Fat on hands
The term "adipose" in everyday life usually means a lipoma - a tumor of fat cells concentrated in a capsule of connective tissue. The localization of this benign formation is almost any part of the human body, but more often lipoma occurs where there is a relatively small layer of subcutaneous adipose tissue. Fat can form on the shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, wrists, and even fingers. These formations very rarely degenerate into malignant tumors, but this possibility should not be completely ruled out.
Content:
- Features of wen on the hands and fingers
- Reasons for the appearance of wen
- Fats on the fingers
- Fats on the palms
- The main misconceptions regarding the treatment of a wen on the hands
- Differentiation of lipoma on the arm from atheroma
- Treatment of a wen on the arm
Features of wen on the hands and fingers
The appearance of any non-standard formation under the skin is a good reason to see a doctor. Although most often the tumor turns out to be an ordinary wen, a non-specialist does not have the necessary amount of knowledge for an independent diagnosis. A fatty tissue is not a tumor in its usual view, it is a connective tissue capsule filled with fat cells.
Features of wen on the hands:
- In very rare cases, lipid formations on the hands may not have a capsule; fat accumulates under the epidermis, penetrating deep into the muscle over time. This pathology is called a spilled lipoma;
- Fats on the hands, reaching impressive sizes, lead to impairment of motor functions;
- Saturation of the hands and fingers with nerve endings, contact of the formation with the joints can lead to pain with excessive growth of the wen;
- Fats on the hands are more often injured due to the specificity of their localization;
- Even a small formation on the hand is clearly visible, which gives its owner psychological discomfort.
Fats can grow in size, reaching the size of an orange or a tennis ball. The growth of education is further enhanced after its mechanical damage. Fats on the fingers are injured especially often, since the hands are involved in hundreds of different operations during the day.
Reasons for the appearance of wen
There are several factors, the combination of which leads to the appearance of lipid formation on the hands and fingers. However, there are no specific reasons for the development of this particular type of wen. Many aspects at once can influence the formation of lipomas.
The causes of the appearance of wen:
- Hereditary predisposition;
- Hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus and other endocrine pathologies;
- Disruption of the functioning of the digestive tract, liver or kidneys;
- Frequent psychoemotional disorders, stress;
- Pathological addiction to nicotine, alcohol, drugs;
- Imbalance in the diet - the predominance of fats and carbohydrates in the menu.
A genetically determined predisposition, diseases of the liver and endocrine glands are a common cause of lipomatosis - multiple formation of wen under the skin of the hands and fingers. In this case, the localization of tumors is not limited only to the hands, wen are formed on any part of the patient's body.
Fats on the fingers
At the beginning of its development, such an education may look like an ordinary furuncle. A long stay on the finger of a soft, painless mound is a reason to define it as a wen. There is a very thin layer of epidermis and muscles on the fingers, so the lipoma does not have the opportunity for a strong increase. However, the growth of a wen on the fingers leads to the fact that it begins to interfere with the work of the joints, touching and damaging them.
The advantage of such an education is that a wen is easily diagnosed on the fingers, especially with its stable growth. Frequent trauma to the fatty tumor forces the patient to seek medical help. Removing a large formation on a finger requires the surgeon's jewelry work, which allows the limb to work.
Fats on the palms
Separately, xanthomatosis should be considered - an metabolic disease in which multiple lumpy growths with soft, loose, yellow contents are formed on the palms. It is represented by a mixture of cholesterol and cholestanol. Xanthomas are localized not only on the hands, they can affect the eyelids, the corners of the eyes and in general any part of the body of a person suffering from a serious violation of lipid metabolism. Treatment of xanthomatosis involves a combination of drug therapy with surgical or cosmetic removal of yellow plaques and growths on the skin.
The main misconceptions regarding the treatment of a wen on the hands
Self-medication of a fatty tumor at home is very dangerous, wherever it is located and no matter how small it may be.
There are several other misconceptions regarding the treatment of wen on the hands:
- You can get rid of the wen with the help of medicinal herbs and compresses. Removal of minor symptoms by such methods is quite possible, but it will not be possible to completely cure the wen and eliminate its cause.
- Returning to a healthy lifestyle will help heal the wen. For the prevention of education, you can adhere to a diet, give up bad habits, but the process that has begun can not be stopped by such measures.
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There are special diets designed to get rid of a fatty tumor. Body weight and the size of the wen are not in any way related to each other, so weight loss will not help get rid of the problem or even stop the growth of education.
Self-opening of the formation capsule will not help get rid of it, since the fragments of connective tissue remaining in the wound will become the basis for relapse.
Differentiation of the wen on the arm from atheroma
A sebaceous cyst (atheroma) can have symptoms similar to a lipoma, so it can be very difficult to distinguish these formations from each other.
Differentiation of a wen from atheroma - the main signs:
- The localization of atheroma is the sebaceous gland, the localization of the wen is its own capsule of connective tissue;
- Atheroma is tightly attached to the skin and is crowned with a clogged mouth of the gland, and the lipoma moves quite freely under the epidermis;
- Pain and discomfort are frequent companions of the initial stages of development of atheroma, and lipoma is painless, its main symptom is constant growth;
- The localization of atheroma is the upper layers of the epidermis, its contents can peep outward, and the lipoma is located deeper;
- Atheroma is denser and more elastic to the touch than lipoma;
- The skin above the surface of the lipoma can be folded, which cannot be said about the sebaceous gland cyst;
- Lipoma has more impressive growth potential, while atheroma rarely reaches the size of a quail egg.
In the treatment of small lipomas (up to 3 cm in diameter), it is possible to use drugs that absorb adipose tissue. Atheroma cannot be treated with such methods, especially if the cyst is inflamed.
Treatment of a wen on the arm
Before removing the wen on the hand or on the fingers, a visual examination of the tumor by the surgeon, its X-ray or ultrasound examination (ultrasound) is performed. If the doctor has doubts, he prescribes a histological analysis of the contents of the wen. The only possible method of treatment is surgical removal of the formation, carried out taking into account the size and location of the wen on the arm.
Methods for destruction of a fatty tumor:
- Puncture-aspiration method - used to remove formations no more than 2-3 cm in diameter, their contents are sucked out with a special needle, relapses are possible due to the fact that the capsule remains intact;
- Moxibustion methods with liquid nitrogen vapor or high-frequency currents (cryodestruction and electrocoagulation) are relevant in the case of small wen on the hands and fingers. At the site of vaporization of the formation, a pigment spot may subsequently appear;
- The classical method is used to remove large wen, performed under local anesthesia in a surgical hospital, when the capsule is removed through the incision with a scalpel along with its contents;
- Endoscopic method - removal of a large wen on the arm is carried out under the control of a miniature endoscope camera, healing occurs quickly, complications are minimal;
- Radio wave method - excision of a wen with a radio knife, an effective and quick procedure that does not leave noticeable scars and guarantees no relapse;
- The laser method is a modern safe method of removing wen with a laser knife without bleeding, complications and relapses, but quite costly.
During rehabilitation, the doctor prescribes medications to prevent inflammation and regularly bandages the wound. The resulting keloid scars and scars are subsequently eliminated by laser skin resurfacing and dermabrasion.
The author of the article: Volkov Dmitry Sergeevich | c. m. n. surgeon, phlebologist
Education: Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry (1996). In 2003, he received a diploma from the Educational and Scientific Medical Center of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.
