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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffMany people have removed warts with:
- Over-the-counter medications. Wart medications and patches are available at drugstores. You can use them to treat warts at home. For common warts, look for a solution or patch containing 17 percent salicylic acid. These products require daily use, often for a few weeks. For best results, soak your wart in warm water for 10 to 20 minutes before applying a solution or patch, and file away any dead skin with a nail file or pumice stone between treatments.
- Duct tape. Study results have been mixed on the effectiveness of duct tape in removing warts. Some of the negative studies used a clear type of duct tape that didn't have the same type of adhesive. Regular gray duct tape appears to work better. The process involves covering warts with duct tape for six days, then soaking the warts in warm water and rubbing them with an emery board or pumice stone. The process was repeated for as long as two months.
References
- Habif TP. Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 5th ed. Edinburgh, U.K.; New York, N.Y.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..X0001-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-7234-3541-9&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
- Goldstein BG, et al. Cutaneous warts. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
- Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2012: 5 Books in 1. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05611-3..C2009-0-38601-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05611-3&uniqId=291436269-101. Accessed Feb. 16, 2012.
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