gone Bananas!

by CJ
(Ohio)

Using waterproof athletic tape, secure a piece of banana peel on your wart while you sleep at night.

Grandma says the wart will be gone in as little as 3 days!

Hi CJ,
I have heard of this before, you certainly have nothing to lose by trying.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Wart Remover

i have plantar warts on my foot and its been there for months now. i tried the freeze stuff but it does not work, it just caused more pain. i started using the stuff in a glass jar, you just brush it on and now it is starting to come off and go away.

Hi,
Plantar warts because of their location (bottom of the foot) are pushed into the skin when you walk. This plus the fact that the skin is generally thicker on the bottom of the foot makes treating plantar warts more difficult then warts elsewhere on the body.
This is why freezing generally does not work on plantar warts; you cannot freeze deep enough to get all the wart.
This is also the reason why plantar warts have to be scraped, usually professionally, because it is otherwise difficult to get to the base of the wart due to its thickness. Scraping along with the use of a keratolytic agent can be very useful in eradicating warts.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Gorilla tape

When our daughter was about 18 months old, she developed a plantar wart the pad of her foot. We tried duct tape but found her feet sweat too much to hold the tape. Gorilla tape claimed it was stronger, so we tried it along with daily use of cotton socks. In about 18 days, we were changing the tape and out came the wart black roots and all! Zero warts since!

Hi,
Some people report success using tape on their warts. It is felt it is due to an interaction with the adhesive chemical itself and the wart virus.
Thanks for your comments.
Marc Mitnick DPM

The Many uses of Duct Tape

by Sharon
(Denver, CO USA)

I had a huge mosaic wart on the bottom of my left foot, it covered most of my heel and was starting up the outer side of my foot.--the doctor wanted to "cut it out" or use some sort of drug that suppress my immune system. Otherwise, I am healthy, no other conditions such as diabetes etc.

Instead I used the duct tape---under the tape around the wart I put a thin layer of oil then cover the area with duct tape--changed it daily----and gently shaved the area --every couple of days removing the dead skin. I watched carefully for sign of skin breakage or infection. I kept the duct tape it on at night and all day
-over a period of weeks the "warts" went away and have never come back.

HELP

by Tami Calhoun
(Ohio)

My sister lives in a very rural area of Mississippi. Her doctor has not been able to help her with this sore she has on her foot. She is desperate for a diagnosis so she can get this treated. She is in a lot of pain.

50 year old female. Tested negative for diabetes.

Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

tcalhoun1@comcast.net

Sincerely,

Tami Calhoun

Hi Tami,
It is somewhat difficult to tell but I do not think it is a wart.
Whatever it is, it appears to be end-stage meaning it looks like it has dried out. If it originally had small blisters and was itchy, it was either a an eczema or perhaps athletes foot.
I assume there is no podiatrist or dermatologist close to where your sister lives as they would be the type of doctor to see.
She could try a combination of over the counter topical cortisone cream and antifungal cream mixed together for a period of at least ten days. If there is no improvement then she will have to travel to find a doctor who can make an accurate diagnosis by examining her, something I obviously cannot do.
Marc Mitnick DPM

toni

by Antonia Clark
(Northlake, Il)

I had a plantar wart when I was in high school which I must have picked up by the swimming pool. I put bleach on it and it went away. Just a little on the end of a q tip. I also had a strange skin thing from working in the yard. The doctor gave me lamisil and steroid cream which helped but the areas kept getting irritated and itching. One day I spent the night at a motel that had a whirlpool which is loaded with bleach and it seems after that the irritations went away. So whenever it came back after working in the yard, I kept a spray bottle with a weak solution of bleach in water and sprayed the area that was itching.

Tea Trea Oil

by Helen
(Saint Louis)

My daughter had a plantar's wart on the bottom of her foot. We soaked the wart daily and used a pumice stone to file it down. Then I applied tea tree oil to the wart. After a couple of weeks the wart disappeared.

Not recommending this "remedy" to others!

Well, this isn't a home remedy exactly...

As a young adult I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma and at that time part of the pre-treatment staging was extensive abdominal surgery and splenectomy. At the time I was admitted for this procedure I was suffering from large and very painful plantar warts, at the time the least of my worries. From about the age of 16 I had dealt with the warts off and on but they had gotten magnitudes worse, perhaps because of the cancer impairing my immune system.

