Flat warts on the face, arms and body

Skin is the outer protective shell of the human body, the appearance of which largely reflects its internal state. Skin characteristics change not only under the influence of age and hormonal adjustment, but also under the influence of various external (skin) and internal diseases, which in most cases are provoked by all sorts of pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, etc. So the appearance on the body of small growths, called warts, is associated with the penetration of the human papillomavirus into the body. And the flat warts that some people face in adolescence and adolescence should be considered as one of the manifestations of this virus, and not as a penalty for God for the sins of the parents.

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Epidemiology

According to statistics, the prevalence of the HPV virus is today more than 70 percent, and among all the types of the virus with low risk of oncogeneity and its complete absence prevail. However, flat warts, often called adolescent warts, are found only in 1-4% of the total number of patients. And the risk group includes usually children and young people up to 35-40 years. This is because infection with non-onocogenic viruses usually occurs in childhood or adolescence, but when the virus manifests itself, it depends on the patient's immunity. But most of the virus is activated precisely during puberty, i.e. In adolescence.

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Causes of the flat warts

When there are various bulges or spots on the skin of the face, body or limbs, we first of all think how much this ugly looks and spoils our appearance. The aesthetic side of the problem is especially important at a young age, when a person still thinks little about the causes of various defects in the skin, but is actively looking for answers to the question of how to quickly and irreversibly remove them. But a variety of ways to remove warts, papillomas, keratas, etc. Neoplasms without understanding the causes of their occurrence have only a temporary effect, and sometimes even the lamentable consequences.

Before trying to cleanse the skin of any growth, it is necessary to understand what it is and what are the external or internal causes that provoked the appearance of such a defect. For example, the main cause of the appearance of warts on the human body, including flat warts, is the HPV virus. Once penetrated into the body, it remains to live in it forever, and with suitable conditions for this develops a stormy activity. Therefore it is not enough just to remove the wart as a cosmetic defect, it is also necessary to stop the reproduction of the virus so that the disease does not have relapses or is accompanied by the appearance of new warts near the remote one.

But we will talk about the correct treatment of warts  and treatment with alternative means a little later, and now we will dwell in detail on the reasons for their appearance, i.e. About that, why appear flat warts.

Flat warts - this is one of many different neoplasms, which can provoke a human papillomavirus. HPV is in fact a generalized concept that includes several types of the virus (and there are more than one hundred).

Different types of HPV have different prevalence and appearance. For the appearance of flat warts, mainly 3, 5, 10, 28 and 49 type of HPV correspond. Other types of the papilloma virus can also occur less frequently in the same way. But the important fact is that all the viruses that cause the appearance of flat warts are non-cancerous, i.e. Never lead to the development of cancer. Therefore, warts themselves, arising in childhood or adolescence, are considered safe benign neoplasms.

Since the human papilloma virus has a fairly large distribution, warts on different parts of the body are not considered such a rarity. The days when we were afraid of frogs as possible culprits for the appearance of warts have sunk into oblivion. Scientists have proved involvement in their appearance of the HPV virus, but even infection with the virus does not guarantee the appearance of unaesthetic pimples on the body.

In order for the virus to externally manifest itself, it needs to be activated, i.e. Got the opportunity to multiply, capturing all new cells. If a person has good immunity, the virus will remain in the body for a long time in an inactive state, and may never manifest itself. But it is worth the immune system to give the slack, and the virus will immediately remind you of its existence with warts on the body.

HPV and warts

The prevalence of the human papillomavirus is largely due to the ease with which it is transmitted. If highly ionogenic viruses that cause the formation of genital warts and papillomas on the patient's body are transmitted usually during sexual intercourse, then a simple handshake, a hug, a kiss is enough for HPV of non-oncogenic types that provoke the appearance of flat warts.

Moreover, it is possible to catch the virus during the contact of hands with handrails in public institutions and apartment houses, handrails in transport, door handles, elevator buttons, etc. Even a library book that passes through thousands of hands can be a source of the virus. That is, it is actually about any item of common use that falls into the hands, touches the body, gets into the mouth without sufficient disinfection, etc.

In this case, the virus is able to penetrate the human body through the slightest microdamaging on the skin, which can be simply invisible to the naked eye, not to mention wounds, cuts or scratches. Once in the body, virions that are not capable of independent existence, are introduced into healthy cells, where they parasitize. But whether they can multiply, depends on the general and local immunity.

Human immunity is able to keep the virus in an inactive state when it does not manifest itself and does not harm the owner. But as soon as the defenses of the body are weakened, the virions force the cells into which they have implanted to actively share. In this case, both the mother and daughter cells acquire identical properties and contain HPV virions.

