A benign tumor that forms from adipose tissue is called a lipoma in medical theory, but popularly it is simply a wen. Theoretically, a lipoma can appear on any part of the body where there is even a slight accumulation of fatty tissue. In medical practice, subcutaneous wen is most often found on the neck, arms, torso, outer thighs, and lower back. Lipomas on the hands, as a rule, do not cause pain, because they rarely reach such a size as to compress nerve endings or blood vessels, but with their unaesthetic appearance they can significantly darken a person’s life.
What does a lipoma look like?
Lipoma is a round or oval, mobile, slowly growing formation, with an average size of 1 to 10 cm. Small subcutaneous wen can remain unnoticed for a long time until it increases in size.
Lipoma contains pathologically overgrown adipose tissue enclosed in a thin fibrous capsule. Inside, it usually looks loose, divided into fatty lobules, somewhat reminiscent of bunches of grapes. Some lipomas of the hand do not have a capsule; they pose a danger to human health, due to possible growth into the muscle layer, joints and periosteum.
The presence of a wen on the arm is accompanied by a certain physical and psychological discomfort. Most often, lipomas form on the hand and elbow, which significantly reduces a person’s ability to work and leads to frequent injuries. It is strictly forbidden to damage a lipoma of any location; constant traumatic exposure promotes the activation of adipose tissue and the growth of formation. Fluctuations in body weight do not affect the size of the tumor in any way, so going on a diet with the hope of reducing the wen is not advisable.
It is quite difficult to distinguish a lipoma from other tumor (benign and malignant) formations, so self-diagnosis is not worth doing.
Treatment with medications and folk remedies
Small lipomas (up to 1 cm) can be successfully treated with medicinal ointments. Vishnevsky Ointment, ichthyol ointment, and Vitaon balm have excellent antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and absorbable properties. However, before using them, you should make sure that there is no individual intolerance to the components of the drugs, especially Vitaon balm, which contains many herbal extracts. The listed means should be used to regularly lubricate the wen on the arm, after which this place should be fixed with a dressing. The course of treatment is about 14 days.
To remove small wen, you can use traditional medicine methods. Compresses made from the medicinal herbaceous plant Callisia fragrant (Golden Usher) help well. You need to rinse the leaf of this plant under warm water and beat it a little for better juice formation. Then apply the healing mass to the surface of the wen and secure with a bandage. This procedure is best done before bedtime.
Wen on the hand can be removed using sunflower oil and ethyl alcohol or vodka. To do this, the components are mixed in equal proportions. You need to moisten the bandage in the resulting emulsion, apply it to the sore spot and secure it with a cloth.
Such procedures must be carried out until the wen disappears. However, if after two weeks the fatty tumor does not become smaller, then treatment must be interrupted and seek help from a specialist.
The listed treatment methods can be successful if, along with them, you adhere to diet, personal hygiene, and care for the skin of your hands. Good health!
Why do lipomas appear on the hands?
The reasons for the formation of lipomas on the hand, elbow, shoulder segment, as well as on other parts of the body, are not fully understood. Most often, doctors talk about disorders of fat and protein metabolism. There is also a theory about genetic predisposition, which is especially relevant in the case of familial lipomatosis - a disease manifested by multiple lipomas in all members of the same family.
Other factors that provoke the appearance of lipomas on the hands include:
- traumatic damage to the hypothalamus, the area of the brain responsible for metabolic processes in the body;
- diseases of the pancreas, spleen, liver;
- neurological disorders, stress;
- insufficient function of the thyroid gland or pituitary gland;
- diabetes mellitus and other endocrine diseases;
- circulatory and tissue regeneration disorders;
- hormonal changes in women during menopause;
- malignant formations of the upper respiratory tract;
- alcoholism, smoking, drug use;
- harmful, poor nutrition and, as a result, slagging of the body.
Causes and symptoms of wen
In scientific terminology, a wen is called a lipoma, which is literally translated from Greek as “fatty tumor.” Despite the threatening, clearly oncological name, the wen is completely harmless - it is a benign neoplasm that, apart from aesthetic problems, does not cause anything else. Lipomas are usually inconspicuous and do not always grow. Modern scientists do not have a consensus on what causes lipomas. The following hypotheses are popular these days:
- Genetic predisposition to the development of wen. Most likely, many relatives in your family tree have had this disease, and your predisposition to developing a lipoma in a certain area of the body is genetically based.
- Failure of the hormonal system. The initiator can be both natural hormonal transformations such as menopause in women, puberty in children, and emergency situations - damage to the hypothalamus, side effects of various medications, inhibition of the production of certain hormones due to illness, and as a result, general hormonal imbalance.
