Wart Removal Home Remedies

This page offers several wart removal home remedies. But it focuses on the common warts treatment and doesn't include genital warts.

What is a wart?

A wart or verruca vulgaris is a small growth of skin or a patch of flat skin that is course or rough. It is formed on the outer layer of the skin. Some are the same color as the flesh, the rest are sometimes pink, a tan color or brownish and white.

A wart could be a single growth of skin or several warts clustered together to form what is termed as mosaic warts. Within a wart are tiny dots which are actually blood vessels that have clot. They are referred to as wart seeds.

There are a few types of warts and they can grow or appear on various parts of the body.

1. Flat warts are very small growths of skin that affect the hands such as the fingers and arm, knees or face. They usually appear in clusters.
   
   
   
2. Filiform warts are facial warts. They come out on the face, eyelids, lips and neck.
   
   
   
3. Foot warts are also known as plantar warts. They grow on the soles of the foot or toe. They are usually larger than the rest of the common warts.
   
   
   
4. Periungual warts are those that are formed around fingernails and toenails.
   
   
   
5. Genital warts or venereal warts affect the genital areas or at the anus. The warts may also grow in the mouth or throat.

What causes warts?

Warts are caused by the human papilloma virus or HPV. This virus has about 130 strains. The virus that causes one type of warts is different from another. Warts are contagious. The virus spreads through open wounds, cuts, scrapes, scratches or sharing the virus carrier's personal things such as a towel.

This viral infection doesn't show up immediately. It can take about two to six months before a wart is formed. It also depends on your body defense. If your immune system is strong, you may not develop the common wart even if you are infected with the HPV virus.

Though contagious, if care is taken to avoid infection, the warts that are formed will normally disappear. But they can reappear any time.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 1 - Try garlic

The natural chemical compounds in garlic have antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties and has been used as a remedy for infections. Before you use this wart treatment, make sure that you clean and dry the wart with antibacterial soap and water.

Get a clove of garlic, peel the skin and slice it the size of your wart. Place the garlic on the wart and cover it with a bandage or band aid. It's best that you do it before you sleep and replace with a new one the next morning. The wart doesn't immediately drop off but your persistence with this wart removal home remedy will pay off.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 2 - Use oil of oregano

Get a bottle of oil of oregano liquid extract. Apply the oil on your warts and cover it. At the same time, drink the liquid extract. This herb doesn't taste good so add it to your beverage or drink. Do it religiously for at least two weeks. If it works for you, you will notice the warts turning black in the center, that shows that it is effective. The warts will soon disappear.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 3 - Apply castor oil

Castor oil contains ricinoleic and oleic acids. These acids will cause reactions to the warts and may remove the warts. Many skin care products include these acids in their ingredients. Apply the castor oil using a cotton swab on the wart twice a day and repeat until the wart falls off.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 4 - The duct tape remedy

Using duct tape is a popular remedy to remove warts from fingers. What you need to do is wrap the wart completely with four layers of duct tape. Leave the tape on your fingers for six and a half days. At the end of the duration, remove the tape and leave the wart open for the balance half of the day. On the seventh day, repeat the process. Do it until the wart is removed. It may take three to four weeks.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 5 - Salicylic acid in willow bark

Many over the counter wart and acne medications use salicylic acid as one of the ingredients. Willow bark contains high amounts of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid has the ability to shed the epidermis, open clogged pores, neutralizes bacteria, prevent pores from clogging and allow new cell growth.

Willow bark extract is available in capsules, liquid extracts and cream. Apply the extract on your skin and cover it up.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 6 - Use vitamin C or vitamin D-3

Crush a tablet of vitamin C or D-3 tablets. Add water to it to make a paste. Apply it on your wart and cover it with gauze and tape. If you have the liquid vitamins, apply it straight on the wart. If it's a softgel, prick the liquid extract and apply it.

Other natural products that you can use as wart removal home remedies are apple cider vinegar, dandelion juice and milkweed extract. The application is the same as the rest of the home remedies for warts stated above.

Wart Removal Home Remedies No. 7 - Try traditional and folklore method

It may sound weird but in the days when people rely on traditional method of healing, some things may not make sense now. One of the methods used was using a strand of long hair as a wart remover. What they did was tying the hair to a hanging wart and leaving it for several days. The most logical explanation here could be the removal of blood supply to the wart making it die and fall off.

Another method used in the olden days was to tape the inside of a banana peel to the wart and leave it there.

To prevent warts from spreading to other parts of your body or to others or to avoid getting the infection, make sure you do the following:

1. Don't bite your nails if you have warts on your fingers.
   
   
   
2. Heat the wart with hot water. The temperature of the water may kill the virus.
   
   
   
3. Don't pierce the wart or scratch it. If there is a cut or scratch, make sure you clean it with antibacterial soap and cover it.
   
   
   
4. If you have warts on your feet, make sure that you keep your feet dry and change your socks often.
   
   
   
5. Don't walk around barefooted especially in public places like locker rooms, public pools and showers.

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