Human papillomavirus is not a scratch that you can get rid of with a medicinal herb leaf, but it is also not a serious disease that threatens a person's life. It's just an infection. The infection, which counts over 100 species, is incredibly contagious, does not age/social status of a potential carrier, and is present in the body of more than 80% of the population.
Every patient who treats human papillomavirus must first of all understand: what they are dealing with, what threatens them with self-treatment, which doctor they should turn to for help, and how much time/effort/money it will cost a complete attempt to self-treat. get rid of this disease.
HPV: what is it? Disease symptoms. worth treating
Papillomavirus is an infectious disease that affects healthy cells in the epidermis/mucosa of almost the entire body (including the anogenital area). In other words, HPV is an intracellular parasite that inserts its DNA into human chromosomes. As a result, atypical cells begin to form, which, under the influence of "favorable" conditions, rapidly multiply. In the absence of any intervention, most of the epidermis is a pathological layer, a layer of tumors and pathogenic growths.
But, as practice shows, the result of the invasion of the papillomavirus, in fact, can be twofold:
- Infected people become carriers of the virus, but they themselves, thanks to the body's defenses, do not notice any symptoms of the disease.
- Almost immediately, an infected person's body begins to cover papillomas. Depending on the main location of your location and the type of virus itself, they can be different shapes/colors, cause itching/pain, or cause absolutely no discomfort.
Thus, with the existing variant of the manifestation of symptoms, the question of treating or ignoring the papillomavirus is resolved by itself. However, there is a special study using the polymerase chain reaction. Your results will help determine the type of pathogen, choose the right drug (for a specific strain), find out if it is treated.
As for the medical point of view, it was also divided into two halves. Some experts are of the opinion that it is basically impossible to get rid of the papillomavirus. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the symptoms, examining the "problem" tumors in time. The only treatment option for this side is surgery/other definitive therapies. The main indications for this approach are:
- regular relapses of the disease;
- pronounced symptoms of the disease, especially on the genitals (genital warts) and mucous membranes (larynx, bronchi, nose, eyes, oral cavity);
- preparation for pregnancy;
- high viral load according to polymerase chain reaction results.
The others believe in the independent removal of the virus from the body. To do this, you just need to support your immune system, which will block the pathogenic microorganism. This can be done with the help of vitamin complexes, immunostimulants, a healthy lifestyle (meaning good nutrition / abandoning bad habits).
Important!This theory is valid for patients under 30 years of age. After reaching the mentioned age, the immune system weakens a bit and is unable to remove the virus from the body on its own, having dealt with several strains of HPV at once.
Reasons for the development/progression of HPV
Before asking yourself how to treat HPV, where to find a good specialist, how much time/money will it take and whether it will be possible to cure papillomavirus in principle, maybe focus on prevention and try not to get infected?
It is good for the attending physician to explain to the patient in advance that this is almost impossible. For the simple reason that every second person around you can carry the virus without having a single papilloma. Thanks for that, it can tell your immunity, that it has the strength to block the symptoms of the disease. Whether your body's defenses are so powerful can only be known after the HPV infection itself. This usually happens in three main ways:
- From mother to son.During pregnancy, infection is practically excluded, as the placenta is a reliable barrier that protects the baby from any external influence. But during delivery, when the baby passes through the birth canal, the risk of transmitting the virus is incredibly high. Furthermore, it first penetrates the mucous membrane of the child's eyes/nose/oropharynx. As a result, the first papillomas in a small patient may appear within the first few days. Especially dangerous are those located in the glottis, putting the baby's life at risk due to possible strangulation. They are also called laryngeal papillomatosis.
- Domestic-contact way.It is especially relevant in case of non-compliance with personal hygiene rules, use of other people's towels/cups/clothes, handshakes, kisses, hugs, etc. The risk of infection increases in closed spaces with high humidity (pool, sauna, bath) as well as in preschool/school institutions.
