Home remedies for warts

Warts are one of the most common – and troublesome -skin conditions in childhood. A common infection caused by a virus, warts can turn up anywhere on the body but for most children, warts are most commonly found on the hands and feet.
While many warts will eventually disappear on their own after being reabsorbed by the body, they can bleed when knocked and cause the sufferer some pain and embarrassment. Other warts simply won’t leave on their own so in most cases, so it is generally recommended by health professionals to take some type of action towards wart removal to avoid cross-infection and the possible spread of warts to other parts of the body.

Wart removal products

With warts being so prevalent in the community, it’s no surprise that there are many wart removal products methods available. However, what may work well for one wart may have no impact on another so it pays to be prepared try a range of methods when aggressively tackling a wart problem head-on.
The most common methods of wart removal include:

• At-home application of salicylic acid – most the wart removers sold in chemists use salicylic acid to burn the wart off.
• Chryotherapy – this involves a health professional freezing the wart off, usually with liquid nitrogen.
• Cantharadin – this is the juice of a blister beetle that is painted on by your doctor and left to form a blister over 24 hours. The dead skin of the wart is later removed by the doctor.

Frustratingly, some warts don’t respond to any of the OTC wart removal products at all. But before you consult a dermatologist, or other specialist, consider instead trying one of the old-fashioned home remedies for wart removal that so many sufferers swear by. Like all wart removers, you may have to try a couple before you find the perfect remedy that works for each wart.

Home remedies for warts

• Cut a potato in half and rub the wart firmly with the potato half, making sure that the skin becomes saturated with raw potato juice. Repeat morning and night for two weeks to start seeing results.
• Soak a cotton wool ball in apple cider vinegar and apply directly to the wart. Use a bandaid to fix the cotton ball to the wart. Remove after three to four hours. Repeat every day for three days to start seeing results.
• Place a small square of duct tape over the wart and leave in place, removing only when you want to replace the tape. Continue for two weeks to start seeing results.
• Rub the wart with the peel of an orange. The wart will turn orange and then darken and finally drop off. Continue for two weeks to start seeing results.
• Paint the wart with a layer of clear nail polish. Repeat every second day. Continue for two week to start seeing a result.
• Soak a cotton ball in fresh aloe vera and apply directly to the wart. Repeat each day for two weeks to begin seeing a result.
• Rub a raw garlic over the wart every day for two weeks to begin seeing a result.
• For plantar warts, apply the inside of a banana peel to the wart. The peel must remain in contact with the wart at all times. Continue for 3 – 4 days to see a result.
• Apply the milk of a dandelion directly to the wart. Repeat every day for two weeks to begin seeing a result.
• Rub castor oil onto the wart twice a day for two weeks to begin seeing a result.
• Surprisingly, the duct tape cure remedy is the only remedy to have been medically researched and proven to work.
• The most popular – and anecdotally successful – home remedy is the apple cider vinegar remedy, which apparently work to redress the skin’s pH balance and thus eliminate the wart.

Vitamin cures

It’s not just foods (and duct tape) that work a miracle wart cure. Some vitamins reportedly work miracles too:

• Before going to bed, prick open a vitamin E capsule and carefully cover the wart with the oil. Cover the treated area with a band-aid, sock or glove and leave the oil on overnight. Repeat for two weeks to start seeing results.
• Break a vitamin C tablet down to a similar size as the wart you are treating. Using a bandaid to keep it in place, tape the vitamin C tablet directly onto the wart. Change the bandaid and vitamin C tablet each day and repeat for two weeks to start seeing results.

Periungual warts

Where Do You Find Periungual Warts?

Periungual warts develop around the fingernails or toenails or beneath them.  It can become painful as it grows in size.  Periungual warts cannot be left untreated for a long time because it can cause the nails to get detached from the nail beds.  Without the nail to protect the nail bed, they become open to the elements and to infection.

What Causes Periungual Warts?

HPV, the wart-causing virus can be easily transferred from person to person by direct contact.  Periungual warts can be contracted by touching objects that have been used by infected individuals or when they go barefooted in public areas.  People who pass their time biting their nails or tearing at their cuticles could be candidates for periungual warts infection because these activities can wound the skin surrounding the nails.

The beauty salon could be one of the culprits for spreading the HPV virus.  Regular manicures and pedicures can put the individuals at high risk for periungual warts.  You should make sure that the establishment practices good sanitation rules and that the crew observe hygiene by frequently washing their hands after servicing each client.  One sure fire way of avoiding the exposure to HPV virus (if you do not have it yet) or spreading it (if you have it already) is by bringing your own manicure/pedicure kit to the salon.