- Wrong lifestyle. It is difficult to indicate the exact reason here, since lipoma forms independently and does not depend on other fatty tissues (another reason why diet will not help in the fight against lipoma). Due to the intricacies of the human body, it is impossible to structurally explain the influence of any one factor in relation to a specific person, but most often lipomas readily develop in those whose health lifestyle leaves much to be desired.
Symptoms of hand lipoma include the appearance of a barely noticeable hemispherical, mobile, soft subcutaneous bulge, approximately 0.5 mm to 4 cm in diameter (depending on the stage). When touched, the lipoma on the wrist does not hurt and does not cause any unpleasant sensations, except perhaps discomfort due to excessive tension of the skin if the lipoma is close to the joints.
What do the numerous wen on the hands indicate?
Cases of lipomatosis are very common in medical practice. First of all, in case of such a disorder, the liver is checked - it is its pathological changes that most often become the cause of the formation of numerous wen. Insufficient liver function provokes disruption of fat metabolism processes.
If the liver is healthy, you should pay attention to other processes that can change the lipid spectrum in the body, including endocrine diseases, hormonal disorders, metabolic pathologies, etc.
In some cases, numerous lipomas are a symptom of Dercum's syndrome, a genetic disorder accompanied by symmetrical hypertrophy of adipose tissue. A distinctive feature of the syndrome is the appearance of pain upon palpation of tumors.
How to avoid relapse?
None of the lipoma treatment methods guarantees a 100% absence of relapses. The most effective in this regard is radical surgical intervention, but even in the presence of certain unfavorable factors it is not optimal. Lipomas are called “wandering tumors” for their ability to appear again and again, and the location of a new wen is difficult to predict.
To minimize the risk of re-formation of lipomas on the hands and other parts of the body, you should:
- remove all existing tumors (always along with capsules);
- organize proper and healthy nutrition;
- treat all systemic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, spleen, endocrine and nervous systems;
- eliminate the possibility of metabolic disorders;
- to refuse from bad habits;
- lead a healthy lifestyle.
Single lipomas usually respond well to treatment. With multiples things are worse; even after seemingly correctly selected treatment, relapses are often observed. Lipomatosis of genetic origin is especially difficult to treat.
Wen treatment
To get rid of the wen, you can go to the doctor, or you can try to treat it yourself with folk remedies. The traditional medicine option is safer and more successful. However, the doctor will most likely agree to remove the wen on the hand cyst only if there are appropriate indications. These include extremely rapid growth (increase in size several times in a short period of time), your desire, large size and, as a result, an obvious cosmetic defect. Some doctors advise removing a lipoma on the hand as early as possible, since there is a possibility of mutation of a benign tumor into a malignant, cancerous one.
Wen removal by a doctor
Before you begin removing a lipoma, you need to make sure that it is the lipoma and not some third-party disease.
To do this, it is necessary to undergo cytological tests with punctures taken from the wen to a medical laboratory. The doctor may also insist on doing an ultrasound examination, computed tomography, or x-ray. After resolving all diagnostic issues, the doctor decides on the method of treatment. Most often they are treated by classical surgery under general or local anesthesia. The operation lasts on average up to half an hour. After a few days of postoperative recovery, the patient continues to lead his usual lifestyle. Laser treatment is also possible. Well suited for getting rid of small wen. The obvious advantages are that there is no need to use anesthesia, and there is no recovery period after the operation.
Self-treatment of wen on the hand with folk remedies
It is possible to get rid of lipoma using folk remedies, but the question of the effectiveness of such treatment is purely individual. That is why the number of recipes tends to several dozen, but no one gives guarantees that the wen will not reappear. Here are the most effective recipes that will help get rid of lipoma on the hand:
- A compress of freshly picked leaves of golden mustache, tightly attached to the hand with a bandage. Leaves change every 12 hours. Apply a compress a couple of times a week. Treat with this method until complete recovery.
- Crush the garlic by mixing with a teaspoon of olive or sunflower oil. The ointment should look like a light green paste. Apply to the wen a couple of times a day.
- Radical remedy. Place a few drops of celandine juice on the wen. You need to be careful, celandine corrodes the skin. It is better not to drip onto foreign parts of the body.
- Baked onions will help get rid of it, or you can add black pepper. Knead and put on the wen.
- Vishnevsky ointment. Treat with this ointment in the form of a compress. The ointment helps to draw out the contents of the lipoma and further resorption.
Under no circumstances should you try to open the wen yourself. Despite the fact that you can find ways and photos of how to open a wen, you should not use them. The consequence may be blood poisoning, stimulation of wen growth, and infection. Remember that this should only be done by a certified specialist. Take care of your health!
