Effective medications and ointments from flat warts
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Flat warts, the appearance of which doctors associate with infection with non-oncogenic types of papillomavirus infection, is not considered a serious medical problem. But if we consider them only as a cosmetic defect and try to remove traditional methods in specialized salons, there is a risk that there will be scars on the place of warts, which still does not solve the problem. By destroying the surface layers of the epidermis with virus-infected cells, such methods and means are not capable of affecting the HPV virions latent in deeper tissues. Over time, they can provoke a relapse of the disease, i.e. The appearance of new warts in place of old or nearby.
Doctors believe that for a full-fledged treatment of flat warts, a complex approach combining local damaging effects on growth cells (drugs with necrotizing action, removal of growths with physiotherapy methods), local and general immunotherapy (immunostimulating agents and interferons), the use of retinoids inhibiting activity of the papilloma virus.
True, such a serious treatment is not always required. Often a young organism is able to cope with the infection on its own. Given the fact that warts appear against a background of reduced immunity, and young people usually do not yet have that stock of chronic diseases that is able to make immunity stably low, it is not surprising that flat youth warts in many cases go by themselves.
Sometimes it is enough to balance the nutrition of a child or a young person (it is proved that some vitamins and microelements have antiviral activity), change the regime of the day (to provide adequate rest and timely food intake), to stabilize the neuropsychic state of the young patient (taking natural sedatives, working with a psychologist ) so that the problem of warts is solved. In other words, it is necessary to eradicate the factors provoking a decrease in immunity, and to do everything to normalize it (for example, to drink a course of immunostimulants, which significantly speed up the process).
If the above treatment scheme involves a certain time (usually several weeks), the use of necrotizing ointments and solutions helps reduce it to one week, and the use of physiotherapy treatment helps get rid of the hated build-up in just one procedure. When flat warts appear on the face and hands, most negatively affecting the life and psychoemotional state of the patient, not everyone is ready to endure and wait for several months when the immune system will cope with the virus on its own. And how can he cope if a person is constantly in a state of stress.
Seeing the seriousness of the problem, a dermatologist can offer a quick solution to it - removing flat warts. To date, this is solved in several ways without a surgical scalpel. But the choice of the method of removing neoplasms should be approached very carefully and consciously, especially if it is a question of warts on the face - a kind of business card of a person.
Before the advent of innovative laser and radio wave technologies, neoplasms on the skin were surgically removed or burned with electric current (electrocoagulation). Needless to say, surgical removal of warts, however, like electrocoagulation, is entirely acceptable with single growths, while juvenile warts usually appear in groups and can occupy quite large areas of the skin. In addition, such manipulations quite often leave a scars on themselves. And scars on the face of a girl or a young man are not more aesthetic than placer small juvenile warts, you can get rid of them with more gentle methods.
One of the newer technologies to combat various neoplasms on the skin is cryodestruction, i.e. Freezing by build-up liquid nitrogen, which creates a low temperature in the pathological focus, which causes necrosis (withering away) of the wart tissues. This method can be successfully used to remove warts on the foot and hands, but for the treatment of warts on the face, it is not very suitable, because it can leave unsightly marks on the body.
During cryodestruction, it is very difficult to control the depth of tissue freezing, therefore, it is impossible to exclude the possibility of formation of depressions and scars on the skin of the former build-up. And if you take into account the fact that juvenile warts are rarely formed singly, the appearance of the patient may suffer quite a lot.
Avoid such complications are helped by other methods of treatment of neoplasms laser therapy and radio-wave removal of growths. True, the latter method is still not sufficiently developed and has a high cost, although the risk of traces on the skin after the procedures when using it is minimal, and the effect of treatment is quite worthy.
More acceptable for price and quality is the removal of flat warts by laser. Everyone knows that the laser, depending on the power and frequency of radiation, can both treat and remove tissues. In this case, the doctor can always adjust these parameters depending on the needs of therapy. With a professional approach to treatment, the likelihood of burns and scars on the skin is almost non-existent, so it is important to select an experienced specialist, which will make it possible to avoid complications.
Both methods of treatment are acceptable for multiple warts, which the doctor treats alternately. The risk of recurrence of the disease with a correct calculation of the depth and force of impact is small. Nevertheless, persistent results can be achieved if laser and radio wave therapy are used in combination with antiviral therapy, i.e. Use of drugs that reduce the activity of the virus.
Features of drug therapy
Juvenile flat warts are considered temporary, because in most cases they disappear within a couple of months. But it also happens that the body can not cope with the virus for a long time (six months or more), which causes serious damage to the psyche of the young patient. In this case, treatment is simply necessary, so that a serious neuropsychic disorder does not appear on the background of a harmless cosmetic problem.
