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 after noticing a neoplasm on the sole or another 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 to deal with the disease.
What is a wart
The human papillomavirus causes a benign or oncological mutation of DNA in skin cells. The body is covered with papillomas, warts, papules. More than one hundred types of HPV have been studied. A wart is a skin growth that signals the presence of the first or third type of papillomavirus in the body. The neoplasms are potentially not carcinogenic, but extremely contagious 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 few millimeters or centimeters in size. In the middle, black dots of clogged capillaries are visible. On the leg it looks like the old dry hard skin that has grown into the skin. The pain from the plantar growth does not appear under direct pressure, but by compression. The absence of papillary lines on the foot is characteristic.
Causes of plantar warts
HPV infections are more common during unprotected intercourse. The virus penetrates microcracks in the mucous membranes of the genitals. Some HPVs are "on the move", while others are less fortunate - the virus stays in the body without letting itself know for a long time. Dermatologists do not rule out 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, test shoes on bare feet are the most common causes of plantar wart. The virus is viable outside its host and "lurks for the victim" on towels, tiles, washcloths, furniture, in guest slippers, etc. The infection is attracted to dense, tense areas of the skin on the plantar surfaces and palms where papillomavirus enters through minor damage.
Warts on children's legs
Children are restless, often injured. Parents may not be aware of the presence of HPV in the child's body, obtained through wounds and skin 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 in the skin of the feet on its own.
Types of warts on the legs
Warts are a collection of skin lesions caused by papillomas. Depending on the external manifestation, the impact on human health, the following types of warts are classified:
- vulgar (common) - round keratinized blisters;
- flat - rash in the form of spots that rise 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) - occurs in the elderly, is not associated with HPV.
Wart formations are located throughout the body, on internal organs, in the oral cavity. Warts on the feet, called plantar warts, are a common type. One of the types includes well-shaped, which is a depression pressed into the skin, characterized by rapid growth. The appearance of subungual growths raises the nail plate slightly.
Plantar wart treatment
It is dangerous to neglect the treatment of plantar warts. Neoplasms on the feet are constantly damaged. They are removed to stop the occurrence of new growths and the onset of infections. There is no complete cure for HPV. The treatment is reduced to making the disease a "sleep condition". Available medicine, 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 structure 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 steamed daily in a bath for three months, disinfected, then the softened top layer is cleaned off with a pumice stone, salicylic acid is applied and a plaster is applied.
Pharmacy chains advise on how to get rid of a wart on the leg using medications that contain celandine, phenol, trichloroacetic acid. The drugs cause tissue necrosis, relieve the patient of the deficiency, but leave a trail of healing of a deep wart wound. Each disease is individual to varying degrees, and before choosing a method to remove a wart on the sole of the foot, you should therefore ask your doctor's opinion.
Ointment
According to the method of action, there are necrotizing, antiviral, herbal ointments. In the first case, acid or alkali at the base of the ointment etches the painful growth, leaving a scar. At home, for the treatment of feet, you can use liquid solutions: with acetic acid, nitric acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid in the composition. To avoid burns, treat the surface of the neoplasm strictly.
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 only affect skin formation. Known for their effectiveness in treating foot balm with an applicator, colhamin ointment.
Modern methods of removal
The advent of modern methods of removing warts has replaced the traumatic scalpel. Like the surgeon's knife, the electrocoagulator burns the neoplasm of the foot out with current. After the removal procedure with 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 performed before bedtime, with evaporated feet and for a long time. During handling, protect your hands with latex gloves from further spreading infection, disinfect all used devices and items to prevent infection of your 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 layer 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, remove the dough along with the buildup.
- Apply an onion infused in vinegar on the foot, or you can rub the growth with vinegar, then put on 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 and lasts from several weeks to months until the build-up disappears.
- You can use wood ash diluted in water for a creamy state.
- The growth is sprinkled with chalk ground to a powder and wrapped with a bandage. The compress cannot be moistened.
- Birch and willow bark containing salicyl has proven good in the treatment. The bark is applied to the foot, softening it beforehand with boiling water.
- Warm foot baths with sea salt, soda, washing soap, tea tree oil or spruce broth help in the treatment of foot diseases. Treatments can be mixed or changed.
- Wormwood broth applications are used. 3 tablespoons dry wormwood herb is brewed in a glass of boiling water, insisted for at least 2 hours.