can fingers also be infected with hpv? many girls like to do this, but you must be careful

can fingers be infected with hpv? many girls like to do this, but you must be careful

2024-09-08

a while ago, there was a news report about a young lady who liked to do her nails. she found that small callus-like bags grew between her nails. the bags grew bigger and bigger, like cauliflower. after the doctor's diagnosis,it turns out HPVskin warts caused by human papillomavirus infection。

the doctor highly suspected that this was caused by manicure, because the manicurist injured the woman's nails when she was having her manicure at the nail salon.

this report can't help but make people think of a series of questions, such as whether to do manicures anymore? why does manicure cause hpv infection? isn't hpv infection a sexually transmitted disease? how can we avoid hpv infection?

if you don't know much about hpv and the basics, these questions can cause panic. in the face of these common doubts, we will now explain them and let everyone know the true face of hpv.

why can manicures cause hpv infection?

to clarify,manicures will not necessarily cause hpv infectionthe truth is that improper manicure operations will increase the chance of hpv infection.the problem is not the manicure itself, but the improper operation of the manicure。

specifically, during the manicure process, especially when polishing nails or removing "dead skin", if the tools used are not strictly sterilized, or if there is a slight break in the skin,hpv in the external environment may invade the skin through these wounds。

it should be emphasized here that the so-called "dead skin" near the nail is not dead skin in the strict sense, but our normal structure, which is called "dead skin" in medicine.small skin". the nail cuticle is a structure that connects the skin and nails. it has an important protective and sealing function, and can effectively prevent various physical, chemical and infectious factors from damaging the area around the nails.if you remove these dead skin cells during manicure, you are actually hurting your nails.。

figure 1. the so-called "dead skin" is actually the nail skin (provided by the author)

after hpv infection, in most cases, the body's immune system is able to eliminate the virus. however, sometimes, these viruses replicate and multiply in the surface cells of the skin, eventually forming rough wart-like growths, which are sometimes more obvious and grow like cauliflower. we give this kind of wart-like growth a name "common warts”。

if the common warts are around the nails, we can also call them "periungual warts"; if the common warts are under the nails, we call them "subungual warts"; if the common warts are on the soles of the feet, we call them "plantar warts".

regardless of where these warts grow, they all have one thing in common: they are unsightly and contagious. they are contagious in two ways:on the one hand, it can be transmitted to the patient, causing the warts to grow larger and more numerous; on the other hand, it can be transmitted to others through contact.. although their overall contagiousness is not high, these risks cannot be ignored.

therefore, in order to reduce the risk of hpv infection during manicure, it is not to say that manicures cannot be done at all, but you should pay attention to prevention. here are some useful suggestions for reference:

recommendation 1:choose disposable nail tools, or ensure that nail tools are strictly disinfected

recommendation 2:during the operation, manicurists and customers should avoid direct skin contact as much as possible.

recommendation 3:when doing manicure, do not damage the surrounding skin, and do not remove the "dead skin" such as the cuticle.

recommendation 4:don't do manicures too frequently, just do them in moderation

these situations,hpv infection may also occur on the skin

by the way, in addition to manicures, there are some personal habits or life events that can increase the risk of hpv infection on the skin.

for example, public facilities such as public swimming pools and water parks.this is because if there happens to be a minor wound on the skin, and if you come into contact with objects or environments contaminated by the virus (for example, walking barefoot in a public swimming pool), there is a certain probability of infection. however, the chance of this infection is not very high, and for this reason, most people do not take it seriously.

another example is sharing personal items, such as towels, razors, foot basins, and nail clippers.it is also possible for hpv to enter the skin through direct contact with infected personal items, especially in moist environments where the virus can spread more easily.

even smoking and drinking alcohol can increase the risk of infection.the reason for this is that a study in india found that people who smoke or drink have a higher risk of hpv infection than the general population. the reason for this association may be that smoking and drinking can indirectly increase the risk of hpv infection by affecting the immune system or increasing skin damage.

is hpv infection equivalent to a sexually transmitted disease?

many people mistakenly believe that hpv infection is equivalent to a sexually transmitted disease, and therefore panic. in fact, there is no need to worry.

in fact, there are many subtypes of hpv, as many as 200. some of these virus subtypes are easily transmitted through sexual contact, while others are easily transmitted through skin contact.

the common warts mentioned above are caused by hpv infection which is transmitted through non-sexual contact.hpv infection is far from being equated with sexually transmitted diseases。

including common warts, flat warts, filiform warts, digital warts and other skin warts are not sexually transmitted diseases (or stds).

hpv infection, which is truly a sexually transmitted disease, is calledgenital warts, another name for it isanogenital wartsgenital warts are less common than skin warts and occur primarily in areas of sexual contact, especially private parts.

below, we have used a table to sort out the differences between skin warts and genital warts. it is very important to understand the difference between the two to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary panic.

table 1. skin warts vs condyloma acuminatum

how to prevent hpv infection?

if you don't want to get hpv infection such as genital warts, what you can do is to keep yourself clean and avoid bad sexual behavior (this aspect is not the focus of this article, so we won't go into details).

if you don't want to get infected with various skin warts, you should maintain good hygiene habits. to elaborate, these details can play a good preventive effect:

· do not touch other people's skin warts;

· protect your skin and try to avoid various skin injuries;

· pay attention to hand hygiene and learn the 7-step hand washing method;

· do not share personal items with others;

· be careful to clean and disinfect shared items, such as manicure tools;

· take precautions in public places, such as not walking barefoot in swimming pools;

· it would be better if you could quit smoking and drinking.

in addition, i believe many people have heard of hpv vaccines. but please note thathpv vaccines are mainly designed to prevent individual high-risk hpv infections, which in turn can prevent some cervical cancers and genital warts.。

unfortunately, the effectiveness of existing vaccines in preventing skin warts is not very clear, and there is only a small amount of evidence that vaccines may have a certain protective effect against certain types of skin warts.if you get the hpv vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, it is possible (note, just possible) that the vaccine will also have some effect in preventing skin warts, so just consider it as icing on the cake.

[1] Nunes RAL, Morale MG, Silva GÁF, et al. Innate immunity and HPV: friends or foes. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2018; 73(suppl 1): e549s.

[2] Martin WA. HPV vaccine may have role in wart treatment. BMJ. 2011; 343: d4351.

[3] Petca A, Borislavschi A, Zvanca ME, et al. Non-sexual HPV transmission and role of vaccination for a better future (Review). Exp Ther Med. 2020; 20(6): 186.

[5] Burli A, Hancock S, Zhao YT, et al. HPV vaccination status and resolution of warts in pediatric patients. Indian J Dermatol. 2021; 66(6): 604-608.

planning and production

author:tang jiaoqingdoctor of medicine, dermatology physician

audit丨feng jun, deputy chief physician of the dermatology department of sinopharm tongmei general hospital

planning丨he tong

proofread by xu lailinlin

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