The methods of treating flat warts can be suggested by the attending physician, and it will be much better than searching for information how to get rid of flat warts on the Internet. The fact that a specialist sees the problem from the inside, and the patient - only its external manifestations. Doing self-medication, you can remove the wart, but what will the consequences be? Usually, these are scars from the use of aggressive solutions and relapses of the disease in the absence of treatment, which increases the immunity and resistance of the organism of the infection.
Realizing the viral nature of warts, the doctor will never advise you to limit yourself to the use of necrotizing drugs, to which doctors treat with a certain degree of alertness. After removing the wart only partially reduces the activity of the virus, destroying some of the virions that were on the surface. And the solutions themselves are not at all safe for humans. In addition, the traces of using some of them are akin to what remains after electrocoagulation and cryodestruction, also causing tissue death.
The most accessible and often used means of such a plan is salicylic acid. This is a popular budget antiseptic, used for both disinfection and treatment. But for rapid removal of warts, you need to take a solution with a concentration of active substance of at least 10 percent, which contributes not only to disinfection, but also necrotic tissue warts with regular application.
If you use 5% salicylic ointment, the treatment will be more gentle, but at the same time and quite long (about 1 month). Salicylic acid is considered a good antiseptic and keratolytic, which makes it popular for the removal of various hornfels. In the treatment of flat warts with a soft tender surface, the salicylic acid property is somewhat more valuable in increasing the local immunity of the skin, which helps to gradually get rid of the build-up. In addition, the drying effect of salicylic acid, which dries the wart, also falls by the way, and it soon disappears.
Another antiseptic used for the treatment of flat warts is zinc paste, which has an antimicrobial, enveloping and drying effect. Its effect against flat warts is not as strong as in salicylic acid.
The antiviral effect has no means, but due to the protective film created by it, microbes and viruses can not penetrate into the skin. This is especially important if the warts are located in places with an increased risk of injury. For example, juvenile warts in guys on the face can be regularly damaged during shaving. Sprains on the neck and feet can suffer from injuries caused by rough seams on clothes, collars, shoes. A neoplasm on the hands can be regularly traumatized in everyday life when doing ordinary household chores. Here the zinc ointment comes to the rescue, which will protect the wound from germs and prevent its inflammation.
Remove warts with zinc paste is unlikely to succeed, but it will help to avoid bacterial complications during treatment of outgrowths by other means.
Alternatively, salicylic zinc ointment can be used that combines the antimicrobial properties of both components and has a more pronounced drying effect.
For the treatment of flat warts, a popular "Levomekol" ointment can also be used. However, the indications for its use of warts are not mentioned, because it is an ointment based on an antibiotic, more relevant for the healing of wounds. The antibiotic itself (chloramphenicol) does not work for viruses, but here is another active ingredient of the drug (methyluracil) that stimulates cellular immunity, which is very important for controlling external manifestations of a viral infection.
It is clear that a quick action from regular application of the ointment should not be expected. Yes, and doctors themselves treat this treatment negatively. The fact that the use of such a potent agent as an antibiotic in warts, they consider unreasonable, especially if you apply the ointment regularly for a long time. There are many other means of immunostimulating action, the treatment of which will be safer.
Because warts are a local manifestation of HPV, their treatment will be more effective if you use external means. Not surprisingly, ointments and gels have gained great popularity in the application of flat warts and other manifestations of HPV. Most patients tend to antiseptic oils, in particular to a salicylic with a large concentration of active ingredient and a pronounced drying effect. But doctors nevertheless insist on patience and the use of antiviral drugs, which although they do not act so quickly, but they give a longer lasting effect due to the effect on the cause of the disease, and not on its consequence. Ideally, antiseptic and antiviral agents can be combined in one treatment regimen.
The budgetary antiviral drugs include oxolin and tebrofen ointments. However, "Oxolin" in the form of ointments in pharmacies is much easier to find, in addition, many of it is present in the home medicine cabinet as a known protection against respiratory viruses. Another thing is that it does not show special activity against the human papillomavirus, therefore it does not always help. Its task is to increase local immunity and create a protective film that prevents the penetration of new viruses.
"Tebrofen Ointment" is considered an antiviral and antiseptic drug that successfully fights against viruses that cause the appearance of flat warts, and with certain bacterial agents. It is an immunostimulating and anti-inflammatory ointment, actively used in juvenile warts.
The more expensive and effective remedy that doctors prescribe most often is the immunomodulating and antiviral drug Panavir. For the treatment of flat warts, it can be used as a solution or gel. The solution is injected, and the gel is perfectly suitable for treatment at home. The medicine is used both for the treatment of flat warts, and for the prevention of recurrence of the disease after their removal.
