains.
Pinworms are tiny pink nodules that, by fusing, form vegetative growths of soft consistency at the base in the form of a thin stalk. They are mainly located on the genitals. Transmission is sexually transmitted, and children can become infected during childbirth.
The notion that the danger of warts is related to the risk of developing cervical cancer is erroneous, because these diseases are caused by different types.
Since warts can have similarities with some other skin neoplasms that sometimes have an unfavorable course, a consultation with a dermatologist is necessary if a wart appears.
Unfortunately, none of the known methods of treatment of warts does not eliminate the cause of their occurrence - human papillomavirus. Recurrence is possible after any method of wart removal. In this case, the probability of relapse is about the same after any method and is about 30%.Warts can behave completely unpredictably: they can independently resolve without any treatment, and may not respond to the most effective methods of treatment. Self-resolution of warts occurs in about 20% of cases within 2 months, in 30% of cases within 3 months and in 50% of cases within 2 years. Warts in children are more likely to resolve on their own. In the case of warts in adults, immunocompromised individuals and persistent warts, self-resolution is less common.
Medicinal methods
Destructive chemotherapy:
- Drugs containing acids:
- Feresol (phenol, tricresol),
- Trichloroacetic acid,
- Salicylic Acid,
- Preparations containing alkali:
- Sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide,
- 5-fluorouracil (in the form of ointments, applications, creams),
- Topical application of retinoic acid may make the warts disappear.
Surgical methods
Common, senile and flat warts are destroyed by freezing with liquid nitrogen, chloroethane, dimethyl ether, a mixture of dimethyl ether and propane, or "dry ice", electrocoagulation (radio wave surgery).
Pinworms are treated surgically. Plantar warts are sometimes eradicated by repeatedly injecting a Novocaine solution under the base as an anti-inflammatory agent.
