Which doctor should I see for warts?

First you need to understand what warts are. It is basically a skin disease characterized by the appearance of small formations. The size of such formations varies from 1 mm to 1 or more centimeters.

The cause of warts is viral. They can be passed from person to person through a simple handshake or through the use of objects that have been used by a sick person. The incubation period can last several months. So, when warts form on your body, it can be very difficult for you to remember who may have "given" them.

It must be said that there are different types of warts, so the attitude towards them should be extremely delicate. They can be placed on the back of the hands, on the face, and even on the scalp. On the feet, warts are usually found on the soles of the feet. If they are painless in the arms, then in the legs they can cause a lot of discomfort. Their formation can be triggered by the sweating of the feet and the pressure of the shoes.

A special place is occupied by juvenile warts that appear during adolescence. Usually these warts are small in size and are located on the hands and face. For any type of wart, you should consult a doctor to rule out the possibility of any other skin disease.

Thus, genital warts are sometimes confused with warts, requiring consultation with a venereologist and urologist. Any new growth on the skin should require maximum attention. It happens that a tumor on the skin is mistaken for a wart, and this is extremely dangerous, especially if you are going to remove it. In this case, you should not resort to folk remedies!

Such procedures should only be performed by a professional doctor, first making sure that he is dealing with a wart. Not all warts are recommended to be removed; this method is used as a last resort: if the wart causes discomfort or bleeds, if the wart causes aesthetic concern, if the wart has reached a large size, if it is growing.

Otherwise, it is better to treat the warts. The treatment must be carried out by a doctor and you must be monitored by him throughout the treatment period. It must be said that improper treatment can contribute to the degeneration of the wart into a malignant tumor. Therefore, contact only specialists.

Types of warts

Warts are most often diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, but can also appear in adults. In medicine, the following types of warts are distinguished:

1. Plain/vulgar.The most common type of skin tumor, in 70% of cases it is diagnosed in school-aged children. Most often, warts of this type appear on the hands, but they can also be present on the edges of the lips and on the neck. Simple warts are distinguished by the presence of a larger wart, "mother" - if it is removed, then smaller tumors disappear.
2. Flat/youthful.They are rare - only up to 4% of diagnosed cases. They are located on the back of the hands, along the edges of the lips, on the head of the penis and on the mucous membrane of the mouth.
3. Palmoplantar.They appear in places where there is the most active pressure from uncomfortable shoes. The diagnosis of this type of wart is often difficult, because the specialist must differentiate the neoplasia in question from corns and calluses.
4. like a thread.It has a specific appearance - a small "tail" made of thin leather, there can be many of them and they are always arranged in a "group". It is most commonly found in the armpit, neck and under the chest/breast.

Methods for removing warts on the body and hands directly depend on the type of tumor that will be diagnosed in the patient.

Another feature of warts is worth noting - they do not have any precise description of "appearance". For example, a plantar wart can be a small rounded bump with a dark center, but a simple wart is a growth on the skin that has a heterogeneous structure. The easiest way to answer the question "what does a wart look like" is whether it is a kind of thread - an "ice" appears on the skin, not causing pain or irritation. It is worth noting that frequent rubbing of the wart leads to its inflammation and irritation - it becomes red and can cause pain.

Where do warts come from?

It's all due to the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is most often transmitted through direct contact with an infected person's wart or personal belongings. Four of the several dozen types of HPV are responsible for the appearance of warts on the skin.

HPV can easily be called "insidious". A person may not suspect for a long time that he has become the owner of HPV.

After infection, the virus is localized in the upper layer of the epidermis and may not be recognized for a long time. But as soon as the defense mechanisms weaken, the virus becomes active and appears in the form of one or more warts.

From the moment of infection to the appearance of skin formations, it can last from a week to several months.

locale

Which doctor should be contacted for warts depends directly on the location of the growths.

Depending on the variety, warts can grow all over the body, and in particular:

• on foot and arm, on foot;
• in the armpit area, under the chest and on its surface;
• on the face, neck and head;
• in male and female genitals;
• in the mucosa of the vagina, esophagus, larynx;
• in the mouth. on the tongue and the inner surface of the cheeks and lips;
• on the body under clothes.

