Duct Tape for Plantar Warts? (2024)

FAQs

Does duct tape really get rid of plantar warts? ›

After 2 months, warts had resolved in 21% of the participants who used the duct tape and in 22% of those who used only the pad. The authors of a 2014 meta-analysis concluded that the current evidence suggests that duct tape is no better than placebo for wart removal.

When using duct tape for warts, apply a small piece of duct tape directly to the wart once every 4 to 7 days; then remove the tape, clean the area with soap and water, and remove the dead skin using an emery board. Apply another piece of tape 12 hours later. Repeat this cycle for 4 to 6 weeks.

Cryotherapy. Cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and destroy a wart. Research has shown cryotherapy effectively removes warts in 50–70% of cases after 3–4 treatments. Cryotherapy may remove warts more quickly than salicylic acid.

Avoid touching plantar warts on yourself or another person. Thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and antibacterial soap after touching a plantar wart. Thoroughly clean your feet, toes and the spaces between your toes when you bathe. Dry your feet, toes and the spaces between your toes after swimming or bathing.

Wart-Removing Acid:

If there are many warts, treat the 3 largest ones. Since it's an acid, avoid getting any near the eyes or mouth. Also try to keep it off the normal skin. The acid will turn the wart into dead skin (it will turn white).

Cryotherapy. One of the most commonly used plantar wart removal methods involves freezing them off, a procedure known as cryotherapy.

—A very effective cure for moles and warts without pain is to tie a waxed thread around each, as near the root as possible, not tight enough to break the skin, or cause pain.

Wart removers are medicines used to get rid of warts. Warts are small growths on the skin that are caused by a virus. They are usually painless. Wart remover poisoning occurs when someone swallows or applies more than the normal or recommended amount of this medicine.

What are the stages of plantar warts healing? ›

However, other visual and tactile signs can indicate that the wart has died: Its colour gradually changes from flesh-coloured to black or dark brown; It turns white, if it has been treated with liquid nitrogen or a salicylic-acid solution.

After a treatment, the skin will blister or get irritated and eventually slough off. That skin is dead and so is the virus within it so it isn't contagious anymore.

Most often, warts are harmless growths that go away on their own within 2 years. Periungual or plantar warts are harder to cure than warts in other places. Warts can come back after treatment, even if they appear to go away. Minor scars can form after warts are removed.

Plantar wart signs and symptoms include: A small, rough growth on the bottom of your foot, usually at the base of the toes or on the ball or heel. On brown and Black skin, the growth may be lighter than unaffected skin. Hard, thickened skin (callus) over a spot on the skin, where a wart has grown inward.

Many people rub calluses with abrasive objects like pumice stones, nail files and emery boards to remove the thick, rough skin. And that is not recommended for removal of plantar warts.

Conventional treatment focuses on removal, while alternative approaches emphasize gradual remission. Whatever you do, do not try to cut off a plantar wart yourself because you may injure yourself and cuts in your skin allow the warts to spread.