Warts
What are warts?
Warts come in all shapes and sizes and can affect just about every part of the body—in fact, there are over 200 strains of the wart virus. Wart virus infects and takes over control of your skin cells. Then the wart virus’s job is to protect itself, so it tells your skin to thicken up over the wart-infected cells.
Why do I have warts?
Wart virus is everywhere. Warts are contagious in the sense that you get them from touching other people or objects, but that doesn’t mean you have to quarantine if you have warts. Some people just appear to be more susceptible than others. For example, growing up, a couple of my family members had terrible plantar warts (warts on the feet). We all used the same shower/bathroom, but I never got warts on my feet.
How do I get rid of warts?
There are only two main tactics for treating warts: 1) boost your immune system to locate the wart virus in the skin and get rid of it, or 2) destroy all of the skin cells that are infected with wart virus. Of these two tactics, destroying warts tends to work better. However, no treatment works better than 50% of the time. So, it is good to use two treatments at the same time—boost your immune system AND destroy the wart directly.
To boost the immune system, a couple of over-the-counter daily supplements are often used—zinc and L-methionine.
There are many ways to destroy the wart. The most effective over-the-counter option I have found is WartStick—it is 40% salicylic acid, very concentrated. I would not recommend any over-the-counter freezing treatments, because they just don’t get cold enough to destroy most warts.
Steps for using WartStick:
Put the WartStick right on the wart at bedtime
Cover the wart with a small piece of duct tape. The duct tape holds the WartStick on the wart all night.
NOTE: This is one of the few times that I recommend only using a name-brand product (3M, Gorilla, or Duck Brand). Store-brand duct tape just doesn’t stay on the skin as well.
In the morning, remove the duct tape and the top layers of the wart often come off with it.
NOTE: WartStick is a strong acid. It will make the skin red and sore. It sometimes turns the skin white.
When do I know that the wart is gone?
This is easiest to see on the hands and feet, where we have skin lines that make up our fingerprints. When a wart is present, it disrupts these skin lines. The lines stop at one edge of the wart and then start up again on the other side of the wart. Most treatments make the skin around the wart red and angry-looking, but if the skin lines have all reconnected, the wart is gone.
What if the WartStick is not working?
Sometimes WartStick doesn’t work. No treatment works better than 50% of the time, even prescription treatments or those at the doctor’s office. If WartStick doesn’t work, or the wart is on a sensitive skin area where WartStick is too strong, a visit to the dermatologist is needed. The dermatologist will often try freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen (320°F below zero), and this can actually help WartStick start to work again at home. It is best to combine treatments at the dermatologist’s office with treatments at home to increase the chances of getting rid of warts. Warts sometimes need more than one freeze. Look for a board-certified dermatologist in your area. If you are in or near Utah, see one of my excellent colleagues at the University of Utah or me virtually with Honeydew.
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