Believe or not, duct tape! A recent medical article reported on cutting a piece of duct tape, covering the wart and waiting a few weeks. Replace the duct tape as needed.

The idea is that the tape irritates the area enough that your body's immune system pays attention and attacks the virus that causes the wart.

That is interesting Judy.
I have had success with woodpoppy. It is a plant , flowering in the spring, yellow daisylike flowers. When you break anything on the plant, a orange dye is released.
That gets put on the wart.
Karin

I had a plantar wart for over a year. Very aggressive treatment, weekly visits to have it burned by acid, frozen, then home treatment with acid patches and a razor to cut it off. Extremely painful. Ended up getting it lazered off, but it actually came back. Believe it or not, (and I wouldn't believe it unless it happened to me), it was hypnotism that finally made it go away for good (over 10 years now). Eight sessions over eight weeks-- it actually worked!!!

I rubbed raw garlic on a wart next to my eye and it disappeared after a few days/weeks, don't remember exactly. The virus didn't like it, I guess!

When I had a plantar wart, Compound W worked. But this is the herbal forum....

Vinegar

Please see my post at:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/herbal/msg1221484626372.html

Good luck, let me know how you make out....

Here is a link that might be useful: Another Garden Web Forum Message

Get duoplant from a drugstore. It works great.

I realize this isn't exactly herbalism ... but I had a small cluster of warts on my big toe, which spread to the second and fourth toes. I got them in 2001. I have just gotten rid of them using DUOFILM (an over the counter wart remedy recommended by my dermatologist) and Band-Aid brand TOUGH STRIPS. The acid from DUOFILM kills the surface skin; Bandaids work like the duct tape mentioned here, suffocating the wart. In approximately 4 months, I got rid of all the plantar's warts. I'm ecstatic!

I found this electronic wart remover after 17 years of battling with stubborn warts. It got rid of them all in a couple of months. Truly quite an amazing device. I got it at www.wartabater.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Electronic wart remover.

The use of Duofilm is actually related to herbalism, since the active ingredient (salicylic acid) is similar to that found in willow and other plants. It's just present in a safer and more effective form.

Hi--

I was looking for something to help with plantar warts and wanted to get opinions on the use of this product (found on ebay) since I am starting to look into alternative/complimentary therapies. (I am in no way connected to this company--just curious about educated opinions on the ingredients and their use for this purpose.) It is a salve called Bio-T and contains the following: water, black walnut, burdock, turmeric, white willow bark, olive leaf extract, mineral salts. It claims to stimulate the immune response to engage the body's natural defense mechanisms against the wart virus.

I would give a link to the ebay listing, and/or the company website, but I think this isn't allowed on GardenWeb. Hopefully this is enough information to get some opinions about the potential effectiveness of this product.

Thanks!

--Orena

I checked this company's website, and there is no indication that any clinical trials have been conducted to evaluate this salve's effectiveness - only personal testimonials, which are unreliable and can be picked selectively to emphasize only the comments supportive of the product.

Among the claims made for this salve, the company says "Bio-T will safely eliminate moles, warts and skin cancers."

They go on to say "I BELIEVE that Bio-T can assist the body in eliminating other viral driven diseases, but I do not KNOW this for certain...I will not sell Bio-T if I know that you are using it in an attempt to eliminate a malignant cancer".

So first they claim Bio-T cures skin cancers, then caution that they don't want you to use it on a "malignant" cancer. The company apparently is unaware that all cancers are malignant by definition. Alarmingly, they also suggest using their product on dysplastic moles (which are lesions that might develop into malignant melanoma). In any case there's no real evidence Bio-T works on benign or or malignant skin lesions.

The product is claimed to contain willow bark extract, so it's possible there's some salicylic acid in it - only it's doubtful it'd be strong enough to work on warts. You can obtain salicylic acid plasters which gradually dissolve away warts, and which are known to be effective (as well as being a plant-based remedy).

Hi--

I appreciate your taking the time to offer an opinion. I too, am a bit skeptical, but since the drugstore brands don't seem to be helping (after three months) I was looking for something as a last resort before having them removed by a doctor. I've read that even if they are removed from the surface, they can regrow. I got the impression that this product prompts the immune system to attack the virus, which would seem to be more effective at getting ALL of it, from the inside out, so to speak.

