warts. Even the name alone sounds ominous! Warts can make you look dirty and frustrating, because they are difficult to treat and have no definite cure. If you're overwhelmed by the shame of warts on your hands, face, feet, or other body parts, this information will provide basic steps to help you get rid of them.
Step
Method 1 of 5: Using Medically Verified Treatment
Step 1. Be patient
Warts are caused by HPV (human papillomavirus), so they can take some time to get rid of them. Many warts will go away over time, even without treatment. However, "time" can mean anything from a few weeks to a few years, so you may want to choose a more active method. Whichever method you choose, let time do the work.
Step 2. Use salicylic acid
These are the most readily available and over-the-counter wart removers, such as Compound W and Ocusal. Soak your skin in water for 5 minutes or so, apply the acid liberally with a brush and let dry. Leave it for one day. You can peel or file the wart and then sand off any remaining dead skin. Do this every two or three days.
Step 3. Use duct tape
Several studies have tried to assess the effectiveness of duct tape in removing warts. Duct tape occlusion therapy (DTOT) is expected to be able to localize the drug in the wart area in general and "suffocate" the wart itself. One study found that applying duct tape after applying 5% imiquimod cream was an effective therapy against common warts.
Step 4. Apply cantharidin
Ask your doctor if you can use cantharidin, a fast-acting chemical that can burn the wart. It does cause pain, but you can see the results in just one day.
The doctor will apply cantharidin directly to the wart, then wrap a bandage. The next day, the bandage is removed and the dead skin is removed. If one therapy doesn't work, you may need another method-the doctor will make appropriate recommendations
Step 5. Try liquid nitrogen
Another remedy that doctors can try is liquid nitrogen-or cryotherapy-to freeze the wart. This can be uncomfortable, and may require several treatments to completely remove the wart, but it can be very effective.
-
Alternatively, many drugstores provide OTC clotting medications to kill warts. If using an OTC wart freezing treatment, keep these tips in mind:
- Follow the directions on the wart remover package. Your skin will go from white to red in a matter of minutes, and the skin under the wart will start to blister.
- Small black dots will appear under the wart after a few days. This is a sign that the treatment is in progress. Resist the urge to pull the wart.
- The wart will fall off on its own. If not, repeat therapy again after two weeks. Do not treat warts that have been treated three times but have not come off; go to the doctor.
Step 6. Burn the wart
If other methods fail, you may need to burn the wart. It can be painful, and the burning can cause scars, so the best recommendation is to leave it to your doctor to treat it. However, you can try it at home.
- Go to the doctor. They can use a laser to burn the wart. This is usually effective, but you should only do it after other methods have failed.
- Try it at home. Light a match, blow out the flame, and while the match head is still hot, apply it to the wart. This will cause your skin to blister, which is a sign of the start of the healing response. Peel off the infected skin layer, and cover it with aloe vera and a bandage. Repeat if needed.
Step 7. Ask the doctor to cut it
If in doubt, ask your doctor to remove the wart by surgically excising it. It is best to leave it to the doctor, to prevent infection, and so that local anesthesia can be used to reduce the pain. The doctor will do this by:
- Electrical surgery and curettage. The doctor burns the wart with an electric current and then cuts the wart.
- Laser surgery. The doctor burns the wart with a strong beam of light.
Step 8. Consider immunotherapy
Your doctor will be able to advise you on this treatment, which uses your body's own defenses to attack the wart.
Step 9. Ask the doctor for veregen
This is a new treatment used to treat genital warts as well as other types of warts.
Step 10. Use imiquimod
This is a topical cream used to treat certain types of warts and skin cancer by stimulating the body's immune response. It doesn't cure warts, but it can help, if used in combination with other treatments. Ask your doctor for directions.
Method 2 of 5: Using Unverified Home Remedies
Step 1. Boost antibodies
Apply ice to the wart, then sterilize the needle and poke deeply into the wart several times, making sure the needle penetrates every layer of skin on the wart. By introducing the virus into your bloodstream, you help your body to see the wart and fight it off, which can make the wart disappear from your body. This method is very effective for some people, especially those with multiple warts, because piercing one wart on your body can help your body find other warts and destroy them.
Step 2. Cover with vitamin C
Crush one vitamin C tablet and add water to make a thick paste. Apply it on the wart and cover it with a bandage.