Active reproduction of viral cells causes dysplastic processes in the skin, which are visible from the outside in the form of tubercles, called warts. There are such neoplasms near the site of the virus. They can be single, but more often it's about accumulating several flat warts on a certain part of the body.

Usually, flat warts appear on the face in the forehead and chin area, on the neck, on the back of the hands and shins, fingers. At the same time, they are not formed on the rough skin of the palms and soles (palmar and plantar warts most often cause other types of HPV).

As we can see, the pathogenesis of the appearance of plantar warts is very simple and has nothing to do with warty amphibians. Penetrating into the body, the virus causes dysplastic processes in the skin near the place of introduction into the body, where a bump is formed. If the wart is injured, the virus can spread further, forming new growths nearby, but there is practically no risk of developing skin cancer.

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Risk factors

Risk factors for the activation of the virus, and the associated appearance of flat warts, are:

• fright and a strong nervous shock,
• stressful situations (and in childhood such are frequent quarrels and violence in the family, divorce of parents),
• any catarrhal pathologies,
• hormonal alteration of the body (it is not surprising that most often the appearance of flat warts is noted during puberty)

All these factors have a negative impact on the overall immunity, the weakening of which is beneficial to viruses that are able to actively multiply, while there is discord in the body. Chronic diseases also contribute to a decrease in immunity, but this factor is not so important for children and adolescents for obvious reasons. But by 30-40 years, when many already have one and more chronic diseases, and its influence should be taken into account.

In the appearance of warty growths on the skin, it is possible to blame and decrease the local immunity, i.e. Protective forces of the skin itself. At a young and young age, risk factors are:

• insufficient hygiene of the face and body,
• trauma to the skin (for example, during shaving or epilation, which young people often perform ineptly and with insufficient care),
• hyperhidrosis, which makes the skin more prone to irritation and changes its pH, which is especially noticeable in the area of the feet.

All these moments seem to be not so important until they affect the appearance of the skin and do not begin to bring certain psychological, and sometimes even physical, discomfort (for example, if the wart is on the neck and is regularly injured as a result of friction by the collar of clothes).

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Symptoms of the flat warts

It is customary to call a small wart on the skin a wart, which under normal conditions does not cause any physical discomfort (they do not inflame, do not hurt, do not have inside cavities filled with pus or fat). Warts are more likely to be associated with psychological discomfort, because similar growths on the hands, face and body are very often reflected in the self-esteem of adolescents and their attitude towards them from peers and others.

Flat warts are called growths that do not protrude very much above the surface of the body. Usually it is small tumors, the size of which is not more than 0.5 cm, which are located on the body one by one or by groups without the merging of growths.

The surface of such a wart is flat, rather soft and smooth, because the new growth does not have a horny layer, without irregularities and bulges. Warts are often round in shape, although this is not a prerequisite. More importantly, such growths have clearly expressed outlines.

A distinctive feature of a flat wart is the absence of a skin pattern on its surface.

It should be said that flat warts are growths that can acquire different shades of color: from normal bodily or gray, making them almost invisible on the skin, to light brown or pink.

Juvenile such warts are called not in vain. Hormonal restructuring at this age provokes the appearance of various defects on the skin, ranging from red pustules (youthful acne) to small flat warts, which often cause teenage depression. Hopping up hormones plus the unstable neuropsychic state of adolescents - the optimal conditions for activating the virus that has entered the body during:

• kissing (and for young people, especially girls, a kiss and hugs are universal methods to show their disposition towards a person, so they are used even as a greeting)
• shaving, which for some time has become relevant, but the experience is still not enough (in the student circle, there is often no such thing as an individual shaving machine, because in the hostel everything is common, including the HPV-transmitted virus)
• handshake, which is used by guys not only as an attribute of business communication, but also for greetings in a friendly company, etc.

Flat warts in childhood and adolescence usually appear on the face: on the forehead, on the nose, on the chin in the area of the cheekbones, ie. On sensitive areas of the skin, while filamentous warts in adults are most often localized in the nose, around the lips, on the skin around the eyes. That is, they are formed where the skin is not only more tender, but also more prone to moisture.

Flat warts in young people can often be found on hand. But again, if they appear on the hands, then only on the back side, where the skin is soft and sensitive.

A flat wart in the form of a single growth or group of elements may appear on the foot: on the foot on the back side of it, but not in the area of the sole with rough skin covered with a horny layer. This again confirms that flat warts prefer areas of the body with tender, sensitive skin, prone to traumatization and irritation.

