47 verrucas!!!!

[Sunlight82]

I caught by first verruca 8 years ago when I was very ill whilst pregnant. Since then they have slowly spread over both feet. I saw a chiropodist for 5 year until she basically gave up with them, then I saw a private podiatrist who told me I had 47 and gave me the swift treatment on 4 of the biggest ones which basically microwaves them and was more painful than childbirth). It didn’t work. He told me I needed to be referred to a dermatologist as medication for it was the only thing left. I saw my GP months ago who said they can’t refer for verrucas and sent me to the surgery podiatrist. I’ve just been for that appointment, was in 2 minutes for him to tell me there’s nothing they can do.

I can’t carry on like this! I’m in agony all of the time. They throb 24 hours a day, it’s painful to walk, I can’t exercise or walk any distance. I’ve passed them to everyone in my family despite me being so careful to keep them covered at all times.

What on Earth do I do now? They’ve told me I need to go private but we can’t afford it. I am absolutely desperate

Boysey Yes it would get them moving to a psychiatry ref.

Dermatology haven’t treated verrucas on the nhs for years. Not for the 19 years I’ve been practising. They send the referrals back to the gp & there was a good reason a lot of areas stopped cryotherapy at the drs, it wasn’t successful enough to warrant continuing.

The over the counter remedies work as well as what we can do.

Yes as others have said, this signals a problem with your immune system. I had roughly 50 when I was 12 years old. They were horrendous and NONE of the treatments worked, even freezing them! What eventually worked was a herbal treatment for my immune system. They completely cleared up within 7 days.

Are they mosaic verrucas OP?
I had these. So many

What worked for me was Glutarol (Gluteraldehyde). It works by killing and drying any tissue it comes into contact with.

I didn't use it as instructed because I'm lazy. Basically I painted it on every night. No filing. 2 weeks later a big chunk of skin peeled off with the verrucas inside. Another two week cycle to get rid of the remains and my feet have been clear ever since. I've used it on a wart on my thumb too. It really was miracle stuff for me.

The second time I needed it I had to ask the pharmacist to order it in. It isn't gimmicky or expensive so I imagine they don't like to stock it.

I randomly bought Newtons 'original' chiropody sponge to help my hard heels and a side affect was completely clearing up my few stubborn verrucas that refused to budge. It was about a £1 in my local pound shop - might be worth a go!

Have you tried tea tree oil?

Neat tea tree oil on a bandaid taped over the head is what finally killed off my DC's persistent verruca (you might need to use a gauze dressing for a larger area). Like the banana peel remedy, I changed it every day, filing down the verruca with an emery board first. The bloody things just fell out after a week or so.

I had a verruca for a few years that I finally got rid of last year, every otc treatment failed, as did duct tape, nail varnish etc... I finally went to a podiatrist who explained that they are a form of HPV virus and they happily exist in the upper layers of your epidermis so your immune system generally isn't aware they are present. Usually after months to years your immune system becomes aware of them naturally and kills off the virus so they go but years can go by before the body rids itself of the virus.

Anyway, my podiatrist performed a needling procedure on me, he numbed my foot with local anesthetic and used a hypodermic needle to puncture the verruca dozens of times. It wasn't painful at all and there was no downtime afterwards. Basically the needle forced bits of the verruca deep enough that that it entered my bloodstream and my immune system was alerted to it. Within two months it was completely gone! I was shocked at how well it worked since I was sure I'd be stuck with the bloody thing forever.

I do agree with other PPs though that there might something about your immune system that's worth investigating, 47 warts is not the normal verruca experience. Good luck.

There’s a thing called a Wartner pen - I found it very effective for a wart I had on my hand once, but it works on verrucas too. You apply a gel onto the wart/verruca at regular intervals and it literally burns it out. It hurts like hell but is very effective - my stubborn wart has now completely gone (this was over four years ago) and it didn’t even leave a scar! I think they’re available from Amazon if I remember rightly.

I also paid to have needling done - they were on my fingers and thumbs and it was gross. I’d tried everything from threads on mumsnet and everything the dr recommended but that was the only thing that worked and fingers crossed they’ve never come back.