How to Prevent the Development of Periungual Wart

The American Academy of Dermatology1 has issued some tips on the proper care of nails to preclude infection.   The golden rule is to keep the nails clean and dry all the time.   The proper way of cutting the toenails and the fingernails is straight with a slight curve in the middle to preclude development of ingrown nails.  Wear shoes of the right size and if you are wearing socks, the material should be made of cotton for better air circulation so that the feet will not soak in perspiration for a long time.

Periungual Wart Removal


Periungual warts can be dealt with effectively even at home using medicines bought over the counter.  Some of the medicines are made of natural ingredients which are a lot safer and milder on the skin compared to medicines which contain salicylic acid.  Nonetheless, the objective of these medicines is to progressively disperse the wart.  Like in all medications, you should watch out for signs of allergic reaction to the medication like burning, itching, and redness.

Another method of wart treatment is by applying a duct tape over it and leaving it there for a number of days.  But this might not work for periungual warts that grow on the fingers or beneath the nails.

At times these kinds of warts might not be responsive to over-the-counter medicines or home remedies.  If the wart has become a source of pain or discomfort, it should now be brought to the doctor for treatment. One type of medication may use is applying cantharidin on the warts and covering it with a plaster.  Cantharidin is a substance that is extracted from the green blister beetle. The substance is supposed to cause kin beneath the wart to blister and separate the wart from the skin.  As the blister gets well, the wart will automatically come out with together with the dried skin.

Bleomycin is another medicine that can be used to cure warts.  It is primarily a medicine to cure cancer.  Bleomycin is injected directly into the wart.  This method has been effective for plantar warts, though recently, in diluted doses, it was discovered that it can also be effectual for treating periungual warts with minor negative effects.

Adult individuals that suddenly develop a lot of warts should go see a doctor.  In general it is unusual for adults to have sudden wart outbreaks.  This can be a symptom of some illness that is causing the deterioration of the immune system.  A thorough physical check up with blood tests could very well determine if the individual has some illness that is causing the wart outbreak.

Oral warts

Oral warts can appear anywhere within the oral cavity or on the lips, and are generally not painful unless they have been irritated or traumatized.  oral warts Typically they are small and discrete, and there is usually only one or a small number of them present at any one time.  Rough, and lumpy, they can appear in a number of different guises; as dome-shaped growths that may be white or the color of normal mucosa, flat-topped elevations that are the color of normal mucosa, or thickened frond-like growths.  Oral warts are becoming more prevalent in our society with the increase of oral sex in the past decade.
Causes

Oral warts are caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), a double-stranded DNA virus, of which there are more than 100 strains.  They only infect humans and several members of the HPV family have been identified as being responsible for oral warts, including HPV13, HPV32, and HPV2 (Terai, M et al. Oral wart associated with human papilloma virus type 2. Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine 2007; 28 (3): 137-140) as well as HPV6 and HPV11.  They spread by kissing, and oral-genital contact.   Poor hygiene may also be to blame. Oral warts are more common in people with a weakened immune system, such as those with HIV.
Symptoms

The mouth can feel sore as the warts develop, especially if they are irritated by food, the tongue or accidental biting.  They can also interfere with eating and enjoyment of meals.
Treatment

These types of warts may spontaneously disappear with time, though this is not always guaranteed.  Oral warts are more dangerous than most other types of warts as they can lead to cancer.  Therefore, if you notice any unusual growth in your mouth or on your lips a doctor must be consulted immediately.  Oral warts can be destroyed and removed in a number of different ways, but because of their difficult-to-reach location topical creams have mixed results. So a medical practitioner may go to war on oral warts by opting for one of a variety of different methods including: surgical removal, freezing with cryotherapy, injecting the warts with interpheron alpha, or zapping them with a carbon dioxide laser. Even if these treatments are effective, they can be painful, and there’s always a possibility of the warts making an unscheduled return.   Never attempt to remove a wart yourself by burning, cutting or any other method.

To prevent oral warts, condoms should be used when engaging in oral sex.  Dental dams are also useful for prevention of oral warts.  Keep in mind that a condom will not cover all areas that are infected so it is not a guarantee that you will be protected.  In order to 100% prevent being infected with HPV you must refrain from having sexual relations with an infected person.

Plantar wart

Plantar warts are noncancerous skin growths on the soles of your feet caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which enters your body through tiny cuts, breaks or other vulnerable sites on the skin of your feet.
Plantar warts often develop beneath pressure points in your feet, such as the heels or balls of your feet. This pressure also may cause a plantar wart to grow inward beneath a hard, thick layer of skin (callus).
Most plantar warts aren't a serious health concern and may not require treatment. However, plantar warts can be bothersome or painful. If self-care treatments for plantar warts don't work, you may need to see your doctor to have them removed.

