Plantar warts advice

[DreamyRedNewt]

My DD has had plantar warts (papilomavirus) for nearly a couple of months. We went to the pharmacy when they first appeared and they gave us a salicilic acid cream to apply once a day.

I thought with this treatment they will go quick (she has 2 of them). We have been applying fforat least a month and a half and they are not getting any smaller, actually the opposite, they look worse! I read that tea tree oil is good too as it kills viruses so we have now been combining cream in the evening and tea tree oil in the morning. I am getting fed up with it as it takes quite a bit of time to apply the creams (she doesn't like it much and doesn't collaborate, making things a bit difficult) to see no improvement at all. When reading on the internet about plantar warts, it says that they go by themselves if not treated, but can take more than a year, and that creams can make the process quicker. Note the 'can make', which indicates to me that treatments are even not very effective.

Has anyone got any experience with these and can suggest any solutions we haven't tried?

Verrucas are a nightmare to get rid of. The acid creams/gels do not work quickly. The only thing that got rid of mine was catching Hand Foot and Mouth virus from my baby 😬

The only thing that really worked on Dd's was my trying to pick it off while she was sleeping, resulting in a lot of bleeding (DH said the bed looked like I had slaughtered a pig). It somehow kicked her immune system into action.

I had them as a child, and also on some fingers and my knee. Creams and tinctures did nothing, even using a razor to cut to the top off to let the creams work better.

My parents took me to a dermatologist who lasered them off. I think it was 2 or 3 sessions, about a month apart, but they went and never returned. This was abroad, so I have no idea if this treatment is available on the NHS, if its still even done or if you'd need to go private.

Edited to add that the warts were numbed before being lasered off. I do recall whenever we'd walk into the dermatology clinic, that it smelt of burnt skin 😬

Thank you for sharing...I am so fed up of applying the cream and not seeing any improvement. I didn't bother yesterday.

I think I will check with the GP if they offer something like laser, but if they end up going by themselves and considering that it is nothing serious, I doubt they will do anything about them.

I’ve had one on the sole of my foot for nigh on 30 years and that hasn’t gone by itself !! I’m at the point now where I’m going to take some action and see a chiropodist to get it lasered