As immunostimulants can be used:
- Ridoxone Ointment 0.5%,
- 2% "Bona-automatic ointment"
- ointment "Giporamin" 2%,
- cream "Imiquimod" and "Aldara" with a pronounced antiviral effect against HPV,
- solution for topical application "Derinat",
- ointment "Betadine" (antiseptic with antiviral activity),
- multifunctional antiseptic complex "Malavit" in the form of a solution and cream-gel, well-established in the treatment of various types of warts.
To effectively combat papillovirus infection in general, and not only with its local manifestations, it is advisable to use not only external, but also systemic drugs. The antiviral drug Allokin-Alfa, which naturally stimulates the production of a substance active against the papilloma virus (interferon), proved to be the best.
It is believed that any kind of interferon can deactivate HPV in the human body, so all the means that stimulate their synthesis (and thus virtually all immunostimulants work) can be used to treat flat warts.
So far, we have talked about nonspecific immunotherapy, consisting in the use of drugs that increase the production of interferon in the body. But there is another group of drugs that works faster, because the drugs themselves are an adapted interferon. Most often, such drugs are used to treat papillomavirus infection of oncogenic type in the form of injections and applications. But flat warts are caused by non-oncogenic types of HPV, therefore interferons for their treatment are used infrequently and mainly in the form of external agents such as ointments "Viferon", "Interferon", "Virogel." In severe cases of resistant to treatment of warts, interferons can be used in the form of rectal suppositories (Reaferon, Viferon, Laferobion, etc.).
In parallel, adaptogens can be prescribed - drugs that increase nonspecific immunity (plant extracts of Echinacea, magnolia vinegar, rhodiola rosea, eleutherococcus, ginseng, vitamin preparations, "Immunal" based on Echinacea juice). Their use helps to maintain the defenses of the body at an altitude, which will prevent the penetration of viruses into the body in the future and inhibit the activity of the virions present in the body.
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Effective and safe medicines
The fight against juvenile flat warts can be carried out in various ways and means, but given the localization of non-aesthetic growths to the selection of medications and methods for removing papillomatous neoplasms, one must be very careful. It is important that the treatment of warts is not only effective, but also safe for the skin, i.e. Did not leave on the body of ugly tracks.
For example, do not use concentrated solutions of salicylic acid and other aggressive necrotic solutions to remove growths on the face. But this form of the drug, like salicylic ointment 5%, 10% or 20%, is quite acceptable for use in the face, because its action is more gentle than in solutions, and it does not cause burns of the surface layers of the skin.
Salicylic ointment has an exfoliating action, i.e. Works as an effective peeling, gradually layer by layer removing warts. Thanks to the antiseptic action of salicylic acid, this procedure does not cause inflammation of the built-up edge and prevents its infection with trauma to the wart.
The course of treatment of flat warts usually takes 1-2 weeks, during which the growths are becoming less noticeable. The agent should be applied a thin layer directly on the tubercles in the face, neck, arms and legs. The procedure is carried out every other day until the warts disappear.
For safety reasons, "Salicylic Ointment", which is usually used for home treatment, can be used only after the doctor has established the nature of the warts and concludes that the growths are not manifestations of skin cancer. Before applying the ointment on any part of the body, it is worth consulting with the doctor to patients who have diabetes mellitus, there are violations in the circulatory system or peripheral vascular disease, serious kidney pathology. Do not use the product if there is an increased sensitivity of the skin to salicylic acid or other components of the drug.
Among the side effects of the ointment, note the possible burning, itching, dry skin and peeling at the site of application. Allergic reactions are also possible. Do not apply ointment on large areas of the skin. With a large accumulation of warts, it is better to give preference to antiviral agents.
"Panavir" is an immunostimulant with a pronounced antiviral activity, which is also often used to treat various types of warts. The preparation is produced in the form of ointment (more precisely gel), solution for injections and suppositories, which can be used rectally for systemic control of HPV.
For the treatment of flat warts, it is more expedient to use ointment and suppositories, and to apply injections only in severe cases of papillomavirus infection.
The active substance of the drug is a plant extract of the nightshade tuberous, which inhibits the multiplication of viral particles, reducing their activity in the human body. The gel is applied externally, applying it on the area of the accumulation of warts 4-5 times a day. The course of treatment of juvenile warts lasts 5-10 days.
Suppositories for the treatment of HPV manifestations are used according to this scheme: 3 suppositories are administered every other day (interval 48 hours) and 2 more suppositories with an interval of 72 hours. There are 5 suppositories for the course of treatment.
The drug is well tolerated by most patients, rarely causing hypersensitivity reactions, appearing as a swelling of the skin, itching, etc. Contraindication to its use is precisely the individual intolerance of the components of the drug.
Suppositories are not routinely administered to patients under the age of 18, while the gel is actively used to treat papillomas and herpetic rashes in children. When pregnancy is also given preference to an external agent in the form of an ointment, applying it very carefully after consulting a doctor. Breastfeeding for the duration of the drug is recommended to stop, after all, nightshade is considered a poisonous plant.