Often, flat warts can also be found in children: on the face, neck, chest, back, on the inside of the elbows and knee joints, etc. Given the contact path of transmission of non-oncogenic viruses, it is not surprising that most of us are infected with it as a child. The skin of the child is tender and delicate, and immunity is not yet strong enough to resist the invasion of the "enemy".

If the virus penetrates the body of a healthy child over 3 years old, the body is already able to contain it, and warts may not appear for a long time. Most often at this age, their appearance provokes trauma to the skin and colds. But as soon as immunity comes back to normal, growths can disappear on their own.

Especially sensitive is our immunity to hormonal changes and stress factors, which are usually the cause of activation of the virus in adolescence. However, in matters of gender, HPV is not selective, so warts with equal probability can appear in both boys and girls. True, male representatives suffer from the appearance of growths on the body mainly in childhood and adolescence.

As for girls and young women, they have a hormonal imbalance (and, accordingly, fluctuations in immunity) may be observed at a later age. For example, on the eve and during the monthly menstruation, which begin in adolescence and last up to 40 years or more.

Flat warts in women of reproductive age may also appear during pregnancy, which disrupts the habitual hormonal background. It does not matter when the virus penetrated the future mother's body. The factors that provoke a decrease in immunity and activation of the infection always come to the fore, and this is a hormonal imbalance, an unbalanced diet (because a child takes away some of the nutrients), stressful situations (quarrels with the child's father, experiences caused by the threat of pregnancy failure) for the growing tummy, etc.

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Complications and consequences

In principle, flat warts caused by non-oncogenic types of human papillomavirus do not pose almost no danger to the health of the patient unless you take into account the psychological discomfort caused by them. But we need to understand that since such neoplasms appear most often in pubertal period, when appearance and external appeal come to the fore, experiences on them may be strong enough to cause not only irritation and discontent with oneself, but also serious depression.

But this is only one side of the problem. Any build-up can not be considered absolutely safe, because everything that stands out above the surface of the body, is traumatized more than the rest of the skin. A wart can be damaged by rough seams on clothing, shoes or accidentally scratched. The fact is that a flat wart sometimes itchs a little. This occurs during the period of its growth and does not indicate a degeneration into a malignant form, which is the case with infection with oncogenic viruses. However, there is a risk of inadvertently scratching the wart with its soft tissues and disrupting their integrity, which usually leads to inflammation.

If a flat wart itches, grows in size or flushes, causes pain when it comes in contact with it, these are symptoms of inflammation of the build-up, which can not be ignored. In normal condition, the neoplasm does not cause discomfort and has small dimensions. Only in this case it can be considered safe. If the build-up is inflamed, it is better to remove it.

There is one more point in favor of the fact that flat warts need to be treated. And not only to remove external manifestations of the virus, but to eradicate the cause of the appearance of unaesthetic tubercles on the body. The fact is that youthful flat warts rarely remain alone. Pathology is viral in nature, and therefore can not be limited to one growth.

Yes, at the beginning of activation of the virus it can be 1-2 tubercles, but if nothing is done and do not increase immunity (after all, there are no such drugs that can kill HPV inside the body), eventually more new warts will appear on the body, hide or which it will be impossible to disguise.

It is clear that a young man or a girl with multiple defects on the face and hands will not be popular with the opposite sex. Many will avoid any physical contact with them, including former friends. And what can I say about oblique glances from the side and ridicule behind my back, and sometimes even in the eyes. This is a serious psychological trauma for a teenager who is not at all to blame for his problem, but may even leave her life because of her youthful maximalism.

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Diagnostics of the flat warts

Diagnosis and treatment of various skin diseases, including all kinds of growths on the body, is occupied by a dermatologist. It is to him and should be treated with a problem like flat warts. And it's worth asking for at least because such growths are similar to other types of warts, moles and other tumors that can degenerate into malignant tumors.

An experienced dermatologist, given the patient's age, character and localization of warts, can prescribe a diagnosis even on the basis of a physical examination. Nevertheless, in most cases, doctors prescribe additional tests: a general blood test that provides information about the condition of the patient's body, and a blood test for HPV (PRC analysis). The fact that warts - this is just one of the manifestations of the virus, while in the body can take root at the same time several of its types, more than 40 of which are considered oncogenic, i.e. Can cause cancer.

Any virus weakens the body, and after dangerous non-oncogenic viruses, more dangerous pathogens can easily penetrate into it and activate. Therefore, the sooner they are identified, the greater the likelihood that it can prevent life-threatening and healthy consequences of the patient. And for this it is enough only to maintain your immunity at the height and to be careful in sexual relations.