Anyway, I was in the hospital for close to two weeks, pretty much off my feet that whole time while I was recovering from the surgery. Amazingly, during that time, my plantar warts all but disappeared. This was before I had actually had any treatment for the cancer itself. I have always wondered if there was some medication I was given during that time that made a difference, or if it was my body's reaction to the surgery, or simply not being on my feet that made a difference.

I do remember a nurse noticing the plantar warts and brushing betadine on them at one point as she was removing stitches from the tops of my feet. But if iodine was what did it surely that would be widely known and used.

The magic of duck tape

by Lynn
(canada)

My daughters and I suffered from plantar warts. We tried everything... I mean everything. Nothing was working it kept coming back or did nothing at all. Until we heard of using our house hold Duck tape (the thick silver kind) We cut a piece and placed it over the wart. We kept it on for 10 days. replacing it when it need to be changed, but the longer we left it on the more it was doing. By the 10th day it was gone and you could see on the used pieces of tape the dried up blood and wart..
Try DUCK tape it worked like a charm for us

Good luck

Hi Lynn,
I have heard of the use of duct tape for the treatment of warts. It is thought that the adhesive reacts with the wart virus and eventually destroys it.
My feeling is that there is nothing wrong with trying something like duct tape on your warts provided two criteria are met. 1. The warts do not continue to spread while trying this treatment and 2. you seek professional care if the warts do not resolve because in some instances the "wart" that you are treating may not actually be a wart.
Thanks for your post.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Get rid of your plantar warts at home!

by Elena
(Moscow, Russia)

First of all I'd like to apologize for my mistakes, because English isn't my mother-tongue.
I had plantar warts for 10 years: they appeared when I was 12. Two times they were removed surgically, but they always returned, appearing on my scars, thus causing terrible pain.
I was desperate: nothing helped, but my friend's grandma told me that you can easily treat them at home.

You will need:
an onion
sunflower oil
real beeswax
laundry soap bar (like the ones they were selling in the 60ies - gray or yellow and smelling bad)))

You need to cut the onion into pieces and fry it in the oil until the onion turns black. You throw away the onion and leave the oil.
Pour the oil back into the frying pan (use an old one - you'll be adding wax and soap there, you don't want to ruin a new pan).
As I said you add several pieces of beeswax (it can be very hard and not easy to break into pieces) and melt it over low heat. Stir it all the time! Then you add the same amount of laundry soap (grated). Keep on stirring. When it all melts put it into a food container (it doesn't matter where you pour it actually, but it batter be covered with a lid - it doesn't smell nice). Leave it to cool.

What you need to do is to apply a this "ointment" (it'll be rather thick, actually - it becomes exactly what it is - soap with wax and oil, so it's won't be liquid) over your warts. Make sure they're all covered and no oxygen goes between your skin and the "ointment". Put a piece of bandage over it and keep it in place with a sticking plaster (or is it called an adhesive bandage?). And then put on a sock. You need to do it every night for two weeks. Wash it all off in the morning of course))

If the warts aren't gone in two weeks keep on applying the ointment until the warts disappear.

When I tried it I was skeptical: I had been doing it for two weeks and the weren't any progress, so I stopped. About 5 days later my warts started to hurt - I was so disappointed I wouldn't even look at my feet, because I was afraid to see that more warts have appeared. Finally, after 3 weeks I made myself look and I was shocked: it looked like all the infected skin was pushed out by the healthy skin. I felt the pain because warts were "falling off", not because something bad was happening. So I made this ointment again, been applying it for a week, and all the warts were gone.

It's been 3 years now and they never appeared again.
this recipe is for plantar warts only, because the ones you can get on your hands are of a different origin.

Please find time and prepare this ointment - it really helps!

Black Walnut Extract V. Plantar Warts

When I was in the service, I managed to get quite a collection of plantar warts on both feet. They eventually became very painful and, since I was an infantry Marine, that was a problem. I've had them frozen, burned with acid, even cut out with a scalpel, nothing seemed to work. After leaving the service, someone recommended black walnut extract applied twice daily for as long as it takes. After about two months of twice daily applications the warts were GONE, never to be seen again. There was no trauma to the foot whatsoever. They just 'melted' away. Have not had any plantar warts since. Its been 20 years now.