@Rainbunny if it is the HPV virus could OP get the vaccination and hopefully this would cure her? The vaccine is available at boots isn’t it?

Sorry no, there are many strains of HPV and the vaccine only covers the sexually transmitted strains that are linked to cancer. The wart strain is basically harmless.

It's analogous to cold sores being a type of Herpes virus - not the sexually transmitted strain.

Another vote for occlusal, chiropractor froze mine then painted occlusal, advised that I continue with an over the counter freezing spray, & regular use of the occlusal. It’s cheaper over the counter tbh

We’ve done the same with others that have appeared since

My daughter counted 50 on one foot (she is 9) whilst we were on holiday so hers are multiplying at an alarming rate. I'd previously been at the chiropodist with my dad having his hooves trimmed (shudder) and I asked him whether we should seek treatment. He was saying that the only people he treats with veruccas are adults who have had medical intervention to try and remove them, usually as a child/teen and it's caused issues later in life which is what he is treating rather than the original verruca if that makes sense.

You need a second opinion or push to be referred. This has been going on too long and your not responding to treatment.

The immune thing is worth having checked out. Viruses such as HPV lay dormant and flare up when immune system is compromised. Likewise with cold sores etc. All the topical treatments just treat the symptoms but you need to find ghetto cause.

Another case of a woman with debilitating health problems being fobbed off

OP it will probably be hard, but don't accept it. Keep pushing.

We had them as children and my Mum used to dig them out it’s a scalpel shaped knife. I’m not even kidding. I know it’s not practical with 47, but I’ve never had them since.

With a

Sand them with a dr school sander
And then paint that veruca killer on them daily
Only thing that got rid of mine after 3 years of fighting it
It was soooo painful
You poor poor thing

ferneytorro - I'm interested in what you just wrote but I'm not totally clear if I understand your point properly. Are you saying that the chiropodist only treats verrucas in adults who had verrucas before when they were children/teens and they were medically treated back then and that is connected to them having verrucas as an adult later on?

I'm really curious because I had a verruca on the same foot as a child and I staged my own "medical intervention" - I basically used to attack it and try to cut it out myself and it did go away, most likely because I managed to do enough damage that my immune system was alerted. I did wonder though if the verruca that suddenly appeared as an adult was somehow connected to having one as a child, if the verruca virus had been laying dormant or something...

We went on holiday to a place that had a saltwater pool and both cases cleared up over the course of 2 weeks.

So you let your kids paddle about and put everyone else’s kids at risk of getting them?

Sorry op. Sounds miserable. We zapped DC with Superdrug freeze spray (after everything else had failed) and it turned black, dried up and fell out as one massive disk. I know GP’s don’t do anything for them but it is worth asking for a prescription of occlusal. We had it for warts that grew and grew op top of each other between DC toe. It was such a massive clump his toes were being forced apart. It was brilliant stuff. Looks like you can buy it online

www.chemist.co.uk/occlusal-wart-solution-salicylic-acid-26-w-w-10ml.html

My brother had them charmed away by a wart charmer.......

Our burly builder saw his hands and said oh, I can fix that. He said I’m a wart charmer. He was an old fashioned country chap, true to his word they vanished soon after.

www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk/plantar-warts-verrucas

OP I think one of
These products will work. Very powerful. You can phone for
Advice - they are fab

dulwichhealth.co.uk/product-category/allitech/

There’s some needling treatment that’s meant to be good?

Check your local podiatry service. The one here has emergency drop-in clinics twice a week (one each in the two towns it serves). You can literally arrive at 8.30 in the morning and join the queue.

While the one here says on its website that it will not treat verrucas, you could always try on the basis that you have so many that it is impeding your walking.

@Rainbunny - I think what he was saying was he treated people who had problems with their feet as a result of having verruca treatment not that the verruca had come back. He was saying leave it alone as treating it leads to other issues (did someone upthread mention digging them out causing a corn?). I had one for years as a child - I used to dig at it with my compass (wonder I didn't get gangrene!).