Warts on the legs (on the toes and soles) is a common problem encountered with dermatologists. These formations are benign epithelial tumors of a rounded shape, the appearance of which is provoked by various types of human papillomavirus.
Papillomavirus can be transmitted by direct skin contact from person to person, as well as by walking barefoot on contaminated surfaces in public baths, saunas, locker rooms, swimming pools, bathrooms, locker rooms, on dirty ground. The virus can live for several months without a carrier, which makes it highly contagious. The risk of infection increases with the presence on the feet and fingers of abrasions, cracks, cuts.
Symptoms of warts on the legs
After infection, clinical manifestations occur after a few weeks or months. Warts on the legs are hard, rough papules, often yellowish in color. They can be single and multiple, combining into mosaic plaques.
In most cases, warts occur on the areas of greatest pressure - heels, pads of the feet and toes. Unlike corns and keratinization, with which they are sometimes confused, warts violate the papillary patterns on the skin, as can be seen from a close examination. In some cases, the warts can be depressed inward (due to pressure on the foot), with the stratum corneum at the top.
Typically, warts on the legs are painful, the pain increases during walking, when squeezing the lesion. However, in some people they do not cause unpleasant sensations. Despite this, warts on the legs should be treated to reduce the risk of infection of surrounding people and prevent the spread of infection to surrounding tissue.
How to treat warts on the leg?
In comparison with other types of warts, warts on the legs are more difficult to treat. This is due to the fact that the lesion covers the deep layers of the skin. Therefore, you should be patient and persistent, tune in to long-term treatment. We will consider, how it is possible to deduce (remove) a wart on a leg by means of modern means and methods.
Means for warts on the legs, used in the early stages of the disease, are keratolics, among which most often used salicylic acid . Such treatment can be carried out even before you see a doctor:
- Within 5-10 minutes hold your foot in a warm bath.
- Thoroughly dry and treat the affected area with pumice stone.
- Apply salicylic acid under the occlusive dressing (you can also use special patches with salicylic acid).
- Carry out the procedure daily for at least 12 weeks.
When you go to a medical institution to remove a wart from your leg, the doctor can suggest a method such as cryodestruction. This method involves treating the affected area with liquid nitrogen with a cotton swab or an applicator, followed by treatment of the wound. To completely remove the wart, it may take up to three sessions at intervals of 2-3 weeks.
Often, laser coagulation is recommended to remove warts on the legs - treatment with laser beam. In most cases, one procedure is enough to get rid of the wart, but the healing period after that can take up to 10 days, during which some care for the wound is required. This method is effective and safe.
Operative intervention, i.e. removal of warts with a scalpel, is currently being done rarely. This requires local anesthesia. For this, electrocoagulation, ultrasonic and radio wave scalpels can also be used.