Hi,
Interesting, as I have never heard of that form of treatment. I think it is worth mentioning one aspect of your "story" that may have played an additional role in alleviating your warts.
I will assume when you were in the Marines, you were wearing boots on a daily basis and along with all the activity that you did on a daily basis, your feet probably perspired. Excessive perspiration can exacerbate the growth of warts.
Once out of the service and not wearing boots on a regular basis, your feet were probably drier and that may have also aided in the resolution of your problem.
In either event I am always happy to offer my readers another possible solution for warts as long as I feel the treatment is safe. Thank you for your post.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Tape!

I had 2 common warts on my knee, and I read in some magazine that plain old duct tape would suffocate them to death. It worked! I just waited until they were soft after showering, used a pumice stone lightly, just to bring the surface down a little (not painfully), then dried the area really well, and finally covered the warts with duct tape. It was really sticky duct tape, not sure if that had something to do with it. Anyways, even though the magazine said to change it everyday, I left the tape on for like 4 days at a time. Each time, a little skin came off with the tape, but it didn't really hurt, just like pulling off a bandaid. Eventually I had little scabs where the warts were and when it healed, the warts were gone :)

Thank you for your comments.
Marc Mitnick DPM

The Child's Way

by Diane

When I was 11 years old, I got a wart on the ball of my foot. I started using Dr. scholl's one step corn removal. After a week, it hade only become worse and much more painfull. So, one night after taking a shower I took my mother's tweezers qand pulled out the corn, piece by piece. It bled and it slighly hurt and it may not have been safe, but it certainly worked!

nail polish and band aids?!?!?

by Andi
(PA)

Well, like most of your skin, A wart needs oxygen and vitamin D to survive. So, Simply apply clear nail polish over your wart. make sure that every spot of the wart is completely sealed off and apply a fair amount of clear nail polish onto your wart. Wait for the nail polish to dry to a point where it is sticky/dry and then apply a water proof band-aid over the wart allowing the remaining of the nail polish to dry to the padding of the band-aid. Leave the band-aid on for 5-6 days. During this time the wart will be deprived of the oxygen and sunlight it needs to stay alive. Thus making the wart turn brown and being easily able to pull out. But since the tip of some of your nail polish is stuck to your band-aid just simply pull of your band-aid and wa la quick and painless your dead wart has been completely pulled out.

walking on the beach

by Silvie
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

when I was on a beach vacation a 2 large clusters of plantar warts that I had for 10 years disappeared within 2 weeks. I had a single plantar wart that survived the trip but I only had it for about 6 years. Not sure if it might have just been timing, but the properties in sea water are known to clear up other skin lesions (except for those you get from coral, etc in the sea - this has a reverse effect).

plantar warts....home remedy

by ^helpingangel^
(philippines)

i didn't know where i got that wart..it appears on my right foot..on my first glance..i thought its something like a corn..then i decided i will pop out the water..cause i thought there's a water inside..i get a nipper and started to pop it...then while doing it i felt pain whenever i file the skin...then i decided to stop the filing of it then on the 2nd week my foot started to felt pain when i walk...so i started to ask my family what is on my foot..they said its a wart so i stared to search what is the proper medication for this...i read many article...but this 2 items stock to my mind...
its the duck tape and salicylic acid...
i put a salicylic acid every night on the wart and bandage it with the medical tape(i use it instead of duck tape coz on that time,, i tested if its effective and... it works!!!) for about 2 weeks its gone...but on the last day of my wart i file it because it has a callus and i squeeze it very hard because it has a pus..so i squeeze it again and again,, and in the next day i don't felt a pain while walking and on the third day it became a scar..and now its completely gone...lastly...don't wash your feet on the day you squeeze it because the pus will appear again...good luck to you guys..hope i give some info that's perfect for you....luv lots...

Dead sea salt

I had multiple warts on my toes and they looked very bad. Every dermatologist I saw
told me to get it removed with laser. I was desperate to get them
removed as soon as possible but the thought of surgically removing them
scared me. Then I went to Jordan with my friends and just dippedmy feet
in the dead sea. Immediately I noticed a difference because my warts had
turned blackish in color. And now after 2 weeks they are completely gone.
I have had them for about 8 years and I never thought that they will dissapear
by just dipping my feet in the dead sea.