Step 3. Cover with vitamin E
Break a vitamin E capsule and rub a little oil on the wart. Cover with an adhesive bandage. Remove the bandage at night so the skin can breathe, then start over with the oil in the morning. Repeat three times a day.
Step 4. Use hot water and pumice stone
Soak the wart in hot water until soft. Rub with a coarse piece of exfoliating pumice stone until the infected skin is flush with the surrounding skin. Dip a cotton swab in the bleach solution and place it on the wart for 15 minutes (it will sting a bit). You should wash the area thoroughly after applying the bleach.
Step 5. Apply tea tree oil
Apply a small amount on the wart and cover it with a bandage. Do this for up to three weeks.
Step 6. Try castor oil
The acid in castor oil irritates warts and works very effectively on small, flat warts on the face and back of the hands. Apply castor oil on the wart with a cotton bud twice a day.
Step 7. Use aspirin
Crush a few aspirins and add a few drops of water. Take the mixture and apply it over the area affected by the wart, then cover it with a bandage. Leave it overnight. Aspirin is an oral medication that contains salicylic acid, but is much cheaper than most commercial lotions.
Step 8. Try Betadine (iodine)
Also called iodine, apply Betadine on the wart and cover it with a bandage and leave it for a day or two then change the bandage.
Step 9. Apply toothpaste on the wart and cover it with a bandage
Leave it for a day and repeat until the wart is gone.
Method 3 of 5: Using Drugs from Unverified Foods
Step 1. Use orange peel
Cut a slice of lemon or lime peel slightly larger than the wart and stick it over the wart with a bandage or tape. Change the skin every day or so and keep the wart closed for as long as possible. After about a week or so, all warts will disappear completely.
Step 2. Use basil
Apply crushed fresh basil to your wart using a waterproof wound patch. Do this every day for a week. The virus-killing compound in basil leaves will kill your warts.
Step 3. Take garlic capsules
Do this twice daily for at least a few weeks. The wart will start to peel off in a week or two, but take the garlic capsules until the wart is gone. You can also cover the wart with garlic oil once or twice a day for a month.
Step 4. Eat foods that strengthen the immune system
For example garlic, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, sunflower seeds and rice.
Step 5. Cut the carrots
Grate the carrots finely and add enough olive oil to make a paste. Apply the paste on your warts twice a day for 30 minutes. Do this for two to three weeks.
Step 6. Make a fig mask
Mash fresh figs and apply it on your warts for 30 minutes. Do this daily for two to three weeks.
Step 7. Use lemon juice
Squirt some lemon juice on your wart, then cover it with fresh chopped onion. Do this for 30 minutes once a day for two to three weeks.
Step 8. Soak in pineapple juice
Soak your warts in pineapple juice. This juice has dissolving enzymes.
Step 9. Rub the inside of a banana peel daily
Potassium can help speed up the disappearance of warts.
Step 10. Tie your wart with a banana peel
Cut the banana peel slightly smaller than the tape you will be using. Rub the inside of the banana peel on the wart and then glue it with duct tape. Let it stay on the wart for one day before removing it. Repeat until the wart is completely gone.
Step 11. Make a curcumin mixture
Curcumin is a turmeric extract that can be purchased at health food stores. Mix curcumin, papaya leaf extract (Papain. This may have to be bought in pill form and ground into a powder), and vitamin E oil.
- Rub the wart and the surrounding area with golden seal plant extract which contains alcohol. This will stimulate immune activity in the area.
- Take a sharp needle or pin and dip it in the curcumin paste. Insert the needle as deep as possible into the wart. Continue injecting more paste into the wart, puncturing several holes if needed.
- Spread the remaining paste over the wart area and cover it with a bandage. This technique is effective against flat warts, which are on the face and hands. Flat warts are notoriously difficult to eradicate and often remain on the skin after the body has become immune to the virus. This will completely remove the wart and leave it no longer on the skin.
Step 12. Use apple cider vinegar
Take a cotton swab (just enough to cover the wart) and soak it in apple cider vinegar. Glue it with a wound plaster overnight. Keep in mind that this will probably be very painful, and you can dream about salads. Change the cotton every day and leave it on every night if you can. After a week, the body of the wart will begin to peel off and you can gently scrape it off so you can see the healthy flesh underneath. Allow the area to heal on its own after this procedure is done.
