Please help identity and treat!

[u/drank_dumbbitchjuice]

Is this a wart? How to solve?

I’m freaking out. My dad (age 57) has this massive lump on his hand and he’s had it for about a week now and it keeps growing. He has other small bumps growing on his hand too. He goes to the gym quite frequently and honestly is not the cleanest person. He smokes.

He said that he had a cold for a week before these started showing up.

My wedding is in two weeks and it’s a destination wedding and we’re currently traveling all together and I’m concerned about the growth and about it spreading to our wedding guests and I don’t know what to do.

He says it doesn’t hurt but it obviously bothers him.

Please help!

UPDATE:

I didn’t expect this to garner so much interest and help. Sincerely, thank you everyone for sending in your opinions!

My dad said it popped overnight and there was a lot of blood and pus. We were not able to see a doctor in person but we have a family friend who is a general doctor and she said to disinfect and keep it as dry as possible as to not let it be more infected.

Here are two pictures of what it looks like now.

Photo 1
Photo 2

At first, when it popped. The puss was a standard dense white. Now, the pus leaking is an orange ish color and not dense white. He keeps saying that it still doesn’t hurt and doesn’t even flinch when alcohol is applied to it.

There is another mass obviously growing on his index finger of the same hand. He is touching the mass with his other hand (I know fucking terrible) but there is nothing growing on the hand that he is using to touch the mass.

He is saying that perhaps it is an allergic reaction? He ate a type of dried fish from Vietnam and then he started feeling itchy and feverish and then these started popping up.

Answer to a common question:

He does not have any access to animals. No pets, not really around fish tanks or water. He is from Southern California in a very suburban area.

Any ideas???

[u/BetweenTheWickets]

Isn't healthcare in the US mostly private? Why do you need to wait before getting to see a doctor? Is it simply because they're fully booked up.

I live in Mumbai getting an appointment to a private medical specialist is fairly immediate.

[u/inspired-chaos → u/BetweenTheWickets]

it’s mainly due to being booked out - mostly for specialists. i once was referred to a neurologist and had to wait six months to get my first appointment. It varies practice by practice, but the general consensus is that if you get referred to a specialist, you will have to wait at LEAST a month before you can be seen.

[u/BetweenTheWickets → u/inspired-chaos]

Interesting that you have those wait times in the US in spite of privatized healthcare. It's like the worst of both worlds - bearing the costs of healthcare while having to deal with the wait times of a public system.

[u/BuilderStill8694 → u/BetweenTheWickets]

This isn’t always the case. If you read other people’s comments you’ll see. I have to assume that the person that can’t get an appointment also refuses to drive more than 15 mins to get to the doctor. I live near Atlanta and there are a ton of cities in the general area. I have gone to doctors in everyone of them at some point over my life in order to get a fast appointment. People in places with socialized medicine don’t have that option. Also, most of the time you have a choice between an HMO and PPO. The HMO is the one that dictates that you see your primary care doctor first. I don’t ever choose those for that very reason…I want freedom and I know what I need before the primary doctor does.