Reasons for submission

It is very easy to contract the human papillomavirus (HPV).

It is enough to have close contact with a person who has growths on the skin.

However, the disease does not appear immediately, and warts may begin to grow only months or years after infection.

Factors affecting HPV activity:

• weakened immunity;
• worsening of chronic diseases;
• stress;
• malnutrition;
• bad habits;
• passive lifestyle.

What to do if a wart has already appeared

Let's go back to the survey results. Only 28% of respondents with warts consulted a doctor. It seems that the prospect of surgical removal procedures is more frightening than the wart itself. 34% of the participants in the study tried to remove the warts themselves and 16% decided not to take any action, as they did not attach any importance to it.

Why you should get rid of warts

For those who are still not sure if they should remove warts, it is important to know the following.

• First, warts are contagious. To do this, direct contact with warts or personal hygiene items of its carrier is enough.
• Second, warts tend to "conquer territory, " that is, spread to healthy areas of the skin. This process is called autoinoculation (self-infection).

Of course, it is easier to treat warts in the early stages of the disease, which will save time, effort and money in the future. In addition, you can buy products for self-removal of warts in pharmacies.

When you see a doctor

• if the wart quickly changes shape, color or all together;
• if the wart has an uneven color;
• if the borders of the wart are unclear (in this case, most likely, it is not a wart);
• if the wart hurts or hurts constantly (this increases the risk of its degeneration into something more serious);
• if the number of warts increases gradually;
• if the wart bleeds or itches;
• if a wart has formed in the genital area.

Which doctor treats warts in children and adults

If growths appear on any part of the body, you should contact a doctor specializing in the treatment of skin diseases - a dermatologist.

• He is the one who conducts the examination and decides whether further diagnostics are necessary (blood test, PCR test, biopsy).
• In some suspicious cases, when a wart has signs of a malignant tumor, a dermatologist may recommend consultation with an oncologist or dermato-oncologist.
• In most cases, the doctor decides to remove the wart, after which its tissue is sent for histological examination to make sure that there are no signs of malignancy.
• Warts on the mammary glands in women can cause breast cancer and require examination by a mammologist.

Removal of warts

Wart removal is a radical method and is performed in several ways. Warts can be removed using a laser. Along with this, cryotherapy and electrocoagulation methods are used. You can effectively remove warts using homeopathic remedies. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses.

When choosing a method for wart removal, the doctor is usually guided by the location of the wart on the body. Thus, laser removal can leave a mark. Sometimes after using the Surgitron device, the formation of scars is observed, therefore it is the doctor who must choose the method for removing the warts: depending on where the warts are located.

Cryotherapy and electrocoagulation are gentle methods for removing warts. Electrocautery is performed using a special device that uses high-frequency current. As a result of using this device, the temperature of the tissue increases and the wart is destroyed, bringing about the death of the virus.

Cryotherapy is also cauterization, but only with liquid nitrogen. The procedure is quite painless and leaves no trace. Speaking of these two methods, it is worth noting that their use eliminates contact with blood, which is extremely important. You can only trust a doctor with experience in this field to remove warts.

After removing the warts, you should think about how to avoid getting this infection again.Under no circumstances should the warts be plucked or tied with a thread at the base so that they fall off on their own! Such unreasonable behavior can lead to serious health problems - for example, the resulting wound can become infected, and due to the tightening of the base of the tumor, the blood flow can be disrupted.

A dermatologist or cosmetologist will tell you how to get rid of warts on the hands of children and adults, which procedures will help you forget about tumors on the body and face - you can contact any of these specialists. There are three main ways to get rid of warts:

1. Laser therapy.Typically, this method is used to remove warts in the most sensitive and painful places, or if the patient wants to avoid scarring. Laser removal of warts on the face is the optimal solution, as this procedure is painless, does not require a long recovery period, and does not leave any marks on the skin.
2. Cryodestruction.This involves the use of liquid nitrogen, which literally burns the tumor without leaving marks on the skin, although in some cases a small scar is possible. After removing warts with liquid nitrogen, the patient will have to avoid staying in direct sunlight; in the future, a small white spot may remain at the site of the procedure.
3. Drug therapy.It is used in conjunction with the above methods. There are many medicines that have a local effect and help to destroy the wart faster. The most effective medicine for warts is celandine extract, which is applied in the direction of growth. You should not use the celandine plant itself to treat warts - if its juice falls on healthy skin, it causes severe burns.

