Spike on the foot: causes and treatment

Calluses, small abrasions on the heels, calluses - all this can cause slight discomfort to its owner. However, if the neoplasm causes acute pain when walking, you should think about it and immediately consult a doctor. There is a possibility that it causes symptoms such as a thorn on the foot, a type of wart that is often localized on the heels or toes and requires long-term treatment.

What is a peak

Plantar wart, goose, or in Latin Verruca plantaris: This is what experienced doctors call a neoplasm that looks like corn in appearance but causes a painful tingling when walking. The tip is considered a type of wart with a root attachment method in the deep layers of the skin. A small accumulation can be cured by folk methods, and only the methods of deep freezing, laser removal and electrocoagulation help to completely remove the thorn on the foot.

The goose, which has grown deep into the skin, touches and injures nerve endings and can cause cracks on the surface of the foot and inflammation. Skin growths are mainly localized on the skin of the feet, heels, toes or hands, but sometimes even delicate areas of the body are susceptible to virus infection: face, neck, ankles. Like any other wart, a foot thorn is a benign neoplasm, but if not properly treated it can turn into a malignant tumor.

Features of education

As a rule, the diameter of the plantar wart varies within 1-2 centimeters, but sometimes the size of the neoplasm can reach 4-5 cm. In the photo, the toe on the foot looks like a round or oval dry callus, with clear boundaries. To the touch, the formation is very dense and painful. Under the microscope, black-brown dots can be seen in the center of the spine. If you carefully examine the growth after steaming the legs, you can see the strands on the surface of the toes that have grown into all layers of the skin.

Plantar wart (toe) on the foot

The first signs of the appearance

Early in development, the toe looks like a dry callus with a hardened scab. However, if not treated correctly, the neoplasm increases in size, changes color, becomes uneven, and a small hole is formed in the middle, through which the rod is clearly visible. When pressing on the foot, there is severe pain, as if needles or thorns are stuck in the foot. If the neoplasm is not removed immediately, new growths may appear nearby over time.

How the infection occurs

A plantar wart is a viral disease that can be contracted through open wounds on the sole of the foot, through contact with a sick person, or through shared objects. Bacteria feel particularly comfortable in a humid environment, so people with excessive foot sweating are prone to the appearance of thorns. Most often, the infection occurs after visiting swimming pools, showers, gyms. To prevent a plantar wart from appearing, doctors recommend having personal hygiene products and bathing shoes with you at all times.

Causes of plantar warts

It causes a spike on the foot of the human papillomavirus, which is also present in a healthy body. However, when certain conditions are created, bacteria begin to actively multiply, resulting in skin lesions. The risk is particularly high in people with reduced immunity, pregnant women and children. A toe on the foot appears as a result of regular friction of the foot inside tight shoes, due to congenital or acquired deviations in the structure of the skeleton, for example, from clubfoot. Among the factors that provoke the development of the virus in the body also include:

  • excessive sweating of the palms, interdigital space, feet;
  • constant stress, overload, lack of sleep;
  • injuries, wounds or burns of the skin of the legs or hands;
  • exacerbation of chronic diseases;
  • infectious and viral diseases - flu, SARS, tonsillitis;
  • wearing uncomfortable or tight shoes;
  • flat feet;
  • avitaminosis;
  • excess weight.

How to get rid of a thorn

If a suspicious formation appears on the soles of the feet, do not delay a visit to the doctor. The sooner the correct diagnosis is made and treatment is started, the lower the risk of wart processes growing deep into the soft tissues. There are several methods of treating papilloma: physical impact on the wart, surgery, removal of growths with chemicals, complex therapy to increase immunity. Minimally invasive methods are especially popular.

The doctor examines a patient's foot with a toe with a magnifying glass

Physical effect on the wart

Removal of papillomas with a scalpel is rarely used today, as this method does not offer a 100% guarantee to eliminate the problem. The remaining processes in the skin layers can provoke a relapse and even greater growth of neoplasms. This method of treatment is acceptable if all other options are not available. The operation is performed under local anesthesia, followed by a long rehabilitation period.

Chemical methods

This option is considered one of the best in conservative treatment of the spinal cord. Aggressive substances that are part of some drugs, when they reach the affected skin areas, cause cell necrosis, after which the keratinized particles are easily removed mechanically. It is worth noting that this option is painful and can provoke the appearance of scars and scars on the body. Preparations with a chemical composition are of several types:

  • With a necrotic effect - due to very aggressive components, they provoke mummification of the skin surface. Such drugs are categorically contraindicated during pregnancy and for the treatment of a child.
  • Keratolytics - agents that gently exfoliate dead skin cells, help soften rough skin. In combination with other medicines they enhance its effect, contributing to the deep penetration of the active ingredients. Keratolytic drugs include: ointments and solutions with acids, urea-based patches.
  • With a cryogenic effect: they act as a cryodestruction procedure, freezing and stopping the growth of the papilloma.

Immunotherapy

For a speedy recovery, along with local remedies, doctors recommend the use of drugs that stimulate the immune system. For this, immunostimulants are prescribed. At home, immunotherapy consists in the normalization of nutrition. The menu should include more fresh fruits, vegetables, juices. In addition, you can do light sports: swimming, running, cycling.