Mitchell

I got rid of warts on my fingers(4) twenty years ago by applying a fresh potato peel every night under a bandaid. They turned black within weeks and fell off. Never to return..I tell everyone about it and it works. Be patient and keep using it until it is completely gone. Remember, they go deep below the surface. Ask your Doctor about it first but it worked for me..

Mitchell,
Thank you for your input. I have heard of this before. The only concern would be for plantar warts, those warts on the bottom of the foot. Since walking on them, pushes the wart deeper into the skin the potato peel method alone may not work. The wart may have to be scraped or curetted by a doctor in order to expose the deeper part of the wart. However, I do not see any harm in trying a potato peel.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Plantar warts that would not go away!!!

by Mom
(Richmond, VA)

My daughter had plantar warts on her foot, they were in 5 places otherwise known as mosaic warts. She went to the dermatologist, once a month for eight months to have them frozen and have acid put on them. She soaked her foot twice a day and put acid on the warts, then covered them with duct tape. Nothing helped until we heard about the cimetadine! What a lifesaver!!! Within two months, she had NONE. The cimetadine did cause some stomach discomfort after a month of use, but she would discontinue use for a week and start it again and the warts dissapeared. Now NO MORE DUCT TAPE!!! and best of all.... NO MORE WARTS!!

Hi Mom,
I tell my patients all the time that there are a hundred ways to treat warts and all that really tells you is that there is no one way to treat them, that no treatment out there works in a large percentage of people who try it.
I am happy to hear the Tagamet worked for your daughter. I have had some success with it over the years, but again it does not work in everyone.
Marc Mitnick DPM

Apple Cider Vinegar to get rid of planters warts

by Rachel
(Leesburg Ga)

My 13 year old daughter had about 50 warts on her feet.They were all on the underside of her foot,between her toes. They were everywhere. I tried compound w, the duct tape theory,nail polish. I didn't try the freezing method--simply due to the cost and pain level. I looked online for herbal cures and such.Came across the apple cider vinegar theory. I thought "why not?", I had it in my cabinet.I dabbed some cotton(take the tip off a Q tip and ball it up) squeeze out the excess but leave it sort of damp.Place it on the wart and cover with a bandaide. I did this after her bath for the night,due to the stinky smell of the vinegar. I then made her wear a sock to keep the bandaide and cotton on. The next day after her bath I gently rubbed the area with a pumas stone. Repeated the same thing the night before. I actually used 2x2 guaze pads with large bandages because she had so many. The next day is when we saw the change.The center of the wart was black and there was a white ring around the wart.Some of the warts were just peeling off like dead skin.No pain at all. We continued to do this all over both of her feet for a few days.it took maybe 1 week to get rid of all of them.I'm not exaggerating when I say she had about 50,it was bad. It was a cheap,but stinky,home remedy that worked!! A few other kids I knew had warts on hands,legs,different areas.I shared my method with their Mom's and it worked for them also..

Vitamin D

Blood tests showed that I had a vitamin D deficiency. Strong Vitamin D doses were prescribed. Several dozen plantar warts on my left foot started to disappear at the same time. Three months later, with regular small dose vitamin D after one week of mega vitamin D, all warts are completely gone. Could be coincidence...

Hi,
I have never read anything about a relationship between vitamin D and wart virus, but certainly anything is possible. Thank you for your contribution.

Duct Tape

I have just been to the doctors who has advised that I have a mosaic wart which covers most of the ball of my foot & can sometimes be quite painful. He recommended that I use Duct Tape on my foot. Apparently this kills the oxygen supply to the wart and will eventually kill it. I have to have it taped for 6 days, then bathe it in warm water, then use a pumice stone to get rid of some of the skin and then retape it the next morning for another 6 days etc for approx 12 weeks.

Hi,
The good news about duct tape is that it is relatively harmless, unless you are allergic to the adhesive. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen.
I would think a better protocol then taping it for 12 weeks, would be to see a podiatrist in a couple of weeks so that he or she could curette (carve) out the wart which would allow the tape to work better and possibly shorten the treatment time.
Marc Mitnick DPM

is it wart?

by Harshita
(Kolkata)

i have about 6 black dots on my foot. are they warts ? they bleed when i scrape them. please tell me what type it is

Hi Harshita,

They sound very much like warts but without actually seeing them I cannot be certain. The only way to know for sure is to have a doctor take a look at them.

Marc Mitnick DPM