The removal of this type of skin tumor must be comprehensive. It is not enough to visit a doctor and find out what is causing the warts on the fingers or on the face; you must follow all prescriptions and recommendations of a specialist. Even with proper treatment, relapses of the disease are recorded quite often - in 40-50% of cases, the warts reappear.

More information about what warts are, which doctor you should contact to treat a plantar wart and what is meant by the term "general therapy for human papillomavirus" can be found on the pages of our website.

Is it possible to remove warts yourself?

Warts can be removed at home, but only after diagnosis by a specialist.

There are special pharmaceutical burning products that can remove the growth after the first use. They have a cauterizing and necrotizing effect.

Such drugs are toxic and can cause burns in the tissue around the wart, so they should be used with caution. It is not recommended to remove warts at home in places with particularly delicate and sensitive skin (on the face, neck, mammary glands and genitals). You should also make sure that the wart is completely gone and no root or any other part of it remains. The ability of warts to reproduce is so great that even a small part of the tissue can become a source of infection in healthy areas of the dermis.

When using pharmaceutical drugs, you must strictly follow the instructions for their use and pay attention to contraindications. Most of them are prohibited for use in children, pregnant and lactating women.

Warts are external manifestations of an unsatisfactory internal state of the body. It is important not only to get rid of the symptoms of the disease, but to constantly fight the virus. The human immune system is able to independently cope with the causative agent of the disease if it is given all possible help. To do this, it is enough to lead a healthy and active lifestyle, strengthen the body with sports and healthy food.

Complications

Anogenital warts under certain conditions (for example, in case of infection with sexually transmitted infections, decreased general and/or local immunity) can increase in size and grow, thus worsening a person's sex life and reducingsignificantly his quality of life.

In addition, inflammation and suffocation of anogenital warts, as well as their ulceration, can develop due to prolonged mechanical impact on them. In rare cases, their malignant degeneration is possible.

Recommendations for patients with warts

• Since two-thirds of cases resolve spontaneously within two years, warts can be seen without treatment. As old lesions resolve, new warts may appear. This is not a consequence of treatment failure, but is part of the natural history of HPV infection.
• Treatment often takes many weeks or months, so patience and persistence are necessary for therapy to be successful.
• Tools that have been used to remove warts, such assh. nail files and pumice stones should not be used on healthy skin or by other people. For the same reason, if the warts are located in areas of the skin that have hair, you should use epilators or electric razors to remove the hair in these areas, or not remove the hair at all, thus limiting the spread of the warts.
• To monitor and evaluate the results of the treatment, a repeated visit to the doctor is necessary. • If the patient performs the treatment himself, he can schedule follow-up visits with the doctor at his discretion.

Preventing

Preventive measures include:

• vaccination with a quadrivalent vaccine (against HPV types 6 and 11, 16, 18);
• exclusion of casual sexual contacts;
• use of barrier methods of contraception (condom);
• compliance with personal hygiene rules;
• timely and adequate treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs;

FAQ

Which doctor treats warts?

For warts, it is best to consult a dermatologist. A dermatologist specializes in the treatment of skin diseases and has experience in removing warts.

Is it possible to see a general practitioner with a problem with warts?

Yes, you can see a general practitioner, such assh. a general practitioner. He will be able to conduct an initial consultation and, if necessary, refer you to a specialist - a dermatologist.

What methods do doctors use to treat warts?

Doctors can use a number of methods to treat warts, including cryotherapy (freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen), chemical removal, electrocautery (using an electric current to remove the wart), and laser ablation. The doctor will choose the most suitable method depending on the characteristics of the wart and the individual characteristics of the patient.

Useful tips

Tip #1

See a dermatologist. A dermatologist specializes in skin conditions and can help you with warts. He will conduct an examination, make a diagnosis and offer the most effective treatment.

Tip #2

Visit an oncodermatologist. Warts can be linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause skin cancer. A dermatologist oncologist specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer, so they can perform additional tests and recommend appropriate treatment if necessary.