What are warts?

A wart is typically a small growth that appears on a person's hands or feet and looks like a solid blister or a small cauliflower. They may also appear in other parts of the body.

Warts have a rough texture and are caused by viruses, particularly one of several kinds of HPV (human papillomavirus).

The virus causes keratin, which is a hard protein on the top layer of the skin, to grow too fast.

Warts are not the same as moles. Moles are dark and may become quite large, while warts are nearly always small and have the same color as the person's skin.


The appearance of a wart can vary depending on what part of the body it is, as well as how thick the skin is. A wart that is located on the sole of the foot is known as a verruca.
What are the different types of warts?
Experts say there are several different kinds of warts. According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, a survey of 1,000 children with warts found that:

    74 per cent of them had common warts
    24 per cent of them had verrucas
    3.5 per cent of them had plane warts
    2 per cent of them had filiform warts

    Common warts (verruca vulgaris) - these have a rough surface. They are firm and raised and may have a cauliflower surface type look. They are thickened bumps called papules or plaques. Common warts may appear in any part of the body, but are more common on the knuckles, fingers, elbows and knees. Often they have tiny dark spots which are from blood vessels that have clotted.

     Verrucas (plantar warts) - these appear on the soles of the feet, sometimes the heel and toes. They usually grow back into the skin because the weight of the person pushes onto the sole of the foot. They can be painful. It is common for verrucas to have a black dot in the middle, with a surrounding hard, white area. The dark dot is the wart's blood supply.

    Plane warts (verruca plana) - plane (plana) means flat. Plane warts are round, flat and smooth. They are generally yellowish, brownish or skin color. They are also known as flat warts and are more common among young children. They are usually found on the hands, legs and face. Adults can have plane warts, but this is unusual.

    Filiform warts (verruca filiformis) - these are long and can usually be found on the eyelids, neck and armpits.

    Mosaic warts - these grow in clusters. Palmar warts are mosaic warts that grow on the palm of the hands and feet.

Flat wart

All warts -- including flat warts -- are caused by a virus known as human papillomavirus, or HPV. There are dozens of kinds of HPV, and the different warts caused by it tend to appear on various surfaces of the body. For the most part, flat warts are caused by HPV types 3, 10, 28 and 49. HPV is commonly transmitted by direct contact from one person to another. It's also possible for HPV to be transmitted indirectly. So, if you come into contact with the virus in a locker room, pool or other public place, you may get warts. In addition, once you have a wart, it's very easy to spread the virus from one place to another on your own body [sources: Intelihealth, Warts Information Center].

You're more susceptible to HPV if you've got a cut, scratch or some other opening in the skin. If you have a scratch or cut and it gets infected with HPV, it's likely that flat warts might appear along it. If you already have flat warts, be aware that they can easily spread to other areas of your body that may be scratched or cut [source: Merck].

Another way that flat warts spread is through the act of shaving. Shaving with a razor is a daily routine for many people. However, since there's a chance you may nick yourself with the razor, shaving may encourage the spread of flat warts. For men, that means an outbreak on faces, and women may get them on their legs [source: Warts Information Center].

If you have a strong immune system, you already have a line of defense to combat flat warts. However, because warts are caused by viral infection, people whose immune systems are compromised by an autoimmune disorder or who are taking certain medications that weaken the immune system are more likely to get them.

Filiform wart

Facial Warts or Filiform Warts

You are looking forward to get together in a few days but suddenly developed red fleshy bumps on your face, yes it can be irritating. You need to take them seriously for they could be facial warts. These are ugly outgrowths that can occur around the eyelids, face, neck or lips. They can grow rapidly that occur as fleshy-like nature with dead skin around.

Causes

Filiform warts are altered form of common warts that are caused by various strains of the Human papillomavirus. HPV 1, 2, 4, 27 and 29 are the strains responsible for facial warts. HPV grows quickly while affecting the nearby healthy cells. It survives in moist areas and remains for long duration without a host. Once it enters into the skin it can start to grow in the skin cells thus, leading to the formation of an outgrowth. Viral infections spread by direct and indirect contacts, if you share towel of the affected person you are likely to fall a prey to HPV. A facial wart spreads to the other body parts as well.

Symptoms of Filiform Warts

Filiform warts are another name for facial warts that develop around lips, eyelids etc. Here are a few symptoms of infection:

    Itching at the affected area
    Bleeding warts if scratched
    They can be sore and irritating

Duct tape wart removal

In patients treated with duct tape, 85 percent of the warts completely resolved, compared with 60 percent in the cryotherapy group. These results were statistically significant. Resolution of warts treated with duct tape usually occurred within the first 28 days of therapy. If there was no response within the first two weeks, the warts were unlikely to respond to a longer course of therapy. The main adverse outcomes with duct-tape therapy were difficulty keeping the tape on the wart and minor skin irritation. The main adverse effect in the cryotherapy group was mild to severe pain at the freeze site during and after the treatment.

