Email a Friend
Print Article
Please call 911 immediately if you are having chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding, sudden weakness or numbness, or if you think you have a medical emergency.
Warts Treatment
Self-Care at Home
Home care is effective in making the wart or warts go away. No matter what technique you use, warts will disappear 60-70% of the time. Techniques may be done with or without medication.
The ultimate goal of the medical therapies (not the surgical treatments) is to get your body to recognize the wart as something foreign and to destroy it, much like the body destroys a cold virus.
Adhesive tape therapy
- Place several layers of waterproof adhesive tape over the wart region (even duct tape). Do not remove the tape for 6 1/2 days. Then take off the tape and open the area to the air for 12 hours. Reapply tape for another 6 1/2 days.
- The tape works best in the region around the fingernail. This area may scar if cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen is used. Scarring could lead to permanent nail disfiguration.
- Tape works because the airtight, moist environment under the tape does not allow the virus to grow and reproduce.
Salicylic acid therapy
- Salicylic acid is available by many different trade names at the drug store. It comes either as a liquid to paint on the wart or as a plaster to be cut out and placed on the wart tissue.
- The area with the wart should be soaked in warm water for 5-10 minutes. The wart should then be pared down with a razor. A simple plastic razor works fine for this, then throw it away. Do not shave far enough to make the wart bleed.
- Apply the salicylic acid preparation to the wart tissue. Do not apply it to other skin because of salicylic acid's potential to injure normal tissue.
- Follow directions on the package for how long to apply the acid.
If you have genital warts , see a doctor. The treatments described here are not appropriate for genital warts and should not be used.
Medical Treatment
In addition to recommending the home care treatments, such as taping and salicylic acid, the doctor may typically choose to treat the wart more aggressively.
- Liquid nitrogen: Liquid nitrogen or cryotherapy is used to deep freeze the wart tissue. With liquid nitrogen applied to the wart, the water in the cells expands, thus exploding the infected tissue. The exploded cells can no longer hide the human papillomavirus from the body's immune system. The immune system then works to destroy the virus particles.
- Laser therapy: Lasers are simply very intense light sources. This light has an enormous amount of energy that heats the tissue enough that it vaporizes.
- Surgical removal: Surgery may be necessary when other treatment methods fail. This would involve numbing the region around the wart and cutting out the wart.
more information from eMedicineHealth
WebMD Medical Reference from eMedicineHealth
Hot Topics
Could It Be Depression?
Feelings of sadness are not the only sign. Learn how to recognize the symptoms of depression.
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
Ask the pharmacist
Questions about medications? Get expert answers by video or live chat about allergies, pregnancy, sleep, and more.
See the Ask the Pharmacist event schedule.