Cream "Imiquimod" is an immunomodulating agent used to treat patients older than 18 years. It stimulates the production of substances in the body, providing an immune response to the invasion of the body of the virus.
You need to apply the drug only to the warts, repeating the procedure every other day. Apply ointment before going to bed and do not rinse for 6-9 hours. Use the drug until the growths do not disappear.
Ointment can not be used to treat children and patients with hypersensitivity to imiquimod or other components of the drug.
Its use can be accompanied by itching and pain at the site of application, rash, scaling and swelling of the skin, headaches and dizziness, nausea, the appearance of flu symptoms, increased fatigue. Body temperature may also increase.
Penetrating into the human body, viruses parasitize in its cells, changing their properties and forcing uncontrollably to share. This process is called cell proliferation, and it is the basis for the formation of warts. In our body, a unique protective system is provided, it produces specific proteins with antiviral activity that do not interfere with the activity of the virus and inhibit proliferation. And the main work is on the protein interferon.
With a weakened immune system, interferon production is not enough, and its stimulation does not always produce quick and good results. In this case, it is advisable to maintain local immunity by injecting interferon from the outside, for example, applying it to areas of the skin with viral outgrowths. The protein introduces viral particles into an inactive state and activates the tissue regeneration process at the application site.
This is how the popular ointment (gel) "Viferon" works , the active substance of which is adapted interferon alpha, which affects the division of cells under the influence of the virus, including the human papillomavirus. For the treatment of flat warts on the face, arms, legs and body, the gel form of the preparation is used, which is easy to use locally on open surfaces. And it is better to treat viral manifestations in the genital and rectum areas with suppositories.
Apply ointment mainly in the area of wart localization, without worrying if the medicine gets on a healthy skin, all the same interferon is not for our organism an alien substance. The procedure is carried out several times a day (usually 3-4 times), using a small amount of cream, which is applied to the skin and slightly massaged into it.
The course of treatment depends on how timely it was started. But most often it takes at least 1 week for the growths to grow lighter and fade. To increase the effectiveness of treatment, preparations of such a plan are recommended to be used in parallel with immunostimulants and adaptogens.
Interferon preparations for topical use have few contraindications. So the ointment "Viferon" is quite suitable for the treatment of patients, starting with one-year-old age. It is not necessary to apply it only to those with an individual sensitivity to a drug containing, in addition to interferon, also auxiliary substances that enhance its effect. Ointment is allowed to use even during pregnancy and lactation, which makes it possible to safely treat flat warts for young mothers.
In addition, when applied to the skin, the agent does not cause any unpleasant sensations, which makes the treatment of external manifestations of HPV not a particularly burdensome task. Do not be afraid of the appearance of pain, itching, burning, triggered by a burn of tissues. Another advantage of the drug can be considered the absence of traces on the skin in place of the old warts, which often happens after the application of necrotizing agents and removal of growths.
But limited only to local treatment of HPV, the patient risks after some time to notice new manifestations of the virus on the body. To avoid this, a doctor can prescribe systemic drugs as part of complex treatment, for example, "Allokin-alpha", which has proved itself well in the fight against papillomavirus.
This drug is available in the form of a powder, from which a medicinal solution is then administered, injected under the skin at the site of infection. In contrast to ointments, the absorption of the active substance of the drug (oligopeptide alloferon) into the blood is much higher. Adhering to the blood, alloferon stimulates the production of its own interferon and helps the cells of the immune system to recognize and destroy the cells altered by the virus.
Before using the drug, the ampoule with the powder is dissolved in 1 ml of saline (other solvents are not allowed) and injected subcutaneously at the site of warts and papillomas, which are recommended to be lubricated with antiviral ointments from above. The number of injections and the frequency of their administration (and on average it is 6-9 injections with an interval of 2-3 days) is determined by the doctor individually.
"Allokin-alpha", like the "Viferon" ointment, is well tolerated by the majority of patients. Only occasionally do they receive reports of dizziness or general weakness when the drug is used. In this case, during the treatment with the drug, it is not necessary to engage in activities involving increased care and caution.
High absorption of the drug and its specific effects impose certain limitations on its use. Thus, the drug is not recommended for patients who are diagnosed with autoimmune diseases in the active stage. It is not used for the treatment of children, pregnant women of nursing mothers, although no negative effect on the growing organism during drug testing has been recorded. It is clear that people with intolerance of alloferon and other components of the drug such treatment is also not suitable.
If treating flat warts through antiviral therapy is difficult to predict how long it will take such treatment. Everything depends on the immunity and features of the human body. This is explained by the fact that some patients have to try different methods and means to achieve a positive result. Sometimes the treatment is delayed for a long time and ends with the removal of growths in the cosmetology salon or clinic or by applying all the same necrotizing and exfoliating agents.