Method 4 of 5: Try a Gentle Wart Removal Method
Step 1. Use warm water and salt
Soak the wart for 10 to 15 minutes in warm salt water to moisturize the skin. Scrape off the dead skin layer on the wart using a nail file, pumice stone or fine sandpaper. You can also use your fingers, but wash them thoroughly before and after, as warts can spread easily. Wet the wart and apply a lot of salt to the wart. Cover the wound with a bandage or tape over the wart to keep the salt from falling off and observe for a few days, replacing it with a new one after you shower or if the tape comes off.
Step 2. Mix the baking powder
Mix baking powder with castor oil until it forms a paste, then apply it on the wart at night and cover it with a bandage. Remove the bandage the next morning. Repeat if needed.
Step 3. Use hot water
Soaking plantar warts in very hot water is helpful because it softens the wart and can kill the virus. Make sure the water is not too hot which could cause burns- keep it below 60°C.
Step 4. Apply dandelion sap
Take a fresh dandelion and break the stem. Apply the milky sap that is seeping out of the stem on the wart. Repeat three or four times a day. Scrape off the wart with a pumice stone to remove the layer of dead skin. Continue this treatment until the wart is gone.
Method 5 of 5: Causes and Types of Warts
Step 1. Avoid touching the wart as much as possible
Warts are small growths on the body, and are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), and can spread to other parts of your body.
The HPV virus can also be spread to other people through sores, open ulcers, or sexual activity
Step 2. Learn the different types of warts
Warts come in various shapes and sizes, and usually appear as raised round or oval fleshy growths on the skin.
- Common warts. It can appear anywhere on the body. These warts are most commonly seen on the hands. Rough in appearance, round, and grayish-brown in color.
- Flat warts. These are usually found on the face, legs, and arms. They are small, flat (as the name suggests), and can spread out when you shave.
- Plantar warts. It grows on the soles of your feet, and looks like a thick pad of skin with dark spots. These warts can be very painful.
- Genital warts. These warts are on and around the genital area, between the thighs, and can also appear inside the vagina and anus.
- Subungual and periungual warts. These warts appear under the fingernails and toenails. Rough lumps with an uneven surface.
- Filiform warts. These warts usually appear around the mouth and nose. They are the same color as the skin, and have thread-like growths protruding from the wart body.
Tips
- Some people claim that using aloe vera gel can make the wart fall off in just a day or two.
- Do most of the treatment when you go to bed so you don't have to pick it up or remove the bandage.
- Combining different treatments can increase the chances of warts disappearing quickly.
- Combine apple cider vinegar with silver duct tape. Keep the wart closed constantly or cover it as often as possible. This may work well for a lot of people and if it works for you too, you will start to see results within a few days. Warts will usually harden, turn darker and die. It may help if you try to apply a home remedy by freezing the wart to get rid of any stubborn wart remnants.
- Avoid swimming/bathing barefoot in public swimming pools. Often you can catch warts on your feet there, so bring water shoes, sandals, or flip-flops.
- Keep the wart dry. Wet warts tend to spread more easily.
- Sprinkle a lot of salt on the moistened bandage and stick it over the wart. Repeat frequently, especially after showering.
- Wash the infected area as often as possible.
- Another good product is Curad's Mediplast. This product contains 40% salicylic acid with the right size to be attached to the wart.
- You can visit the Health Service in your city for free (and/or low cost) treatment with several treatment options: Aldara (Imiquimod Topical), Trichloroacetic acid topical, Cryogenic freezing, etc. The type of treatment can vary in each region.
- You can apply several coats of Ocusal, but wait for the previous coat to dry.
- The only way to reduce the spread of HPV is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Warning
- Dry the wart after washing your hands. Warts tend to be more contagious when wet, and by drying your hands, you reduce the chances of spreading the virus to other people.
- Don't share socks, shoes, gloves, razors, or towels. Although the wart may not be visible, the virus may still be present.
- Go to the doctor if the problem persists without any signs of progress.
- Keep your wart covered with a bandage.
- The recurrence of warts depends on the resistance of your immune system to the virus.
- Do not use this treatment on irritated skin, infected or reddened areas, moles, birthmarks, warts with hair growth, genital warts, warts on the face, or warts on mucous membranes such as inside the mouth, nose and anus.
- Burning or freezing warts can leave permanent scars on the skin.
