Why do warts grow is a question a dermatovenerologist can often hear from a patient.
These neoplasms are often not only the cause of aesthetic, but also physical complaints.
Hence, it is not surprising that patients are interested in how to get rid of them.
Patients are often interested in what these growths are and why warts on the hands grow on the hands and other parts of the body.
What provoking factors affect their appearance and how to get rid of the pathology?
Warts: what are they?
When a person discovers that their wart has started to grow, they involuntarily wonder what it is and where the growths are coming from.
Warts are benign skin changes.
A person owes their appearance to an infection with the human papillomavirus.
The virus is considered to be very widespread, around 90% of the entire world population suffers from it.
The peculiarity of the infection is that its symptoms can be absent for a long time.
Until the body is exposed to negative influences.
It is very easy to contract HPV today, as doctors say.
There are multiple possibilities.
- Sexual contact. Sex without a condom easily transitions the infection from a sick person or carrier to a healthy one. In addition, even a condom cannot always protect a person from this viral pathology. Although it significantly reduces the chances of infection. It is important to remember that not only classic sexual intercourse is dangerous, but oral and anal intercourse as well.
- Vertical path. Another fairly common method of infection. In this case, the virus enters the child's body from the sick mother's body. The moment he passes her birth canal. In exceptional cases, a transplacental infection is also possible. However, this requires the fulfillment of special conditions.
- Contact household way. The human papillomavirus can remain on ordinary sponges, towels, and bed linen. If a healthy person comes into contact with the hygiene articles of an infected person, infection is of course possible.
It's important to remember that warts are just one of the manifestations of HPV.
In addition, the virus can make itself felt through the development of papillomas, genital warts, and other types of neoplasms.
In addition, some subspecies (strains) of the virus are highly oncogenic.
This can lead to the development of malignant neoplasms if treatment is not started on time.
Types of warts
Regardless of how fast the wart grows, doctors differentiate between several types of this uncomfortable skin formation.
Depending on the type of wart, one can assess its location, as well as the alleged features of its removal.
To assign:
- ordinary growths, the formation of which most often occurs on the face and hands, and especially often children suffer from them, in most cases many growths appear at the same time, they are rarely single;
- flat neoplasms - another variant of the pathology that affects the face, neck and arms, often does not differ from the general skin tone in color, which can make it a little difficult to see;
- Plantar warts form on the soles and are similar in structure to the most common corn, which can cause significant discomfort when walking;
- Senile formations occur in older patients, they are usually small at first, but over time they develop a clear tendency to grow, can cause discomfort, since they are often on closed parts of the body and are subject to friction.
Some also refer to genital warts as warts, but this is not entirely true, although the nature of the formations is similar.
It is very important to understand what type the identified wart belongs to.
This allows the doctor to choose the optimal removal tactics and also the means to prevent relapses.
Causes of the appearance of warts
Often, patients who wonder why warts grow on the body, face and extremities, ask their doctor whether the localization of the growths somehow depends on their nature.
It is important to understand that the main reason for its occurrence is always the same - it is the human papillomavirus activated in the body.
Unless the patient has HPV, they will never develop warts anywhere.
If there is a virus in the body, a neoplasm can appear anywhere.
Some people do not have the virus for their entire life.
If the immune system is strong enough, the patient may not even know they are infected.
Unless specific studies have been done.
If a neoplasm has appeared, the infection should already have occurred.
Unfortunately, these days it is impossible to remove HPV from your body.
However, with difficulty, you can reduce the recurrence of the pathology to a minimum, so that the virus will no longer remember itself.
Warts grow on the headmostly due to the fact that there are most blood vessels.
This means that the easiest way for the virus to get to these zones and infect the maximum number of cells.
But patients often ask why other parts of the body are affected.
Why do warts grow on hands
It's not uncommon for people to ask their doctor why warts are growing on their fingers.
There are several reasons.
The main reason, as doctors note, is that the hands are one of the main parts that are in constant contact with the external environment.
Hence, the easiest way for a virus to enter the body is through the contact household route.
It is true, as doctors note, that if there are no injuries and injuries on the skin of the hands, the risk of infection is minimized.
But when the patient's skin is traumatized, it becomes extremely easy to get infected.