A recent study showed that duct tape wiped out more warts than conventional freezing did. In this study, warts were covered with duct tape for six days. Then, the warts were soaked in warm water and rubbed with an abrasive such as pumice stone. The treatment was repeated for as long as two months.
However, subsequent research has not found duct tape to be significantly effective for treating warts.

You can treat warts at home with medications from the drugstore. Get a patch or solution that contains 17 percent salicylic acid. You have to use these products daily for weeks.

Two of these medications are Compound W and Occlusal-HP. Dr. Scholl makes a different product called Freeze Away that it claims that it removes warts "with as few as one treatment."

Warts are benign skin growths caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Like other infectious diseases, wart viruses pass from person to person. You can also get the wart virus by touching an object used by someone who has the virus.

Warts are usually rough and skin-colored. However, they can be dark, flat and smooth.

Warts may grow one at a time or in bunches. They may bleed if picked or cut. They often contain one or more tiny black dots, which are sometimes called wart seeds. These dots are small, clotted blood vessels.

There are several kinds of warts.

Common warts grow on hands. They are more common where skin has been broken, such as where fingernails are bitten.

Plantar warts are found on the soles, or plantar area, of feet. Walking pushes plantar warts back into the skin. They can be painful. When they grow in clusters, they are known as mosaic warts.

Flat warts are small, smooth and tend to grow in large numbers. They can show up anywhere on the body. They are often found where people shave—the face on men and the legs on women. Irritation from shaving probably contributes to the development of flat warts.

Genital warts are sexually transmitted. They can appear externally or internally.

The wart virus affects people differently. Some people get warts; others don't. The likelihood of getting warts is similar to the chances of catching a cold. If your immune system is weak, you will be more prone to getting warts.

Freezing — or cryotherapy — is one method for removing warts. Burning — or electrosurgery — is an alternative. Lasers are used when other therapies fail. There are also surface-peeling preparations such as salicylic acid. Retinoids, which are medications derived from vitamin A, are used to disrupt a wart's skin cell growth.

Another treatment is to inject each wart with an anti-cancer drug called bleomycin. The injections may be painful and can have other side effects. Immunotherapy, which attempts to use the body's own rejection system is an additional treatment method.

New warts should be treated as soon as possible to prevent them from shedding virus into nearby skin and creating additional warts.

Are warts contagious?

Warts come from the human papilloma virus, or from one of its 48 different subtypes, and enter the skin by direct contact. They thrive in moist environments but can occur anywhere.

Once on the skin these viruses develop into nodules, usually gray-colored, benign protuberances that are highly contagious and easily spread by skin contact. Some warts will disappear over time if the immune system recognizes it as a virus and produces an antibody, but this is very rare. Warts are most effectively treated and removed by dermatologists.

Warts are found in multiples, do not bleed or itch, and with the exception of the plantar wart on the foot, do not cause pain. They are most commonly found on the fingers, hands, and soles of the feet. On the hands they are pale with a roughened appearance. Skin lines tend to go around them rather than through them. On the neck and face, warts tend to be small and smooth, while the painful plantar wart found on the ball or heel of the foot has the roughened look of a callus.

Children and teenagers are usually affected by warts because their still-developing immune system does not recognize or fight the wart virus. This changes as they age. The best precaution against plantar warts is not to go barefoot in locker rooms, poolside, or in hotels. The seemingly skimpy protection offered by wearing flip-flops or other sandals is actually all that's needed because it keeps the skin away from the wart virus.

How to get rid of plantar warts?

These are the following effective methods how to get rid of warts:

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.

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.

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.


5.) 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.

6.) 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.

7.) 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.

8.) 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.

How do you get warts?

Viruses called human papillomavirus (HPV) cause warts. It is easier to catch a virus that causes warts when you have a cut or scrape on your skin. This explains why so many children get warts. Warts also are more common on parts of the body that people shave such as the beard area in men and the legs in women. You can spread warts from one place on your body to another.

A wart is typically a small growth that appears on a person's hands or feet and looks like a solid blister or a small cauliflower. They may also appear in other parts of the body.

Warts have a rough texture and are caused by viruses, particularly one of several kinds of HPV (human papillomavirus).

The virus causes keratin, which is a hard protein on the top layer of the skin, to grow too fast.

Warts are not the same as moles. Moles are dark and may become quite large, while warts are nearly always small and have the same color as the person's skin.