I've also read about using tea tree or lemon essential oil, and may try that with duct tape. The penny as mentioned in another post is an interesting concept too since there's a boatload of discussion out there about the effects of copper and silver on bacteria and viruses. (So much that I just get confused... :)

I have such ambivalent feelings about so many of these potential remedies that haven't been "proven" with clinical trials. On one hand, many of them probably do work, but it is such an expensive hassle to get proper clinical trials done. On the other hand, I'm sure some are just snake oil that may have worked (or acted as a placebo) for some, but for most do nothing or actually harm. The person selling this product has a lot of mostly excellent feedback, so that's a good sign, but certainly nothing to trust. I'm just grateful that this is a relatively benign malady and I'm not currently trolling the internet for alternative cures for something more serious...

Although I can't even say that either. I've done scads of research on alternative (including herbal) therapies for depression, ADD, PMS, and other fairly serious mood/behavior disorders since conventional allopathic medicine has failed my family miserably in this area. There is just so much to learn it's overwhelming! And the one MD I've found in my area who has a serious interest in complimentary therapies doesn't take my insurance. Another discussion altogether there. Ah well.
Thanks again.

I suggest you ask your doctor about salicylic acid plasters. If used carefully and persistently they will eliminate warts without doing much damage to surrounding skin.

The idea of salves promoted to eliminate skin cancers is a very dangerous one we've talked about in this forum before (another example is caustic bloodroot salves). Even if a superficial cancer can be burned away (with the risk of severe scarring), there's no way to know if residual deeper tumor you can't see is still there and can spread or metastasize. The makers of "Bio-T" appear to be placing potential buyers at similar risk.

Obviously if we're dealing with warts the risk of unproven treatments is less (skin damage, allergic reactions and ineffectiveness). But since salicylic acid plasters work, I'd try them before buying a product sold by someone whose website is full of misinformation and bad advice.

I've used tea tree oil successfully to remove warts on different areas. apply it twice a day for up to several weeks. The warts just seemed to drop off.

Warts can be removed by the all natural method also. ITs a world wide accepted and most effective Mole Remover called DermaTend which is clinically tested and proven by skin care experts. Know more about this at http://www.moleremoval.net

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Mole Removal

The "all natural method" being promoted by this spammer is unclear, since I don't see anything on the website describing exactly what it is. One hopes it is not another example of a product intended to burn off skin lesions with toxic bloodroot (see description and hazards listed above).

Regardless, the makers of this product may be violating federal law with their promotion unless it has been properly tested and validated as a drug (the website's FAQs page promotes the product specifically for the removal of warts, skin tags and moles, which to my understanding would make it a drug, not a supplement under the law).

I cleaned mine with hydrogen peroxide, put some Dream Cream from Lush, and wrapped it in duct tape. It was gone in 4 days.

The sap from a pencil cactus has always worked for me. (Gotta make sure you cover it after you put it on because, the sap can make you go temporarily blind if you get it in your eyes) Drugstore methods never worked for me. Neither did ACV (apple cider vinegar) or duct tape ... Pencil cactus was a miracle cure. The only hang up is finding a pencil cactus.

I live in Arizona and my wife has lived her most of her life. We never heard of a pencil cactus. What's the latinis termis?

Thanks.

HerbDoctor

There may be more than one plant known as "pencil cactus", but it sounds like the previous poster was talking about Euphorbia tirucalli.

The problem with using the milky sap of this or other Euphorbias is that it can be quite irritating and even caustic to the skin, as well as causing severe problems if you accidentally get any in your eyes. If you're going to use an herbal-based remedy for warts, salicylic acid (in the form of adhesive plasters) is much safer.

i have heard that duct tape is good but it can leave nasty marks. my mom used a product recently called wartrol (after going through the wartrol reviews ofcourse ) . It worked very well. you can check out about the product here http://wartrolreviews4u.org/wartrol-reviews/

Here is a link that might be useful: Wartrol Reviews

There is a Wartrol product that contains salicylic acid and thus might be effective against warts on skin (though not necessarily the most inexpensive or effective product on the market).

The company is also selling a homeopathic version for genital warts, which because of the typical dilutions involved is extremely likely to be completely useless.