How to Get Rid of Plantar Warts (Verrucas)?

Plantar warts (sometimes called Verucas) can be annoying, or they can be downright painful. In any case, they can be stubborn and hard to remove.

They are a variant of HPV - the Human Papilloma Virus - and on their own, can take quite a while to disappear. If you don't have a couple years to wait it out, there are a few things you can do to remove those unsightly warts. Start at Step 1 and read all of the first method to find some ways you can try to remove these warts at home, or skip to the second method to read about some doctor-administered techniques.

Method 1 of 2: Home Remedies

1. Try salicylic acid and duct tape. Salicylic acid is the active ingredient in most over-the-counter wart remedies such as Compound W, Ocusal, and WartStick.

• Wash your foot well, then soak your foot for about 20 minutes.
• Use a pumice stone or emery board to gently remove dead skin.
• Swab the area around the wart with rubbing alcohol or alcohol pad. This will help the tape stick to your skin, then apply the the wart removal product liberally to your wart.
• Cover wart completely with duct tape or the tape part of waterproof band-aid. (Cut off and discard the pad). Leave it on for six days.
• On the evening of the sixth day, remove the patch, and repeat the soaking and emery board process.
• Leave the wart uncovered overnight, and if the wart is not gone, make a new duct tape patch and go for another six days.

2. Try cryotherapy. While not as powerful as a doctor's liquid nitrogen treatment, cryotherapy products such as Compound W Freeze Off or Dr. Scholl's Freeze Away Wart Remover can be purchased over the counter, without a prescription. Still, they've been know to be effective, if somewhat more painful than a doctor's methods.

3. Use apple cider vinegar. This has had some success, as the mild acid helps dissolve the wart.

• Soak the wart in apple cider vinegar for twenty minutes.
• Use a pumice stone or emery board to gently remove dead skin.
• Protect the skin around the wart by applying a thin coat of petroleum jelly, leaving the wart exposed.
• Soak a cotton pad or cotton ball with apple cider vinegar, and secure it to the wart with an adhesive bandage.
• Replace the bandage daily until the wart is gone.

4. Use podophyllum. This ointment is a plant extract that goes by many names, including American mandrake, Himalayan mayapple, and Devil's apple. It may work by killing the infected skin cells, but it's toxic, so to be avoided by pregnant or nursing mothers.

Method 2 of 2: Doctor Remedies

1. Use cryotherapy. Similar to home remedies, doctor-administered cryotherapy works by freezing the wart off, only with liquid nitrogen.

• The nitrogen freeze-burns the skin, causing it to blister, then slough off after about a week. It's not without some pain, both in the application of the nitrogen, and in the subsequent blisters, but it can be a very effective solution.

2. Use cantharidin. This is similar to the salicylic method above, only with the addition of cantharidin, which is a substance extracted from a blister beetle.

• A mixture of salicylic acid and cantharidin is applied to the wart, and covered with a bandage. In about a week, the doctor will remove the dead part of the wart. This method also involves a bit of pain from the blister.

3. Try immunotherapy. For really stubborn warts, your physician may try immunotherapy, or getting your body's immune defenses assigned to attacking your wart.

• Injecting interferon into the wart triggers an immune system response that will "reject" the wart. You may experience flu-like systems for a few hours after treatment.
• Injecting an antigen (commonly, mumps antigens) will similarly trigger an immune response that will kill the wart.

4. Use imiquimod. This is a prescription cream that triggers your body to release proteins (cytokines) that will attack HPV.

• Imiquimod can cause severe inflammation and tissue damage near the wart, and should be discontinued if that occurs.

5. Try laser treatments. These precisely-targeted lasers will cauterize the capillaries carrying blood to the wart, starving it and causing it to die. It can be painful and even scarring, but has a good chance of destroying the wart.

6. Consider Minor surgery. When all else fails, the doctor can try cutting the wart out. They will use an anesthetic, of course, otherwise the pain would be significant, and this can lead to scarring. But again, if it relieves pain and gets rid of the wart, it's probably worth it.

Tips

Put garden lime mixed to a paste with water on the plantar wart. Allow to dry. Rest off your feet. Repeat daily or more often for a few days. The warts will dry out and disappear. Can be used on small children without injury pain or burning. Three days of constant treatment was successful.

This cure for warts is in the C.W.A Cookery Book and Household Hints.

• Wear clean, laundered thoroughly dried socks. Change them each day.
• Buy Domeboro solution (a powder that you mix with water). It is slightly acidic. Soak foot with plantar wart twice a day for about a week. The wart virus cannot live in the acidic atmosphere.
• Eating apples help.
• If you suffer from diabetes, nerve damage in your feet, or a compromised immune system, seek treatment under a doctor's supervision so they can carefully monitor your progress.[1]

Warnings

Don't hurt yourself by digging in your foot with a needle.


Things You'll Need

Wart removing band-aids


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