How to remove a toe on the leg at home

It can be difficult to cure a thorn with simple means. The whole difficulty lies in removing the roots of a benign neoplasm, otherwise the problem will recur in the future. If you are worried about the spike on the foot, special preparations will help to remove it:

  • Salicylic acid ointment - a remedy for external use. It has an antiviral and anti-inflammatory effect. The ointment should be applied to the preheated skin and dried with a thin layer. To enhance the effect, an occlusive dressing can be applied from above. It is necessary to carry out the procedure until the papilloma completely disappears 1 time per day. If desired, the ointment can be replaced with special patches or a preparation based on salicylic and lactic acid.
  • Interferon alfa-2b ointment is a drug that has antiviral and immunomodulatory effects. The ointment is applied in a thin layer 3-4 times a day on the lesions. The duration of the course of treatment is 4-7 days. Contraindications include: individual intolerance to the components and children's age up to one year.
  • A special pencil is a silver-containing preparation with an antiseptic effect. The surface of the pencil is wetted with water, after which the product is applied to the damaged skin, avoiding affecting the healthy epidermis. The pencil should not be used during pregnancy, for the treatment of children, with the appearance of papilloma on the neck or face.
  • Liquid developed on the basis of a mixture of strong alkalis. Before use, the healthy skin around the papilloma must be lubricated with a fatty cream, after which a drop of the solution is applied strictly to the center of the growth. The treatment is carried out until the complete combustion of the plantar wart. It is worth noting that the procedure is very painful, causes itching and burning.
  • A local agent based on isotretinoin. It belongs to the group of keratolytic drugs, is available in the form of tablets. The capsules are taken orally with meals at a dose of 0. 5-1 mg / kg for up to four months. The drug is contraindicated in pregnancy. With caution, you can drink pills for diabetes, obesity, kidney and liver failure.
  • Keratolytic ointment that helps treat advanced plantar warts. When applied to the skin, the active components of the product destroy the neurological connection between dead cells. The product is based on urea, salicylic, citric, lactic acid. Sometimes it can provoke the appearance of adverse reactions in the form of burning, itching and redness of the skin at the site of application.
  • Liquid based on phenol and tricresol with mummifying effect. The method of use is the same as for treatment with an alkaline solution. The drug is contraindicated in the presence of moles next to the papilloma, with hypersensitivity and in children under the age of 7 years.

How to remove a toe on a foot

If the plantar wart has grown deep into the skin, regular topical creams, solutions, and ointments are likely not to help. In such situations, doctors recommend resorting to minimally invasive methods of wart removal: electrocoagulation, laser removal by freezing with liquid nitrogen - cryodestruction. These methods help not only to remove the toe, but also to prevent its reappearance in the future.

cryodestruction

Burn the wart and its rhizomes with liquid nitrogen. Under the influence of cold, the body of the papilloma is destroyed, the area of inflammation decreases, and more viruses and bacteria die. A small bubble remains at the site of the procedure, which disappears on its own in a week and a half or two. The procedure takes place without anesthesia and causes no pain. The disadvantages of the operation in a long recovery period and the possibility of injury to the skin near the wart. You cannot undergo the cryodestruction procedure for cancer.

Electrocoagulation

This method shows good results only in the initial stages of the appearance of the thorns, when the filiform roots have not had time to strike a large part of the foot. Papilloma is removed when the skin is exposed to high-frequency current pulses, as a result of which the toe and its rhizome are burned. The disadvantages of such an operation are pain: after the procedure, a bleeding wound remains on the body. Sometimes scars may appear after removal by electric current.

Pulsed laser treatment

One of the most popular and sought after treatments for plantar warts. Removal occurs under the influence of a laser beam, which simultaneously cauterizes the papilloma and disinfects the surface of the skin at the site of the operation. The method of laser treatment does not cause complications, after the procedure, patients are quickly rehabilitated, the possibility of regrowth of the spines on the foot is completely excluded. The only drawback of this method is the high cost of the operation.

Laser treatment for plantar wart

Leg tip - treatment with folk remedies

Together with the complex drug treatment at home, plantar warts can be removed using traditional medicine. There are several effective recipes for getting rid of thorns on the feet, palms and toes:

  1. The toe on the heel will go through if you regularly apply a nettle compress to the sore spot. To prepare it, finely chop the nettle leaves, wrap them in a clean burdock leaf, fix with a plaster. Put a sock on your foot and leave the compress overnight. The duration of such therapy is 3-4 sessions. By the same principle, you can make compresses from Kalanchoe, potatoes and garlic.
  2. Vinegar lotions help well. To cook them, use fresh garlic and 9% table vinegar. Mix the ingredients until a mushy state and apply, after protecting healthy skin with a patch. The mixture is aged for about an hour and a half or two, after which it is washed off with warm water. To enhance the effect after lotions, it is recommended to treat the surface of the foot with salicylic acid ointment.
  3. An equally effective remedy for human papillomavirus is iodine. It dries the skin well, disinfects, helps relieve inflammation. To cure a toe with iodine, it is necessary to lubricate the affected areas of the body regularly.
  4. A folk remedy from the alkaline type of preparation can be prepared at home. To do this, celandine leaves are collected, ground or finely chopped, then poured with 90% medical alcohol. The mixture is kept in a cool dark place for 1. 5-2 weeks, after which it is filtered. It is necessary to apply the solution in a timely manner, sealing the skin around the tip with a plaster or smearing it with a fat cream. The duration of celandine juice treatment depends on the growth of the neoplasms, but should not exceed 30 days.
  5. Painful neoplasms can be cauterized with pickled cucumber or canned tomatoes. To do this, take thick woolen socks, dip them in the brine and put them on. From above, wrap the legs with cling film or a bag. To create a greenhouse effect, secure the compress with a clean, dry pair of socks. Make a compress in the evening, wash your feet with fresh water in the morning. Procedures should be carried out until all tubercles have resolved.