Since ancient times, ugly formations on the body have bothered humanity. A wart on the foot is a skin disease caused by a virus. People with skin defects were avoided, fearing infection, and, having noticed a neoplasm on the sole or other part of the body, they tried to remove it as soon as possible. What people do not apply to their plantar warts, if only they disappear forever. Until now, dermatologists are looking for the most effective and painless method of dealing with the disease.
What is a wart
The human papillomavirus provokes a benign or oncological mutation of DNA in skin cells. The body is covered with papillomas, warts, papules. More than a hundred types of HPV have been studied. A wart is a skin growth that signals the presence of the first or third type of papilloma virus in the body. The neoplasms are potentially not carcinogenic, but extremely infectious due to the viability of the pathogen in the external environment.
What does a wart on the leg look like?
The plantar neoplasm has a round shape with clear edges a couple of millimeters or centimeters in size. In the center, black dots of clogged capillaries are visible. On the leg, they look like old dry calluses that have grown into the skin. The pain from the plantar growth does not manifest itself under direct pressure, but upon compression. The absence of papillary lines on the foot is characteristic.
Causes of the plantar wart
Cases of HPV infection are more frequent with unprotected intercourse. The virus penetrates through microcracks in the mucous membranes of the genital organs. Someone's HPV is "in transit", while others are less fortunate - the virus lingers in the body, without notifying itself for a long time. Dermatologists do not exclude that the appearance of papillomas on the surface of the feet is promoted by immune disorders and infectious diseases.
Walking barefoot in public places: baths, swimming pools, body care salons, shared bathrooms, on the beach, trying on shoes on bare feet are the most common causes of plantar wart. The virus is viable outside its host and "lurks in wait for the victim" on towels, tiles, washcloths, furniture, in guest slippers, etc. The infection is attracted by dense, taut areas of the skin of the plantar surfaces and palms, where the papilloma virus enters through minor injuries.
Warts on the legs of children
Children are restless, often injured. Parents may not be aware of the presence of HPV in the child's body, obtained through cuts and abrasions. With a weakening of immunity, the virus becomes active, papilloma appears on the leg. Painful methods of dealing with warts on the legs in children are often contraindicated, poorly tolerated. Often, the child's body copes with this disease of the skin of the feet on its own.
Types of warts on the legs
Warts are a collection of skin lesions caused by papilloma. Depending on the external manifestation, the impact on human health, the following types of warts are classified:
- vulgar (ordinary) - round keratinized blisters;
- flat - a rash in the form of spots rising above the skin;
- filiform (acrochords) - elongated with "torn" edges, formed in the folds of the body;
- genital warts - reminiscent of the comb of a rooster;
- senile (keratomas) - occurring in the elderly, are not associated with HPV.
Wart formations are localized throughout the body, on internal organs, in the oral cavity. Warts on the feet, called plantar warts, are a type of common. One of the types includes well-shaped, which are a depression pressed into the skin, characterized by rapid growth. The appearance of subungual growths slightly raises the nail plate.
Plantar wart treatment
It is dangerous to neglect the treatment of plantar warts. Neoplasms on the feet are constantly injured. They are removed to stop the appearance of new growths and the entry of infections. There is no complete cure for HPV. Treatment is reduced to turning the disease into a "sleep mode". Available medication, surgical, immunomodulatory removal of plantar warts, using alternative medicine.
The disadvantage of treating plantar growths lies in their location: the large stratum corneum of the epidermis makes it difficult to deliver active substances to the depth of the formation on the foot. In preparation for therapy, the top layer of the build-up is soaked and exfoliated. Traditionally, the treatment of warts on the feet begins with the use of salicylic acid. The wart on the foot is daily, for three months, steamed in a bath, disinfected, then the softened top layer is cleaned off with a pumice stone, salicylic acid is applied, and a patch is applied.
Pharmacy chains advise how to get rid of a wart on the leg with the help of medicines containing celandine, phenol, trichloroacetic acid. The drugs cause tissue necrosis, relieving the patient of the deficiency, but leave a trail of healing of a deep wart wound. Each disease is individual to varying degrees, therefore, before choosing a method of how to remove a wart on the sole of the foot, you should ask your doctor's opinion.
Ointment
According to the method of action, there are necrotizing, antiviral, herbal ointments. In the first case, the acid or alkali in the base of the ointment cauterizes the painful growth and leaves a scar. At home, for the treatment of feet, you can use liquid solutions: with acetic, nitric, oxalic, lactic acids in the composition. To avoid burns, the surface of the neoplasm is strictly processed.
Antiviral ointment for warts on the foot is applied to the growth itself and the area around it to reduce the growth of infection. They are used with special ointments. Herbal ingredients affect only the skin formation. Known for their effectiveness in the treatment of feet balm with an applicator, colhamin ointment.
Modern methods of removal
The advent of modern methods of removing warts has replaced the traumatic scalpel. Similar to the surgeon's knife, the electrocoagulator burns out the neoplasm on the foot with current. After the removal procedure with a laser or radio waves, a depression remains on the foot. Healing takes several weeks. Exposure to liquid nitrogen is considered a very painful treatment and requires several treatments. In 2014, British dermatologists published a material on the latest antigen injection therapy. It will help patients who are resistant to existing treatments.
Folk remedies
Procedures with folk remedies for warts on the legs are carried out before bedtime, with pre-steamed feet and for a long time. During handling, protect your hands with latex gloves from the further spread of infection, disinfect all used devices and things to prevent infection of loved ones. List of considered effective folk ways to get rid of feet from a wart:
- Garlic is known for its antibiotic properties. In a neoplasm on the sole, the upper hardened layer is cut off, a thin clove of garlic is applied.
- You can make "anti-beard dough". It is kneaded from finely grated garlic, vinegar, wheat flour, spread on the surface of the neoplasm and sealed with a plaster. After a few days, the dough is removed along with the build-up.
- Apply an onion infused in vinegar to the foot, or you can rub the build-up with vinegar, then attach a fresh onion.
- You can fill the formation with the juice of medicinal plants: celandine, Kalanchoe, calendula, milkweed, dandelion, golden mustache, or attach a slice of apple, mountain ash, figs, potatoes, horseradish, cabbage. The procedure is performed daily, lasting from several weeks to months, until the build-up disappears.
- You can apply wood ash diluted in water to a creamy state.
- The growth is sprinkled with chalk ground into powder and wrapped with a bandage. The compress cannot be wetted.
- Birch and willow barks containing salicyl have proven themselves well in treatment. The bark is applied to the foot, softening it in advance with boiling water.
- Hot foot baths with sea salt, soda, laundry soap, tea tree oil or spruce broth help in the treatment of foot diseases. Treatments can be mixed or alternated.
- Wormwood broth applications are used. 3 tablespoons of dry wormwood herb are brewed in a glass of boiling water, insisted for at least 2 hours.