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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffThe following self-care approach can help you treat plantar warts. Do not treat plantar warts at home if you have an impaired immune system or diabetes.
- Salicylic acid. Nonprescription wart medications and patches are available at drugstores. To treat plantar warts, you'll need a 40 percent salicylic acid solution or patch (Curad Mediplast, Dr. Scholl's Clear Away Plantar, others), which peels off the infected skin a little bit at a time. Apply the solution once or twice each day, being careful to avoid healthy skin, which can become irritated from the acid. In between applications, pare away the dead skin and wart tissue using a pumice stone or emery board. You may need to repeat this process for several weeks to completely eliminate warts.
- Freezing (cryotherapy) products. Products that freeze plantar warts, such as Compound W Freeze Off or Dr. Scholl's Freeze Away Wart Remover, are available at drugstores without a prescription. Such products aren't as effective as cryotherapy done at the doctor's office, however, because they don't freeze tissue at as low of a temperature as liquid nitrogen therapy.
- Duct tape. In a well-publicized 2002 study, duct tape wiped out more warts than freezing (cryotherapy) did. Study participants who used "duct tape therapy" covered their warts in duct tape for six days, then soaked their warts in water, and gently rubbed warts with an emery board or pumice stone. They repeated this process for up to two months or until their warts went away. Researchers hypothesize that this unconventional therapy may work by irritating warts and the surrounding skin, prompting the body's immune system to attack. Today, duct tape is commonly used to treat warts, especially for children who may find freezing painful or scary. It's often combined with salicylic acid.
References
- Habif TP. Warts, herpes simplex and other viral infections. In: Habif TP. Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2004. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/121280969-6/806516417/1195/75.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-01319-8..50014-5--cesec21_1286. Accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
- Lichon V, et al. Plantar warts: A focus on treatment modalities. Dermatology Nursing. 2007;19:372.
- Gibbs S, et al. Topical treatments for cutaneous warts. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2006:CD001781.
- Goldstein BG, et al. Cutaneous warts. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 23, 2009.
- Aldara. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2004/mar_PI/Aldara_PI.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2009.
- Focht DR 3rd, et al. The efficacy of duct tape vs. cryotherapy in the treatment of verruca vulgaris (the common wart). Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 2002;156:971.
- Your guide to diabetes: Type 1 and type 2. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type1and2/YourGuide2Diabetes.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2009.
