They may be unsightly and itchy, but warts are simply a virus that invaded your immune system. The skin growths will eventually go away, or they can be removed immediately using safe and effective methods. There are many folk remedies for removing warts, some of which are safe to try. Certain over-the-counter and prescription medications offer a safe way to remove warts. You can also seek professional medical treatment, which ranges from cryotherapy to laser surgery.
Home Treatments
Warts can appear on the face, hands, legs, feet or genital areas. Warts are caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is spread from person to person or through contact with an object or surface touched by a contaminated person. Often times, if a person gets a wart, they can easily get more than one at a time if the wart touches other parts of their body.
For centuries, people have been treating warts with home remedies. However, people with genital warts should seek medical treatment. While none of the home remedies has been proven effective for removing warts, some are considered safe ways to treat them. For example, some people successfully remove warts by pouring apple cider directly on the wart and letting it soak in for an hour. The apple cider is applied this way for a few days.
Duct tape is another common home remedy for safely removing warts, but it could irritate the skin. Before applying the tape, scrape off the layers of dead skin. Wrap the duct tape around the wart like a bandage. It usually takes a few weeks before the wart is removed. Others tape on a banana peel, with the inside peel directly on the wart, prior to going to bed. It could take about seven weeks for the wart to go away. Instead of a banana, some people have had success placing crushed or sliced garlic on the wart.
It is not recommended that people try to pull off or cut away the wart at home. Picking at the wart could also cause the virus to spread.
Topical Medications
There are several over-the-counter medications that safely remove warts. Look for those containing salicylic acid as the active ingredient. Although it might take several weeks before the wart is removed, salicylic acid causes the least skin damage.
There are also over-the-counter freezing agents that are sold as aerosols. The chemicals are sprayed directly onto the wart. They freeze the wart, and after several applications it falls off.
Moist patches are another option. They allow the wart to peel off by saturating the skin with water. This treatment could take several months to work and, as a result, cause skin irritation.
Professional Treatments
Depending on the size and location of the wart, a dermatologist may remove it using one of several methods. Laser surgery and electrocautery work similarly by burning away the wart. Chemical mixtures applied to the wart is another type of treatment.
Cryosurgery also safely removes warts by chemically freezing the surrounding skin tissue using liquid nitrogen. In most cases, the warts fall off after one or two treatments.
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