Instrumental diagnostics of flat warts consists in examining the build-up with the help of a special dermatoscope device. Dermatoscopy is the study of warts with the help of a strong microscope, which allows several times to increase the build-up, evaluate its shape, dimensions, boundaries, symmetry, the presence of all kinds of impregnations, etc. This study plays a big role in differential diagnosis and already on the basis of it one can either diagnose a harmless tumor or assign additional methods of investigation (biopsy and histological analysis of the biopsy) if there is a suspicion that the built-up edge is able to degenerate into a cancerous tumor.

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Differential diagnosis

Differential diagnosis for various neoplasms on the skin is extremely important. After all, it only allows to differentiate benign flat wart from malignant, caused by oncogenic types of virus, and other types of similar neoplasms with a high degree of accuracy on the basis of physical examination, results of analyzes and instrumental studies.

For example, sometimes patients come with such a phenomenon as flat white warts. Despite the fact that the color of this outgrowth is somewhat unusual, these are the same safe juvenile warts caused by non-oncogenic HPV. Such growths should be distinguished from the adipose glands that usually appear on the face of people older than 35-40 years old and are small hillocks with a white dot in the middle, the contents of which are very difficult to squeeze out, and even then there is a risk that the white secret inside will appear again.

A flat plantar wart is an outgrowth provoked by another type of HPV. Their culprits are viruses 1 to 4 of the type, which are also not prone to malignancy, but their place of residence is the lower part of the foot. On soft, soft tissues such warts are not formed.

Juvenile and plantar growths are a flat viral wart. That is, the cause of the appearance of such neoplasms is the virus of the papilloma. But, for example, a red flat wart (hemangioma), which is most often found in children immediately after birth or somewhat later, has nothing to do with viruses. This is a vascular formation, the cause of which can serve as heredity, and endocrine or cardiovascular diseases. From juvenile warts, hemangiomas differ in more intense color (red, burgundy or purple) and in size (usually a large new growth on the face or body), but it does not pose a danger unless it is injured, of course.

But if the red wart appears already at an older age, you need to differentiate it from a flat juvenile wart, which for some reason or injury has inflamed and changed its color. Usually inflamed growths have a more intense pink or even red color due to the influx of blood to them.

A pink or brown flat wart is the most common color of growths in childhood and adolescence. They have a viral etiology. But the identical neoplasms appearing in old age (senile flat warts or keratomas), have a completely different origin. The cause of their appearance is not the virus, but the physiological causes that trigger the growth of the epidermal layer most often under the influence of ultraviolet rays. Such growths have a darker color, often a heterogeneous rough surface, covered with horny scales. And most importantly, at a young age, such a phenomenon is rare, and it usually occurs after 25 years.

Prevention

In order to prevent relapse, it is recommended that you pay attention to your lifestyle and diet.

What helps to maintain immunity in the first place? Tempering, active way of life, rejection of bad habits and eating foods rich in vitamins (and in particular ascorbic acid, vitamins A, E, group B) and minerals (zinc, manganese, iodine, selenium, etc.).

It is necessary to understand that the virus with the contact path of infection is easiest to penetrate the body through lesions on the skin: pimples, wounds, sores, and burns. It is necessary to try to heal such defects as soon as possible using antiseptics and regenerating agents.

But if the virus has already penetrated the body, its immunity can be restrained only by its own immunity, which should be maintained at an altitude, preventing the development of chronic diseases that weaken the body, and adhering to a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet. In the spring-winter period, it will be superfluous to maintain its immunity with the help of drug adaptogens in combination with vitamins and minerals.

It must be understood that if the virus has penetrated the body, it will no longer be possible to remove it from there. The only solution to the problem of warts is maintaining at the height of your immune system.

This is confirmed by evidence that flat warts can disappear on their own, as soon as a person's immunity rises. Whether it is worth treating such neoplasms that are not dangerous in terms of oncology, aggressive methods alone solve each independently. But it is important to always remember that without good immunity such treatment will have only a temporary effect, and often unattractive scars. While all this could be avoided, giving preference to traditional or alternative antiviral therapy and a healthy lifestyle.

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Forecast

Flat warts are considered a manifestation of a viral infection, so it is extremely difficult to combat them. The virus lies deep in the cells of the body, and from the outside we see only its partial manifestations. In addition, once penetrated into the human body, the papillomavirus no longer wants to leave it, so warts can be considered a chronic infection, which is also easily transmitted by contact.

If the external manifestations are not treated, the dormant virus along with the skin particles will be transmitted to other people with whom the patient contacts. But local treatment in this case has only a temporary effect, for a long time to reduce the activity of the virus and keep it in a dormant state can only strong immunity, which should be taken care of in the first place.

Only a well-coordinated work of the immune system can make a prognosis for the treatment of warts positive.

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