- Autoinfection.It is seen in young children who pull everything into their mouths without first washing their hands. The same applies to nail biting, as well as finger burrs. In place of the latter, the characteristic outgrowths appear in the form of flat plates with a pinkish tinge. Do not forget about small scratches / abrasions / other mechanical damage to the skin, through which the virus quickly penetrates healthy epithelium.
In the absence of any actions, as well as concomitant causes of decreased immunity (inflammatory processes, chronic diseases, viruses / colds, lack of useful vitamins / micro and macroelements, living in unfavorable conditions, low environmental level, poor quality / unbalanced nutrition), Papillomatosis quickly spreads throughout the body, affecting more and more healthy cells. In this case, treatment is inevitable. It remains only to choose the fastest and most effective method.
Treatment of papillomavirus: the most effective methods
Heads up!The treatment of human papillomavirus should start with a consultation with a trusted specialist! Only he, after considering your complaints, performing an examination and making an accurate diagnosis, will be able to draw up an effective treatment plan. He will answer all his questions, including "is it possible to cure papillomatosis in principle? " and "should it be treated? ".
If you don't know who to contact specifically, pay attention to where the most annoying papillomas are located:
- Are the growths "scattered" on the arms, legs, armpits and face/neck? Then a dermatologist can help you.
- Worried about genital warts? These papillomas are treated by a gynecologist/urologist.
- Are tumors found in the rectum, near the anus? Contact a proctologist.
It is worth remembering that at the beginning of treatment it would be wrong to set the goal of "removing HPV from the body". No, you have symptoms that cause some inconvenience and also threaten with increased oncogenicity. We must start with them, minimizing the risk to life and health. Often, a complex method of treating papillomas is used for this:
- Destruction of "problematic" papillomas.
- Body support with immunomodulators.
- Healthy lifestyle.
Such an HPV treatment regimen will not only help to get rid of the manifestations of the disease, but will also be able to eliminate the virus from the body as such. But you shouldn't count on its quick removal: if a complete cure is possible, it will take at least years.
That's why experts recommend physical methods of removing papillomas as an effective way to stop their growth/spread.
Hardware cosmetology/surgery
This method of removing papillomas is considered a priority not only in medical circles, but also in cosmetology. After all, this is the only way to quickly / leave no traces / effectively remove those papillomas that cause physical discomfort, develop complexes due to an unsightly aesthetic appearance.
The most popular are:
- laser therapy.The essence of the procedure is the "dissolving" of pathological cells, sealing the walls of blood vessels, as well as the rehabilitation of the damaged epithelial layer. The process is absolutely painless, fast and quite effective (from 60 to 92% of papillomas disappear without a trace, without recurrence). However, as far as wound healing is concerned after removing growths larger than 5mm, it lasts up to 4 weeks and leaves small, depigmented patches.
- Radio wave therapy / radioknife.This method involves using high frequency radio waves to remove skin lesions. It allows to cure papillomatosis by clotting the blood vessels and without bleeding and pain. It eliminates the recurrence of the disease, acts extremely punctually, without damaging healthy tissues. Best suited for removing single tumors.
- Cryodestruction.It involves exposure to the papilloma with liquid nitrogen, as a result of which the growths dry up, turn black and fall off. If its dimensions are greater than 5-6 mm, several sessions will be needed to achieve the desired result.
Important!The probability of relapse is quite high.
- chemolysis.Removes neoplasms with trichloroacetic acid. It is only used for the treatment of genital warts. And then with an efficiency of 30-40%.
- Electrocoagulation.Papillomas are exposed to high-frequency electrical current, as a result of the coagulation of protein tissues, destroying the pathological layer. The procedure is quite painful, but allows for the use of local anesthesia. As for relapses, they are quite likely, so you should pay attention to this immediately.
Heads up!The specialist who performs the procedure must be extremely careful: the smoke during electrocoagulation can contain particles of the human papillomavirus and, if it enters the upper respiratory tract, infect it.