Among other things, they are called:
- constant contact with objects of the external environment in public places (handrails, doorknobs, ordinary objects) that can be infected;
- Shaking hands with someone who has HPV and who has characteristic rashes or microtraumas on the skin on the hands that allow the virus to get to a healthy person;
- excessive dryness of the skin, which contributes to the formation of various microtraumas;
- Sweating of the palms, which also negatively affects the protective properties of the skin;
- regular trauma to the skin in the area of the hands (working in industries without gloves, cuts, etc. );
- to ignore the recommendation to wear gloves in cold weather (the slowing of the blood flow in the hands allows viruses to accumulate and more actively infect healthy cells).
Warts on the soles
Often the wart also grows on the leg.
The patient can ignore it for a long time at first, or fight it in the same way that they usually fight a cornea.
But these methods prove to be ineffective.
There are several reasons for the appearance of growths due to HPV in the area of the soles:
- the wart hurts and grows on the sole, when a person often wears shoes made of unnatural materials, where the skin sweats profusely and the foot cannot breathe normally;
- the appearance of a pathological outgrowth is also possible if the patient goes to saunas, baths, swimming pools without shoes (since these places are considered public places, the virus can easily get into the environment and, due to the high humidity, can also stay in it for a long time);
- constant wearing of rubber shoes also negatively affects heat exchange and sweating, which can lead to the development of infection;
- As with the hands, excessive dryness of the skin also plays a role, resulting in less damage to the skin than normal (ex.
- Fungal diseases of the feet also contribute to HPV infection as they decrease local immunity.
The wart began to grow: provoking factors
As mentioned earlier, even when there is an infection, the human papillomavirus does not manifest itself in all people.
When the wart grows and itches or hurts?
This is a reason to think about the fact that the body was affected by pathological factors that negatively affected immunity.
Among the reasons for the growth of warts or provoking factors are often mentioned:
- the presence of diabetes mellitus of any kind in a state of decompensation;
- be infected with HIV;
- decreased immunity under the influence of factors of an adverse environment (for example, due to cold, unhealthy diet, etc. );
- pregnancy, which is always associated with immunosuppression, as otherwise the woman would not be able to carry the fetus;
- the use of drugs with glucocorticosteroid hormones in the composition, which have an immunosuppressive effect;
- some severe genetic pathologies can lead to activation of the virus;
- ignoring the rules of hygiene can trigger pathological processes in the body;
- the neglect of protective principles during sexual intercourse often leads to infection and then to the development of the disease;
- Stress and overload always have a negative effect on the body's immune defense.
Exposure to one or more of these factors can cause warts to start growing in an adult or a child.
Warts Removal Methods
What to do when a wart grows, many patients are interested in their attending physicians.
After all, although not usually painful, this pathology still causes aesthetic discomfort.
Especially whenthe wart grows on the face. . .
First of all, a patient with a similar problem is recommended to undergo abutment removal.
One of the following methods can be selected:
- chemical removal with the help of special drugs, which are used to cauterize the neoplasm until it completely disappears;
- laser removal, which is also based on a burn with a directed beam, as a result of which the surrounding tissue is minimally traumatized;
- cryotherapy, in which the removal is carried out with the help of nitrogen, which strongly cools the pathological tissue, thereby killing it;
- Electrocoagulation is another popular method where removal is due to the point effect of the current;
- Surgical intervention is a technique that is used in exceptional cases when the growth is large or there are contraindications to the use of other methods of intervention.
If a wart is growing on the eye or the growth is localized elsewhere on the face, it is imperative that you consult a doctor.
You cannot fight such sensitive localized neoplasms on your own.
Because this can lead to serious complications.
Once removed, the doctor can no longer guarantee that the warts will no longer appear.
Relapses of pathology are registered in about 30% of cases.
In some cases, the growths also go away on their own without outside interference.
What Doctor Should You See If Warts Are Growing?
When warts grow on the neckor in other parts of the body, which doctor should then be consulted, interests the patients.
First of all, it is worth visiting a dermatovenerologist.
This specialist deals with various skin conditions including those caused by viral infections.
The doctor specializes in dermatology and venereology.
He can also provide advice on strengthening immunity to prevent neoplasms from recurring.
Warts are uncomfortable growths on the skin.
They significantly reduce the aesthetics, especially if they are placed in prominent places.
A person suffers particularly badly when the face is affected.
Timely visit to the doctor will help to easily get rid of the growth formed under the influence of HPV.
And adherence to the recommendations prevents relapses.
If warts appear, consult a dermatovenereologist in a specialized clinic.