- "Good old scalpel".Surgical intervention, despite the abundance of more modern methods, continues to occupy one of the first places in medicine. But now they mainly use it to remove large sized genital warts. Also, this method is effective in getting rid of malignant tumors.
Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. In addition, the patient's fear of hardware therapy/surgery often plays a significant role. In this case, all these methods can be categorically rejected, despite their high efficiency. An exception is, perhaps, oncogenic formations. But even in this case, the patient can insist on other, more "humane" therapeutic methods.
Removal of papillomas using pharmaceuticals
How to remove pathological formations with drugs? Simple enough. Consult your doctor, who will prescribe a suitable topical product for you. Regardless of the name and price, the active substance of each of them is an acid or alkali, under the influence of which the tissues of epithelial formations are destroyed. In other words, necrosis of pathological cells occurs.
The use of medication is prohibited for self-medication, as there are a number of contraindications that should not be neglected:
- None of the pharmaceuticals are allowed for self-treatment of genital papillomas. Some are theoretically suitable, but are only applied in the treatment room by an experienced specialist.
- The drug with sodium tetraborate and sodium hydroxide is strictly prohibited to be applied to the face / neck / chest / armpit.
- An excellent analogue of cryodestruction turned out to be a spray preparation with dimethyl ether and propane. Its use is allowed at home, but only after consulting a dermatologist and carefully studying the attached instructions. The tool is really effective, but the surface of the skin affected by it heals for a long time and painfully.
- A special pencil acts on the papillomas with silver nitrate, which helps to remove growths with maximum destruction of pathological bacteria. At the end of the first week of use, necrosis of neoplasms is observed. But you must be prepared for "residual" scars, as well as burns. On closed areas of the body this is not critical, but it is best not to experiment on the face/neck/chest.
- The most "gentle" remedy is a drug with a substance obtained by the synthesis of N-N-dimethylamino-2-propanol p-acetamidobenzoate with inosine, as it has an antiviral effect. No one will tell you for sure how to get rid of papillomas with these pills. But the body's defenses, in particular the lymphocytic deposit of blood, will be visibly strengthened. And with a small spread of papillomatosis, this increases the chances of the virus self-eliminating.
- A phenol-containing solution, specializing in skin warts as well as genital warts, cauterizing their first manifestations. Dangerous for healthy skin and not used more than 5 times.
How to get rid of folk methods of papillomatosis
Traditional medicine is very much loved by many patients, especially those who prefer self-medication. It's no wonder that neighbors, grandparents and the good old Internet ask the question "how to treat HPV".
This is not to say that such treatment methods are ineffective. No, many will be able to demonstrate a self-healing disease with the help of decoctions, tinctures and lotions. But there are also those that folk remedies did not help or only aggravated the condition.
Therefore, before you start using all the collected homemade recipes for papillomatosis, do not forget to consult a specialist and take the necessary examination. Most likely, you will be given a "green light" to use certain means, or even advised by those that traditional medicine itself recommends:
| Celandine | Just a few fresh stems of the plant are enough, from which the juice has come out. They lubricate the surface of the growths, trying not to snag a healthy epidermis. The procedure is a little painful, but the result is visible after a few days. |
| Iodine | You will need a solution (available at any pharmacy) and cotton swabs (to make application easier). HPV is often treated with iodine and is considered one of the most effective and inexpensive remedies. |
| castor oil | Contains acid that can destroy pathological papillomavirus cells. Allowed for the treatment of growths on the face. Just lubricate the warts with castor oil twice a day and seal with plaster. |
| Garlic | Any elderly person will tell you how to treat papillomas with garlic. And not about an option as you can apply a clove of garlic cut to the growth or prepare a "garlic ointment". |
| Dandelion | Plant heads are harvested, filled with colony and infused. The resulting mixture of papillomas is processed 6-7 times a day. |
Each of the suggested options has a right to life. And it proves that often, to get rid of the human papillomavirus, it is not necessary to schedule treatment several years in advance.