Warts

[emmathedilemma]

Do any of the over the counter treatments actually work for warts? I was looking at one but it was £15 and I'm reluctant to spend that kind of money on something that might not work.
I have a large one on the joint of a finger. I previously had one in a similar place on my thumb and the treatment used to kill the skin around it too which then cracked across my thumb and I had a constant battle of not being able to treat the wart while that had open skin.....eventually i went to the Dr's and they reluctantly froze it off. I'm wondering if I should just pay to get it removed rather than going through a similar battle again. I've a couple of smaller ones as well if anyone can recommend a solution!

Silver nitrate pencil. Less painful than most of the other options IME. A bit messy & you have to be careful not to get it on clothes etc while it's wet, as it causes a permanent black stain (even if it gets wet later e.g. in the bath). But it works, you just apply & wait for it to drop off. May need a second go, depending how deep the wart is.

Do you mean you can't get the wart wet with it on or the pencil?

Ah sorry, only just saw your question. If you use the silver nitrate on a wart, it sort of absorbs into the skin, rather than drying as a thin layer on the top like many other wart removers do. But, if you get it wet at a later time, e.g. in the bath, or if it’s a verruca & you have sweaty feet, it tends to leave little grey stains. I used it to get rid of DD’s verrucas & all her white school socks had little stains on the sole. And we had to buy a bath mat as it stains the bath too, where you stand on it in the shower/bath.

You do have to be careful not to get it on healthy skin, obviously.

But, it works, with minimal messing about or pain, & I didn’t do any filing at all.

ah ok thanks, might not be very practical for my hands then!

I had one under my thumb nail for well over a year and paid to have it frozen off which hurt like hell and didn’t work!
Then someone suggested soaking a pad of cotton wool in apple cider vinegar and leaving it on the wart as long as you can. I found it wasn’t possible during the day so at bedtime I stuck it on with sticking plaster overnight (stunk a bit)
and within a couple of weeks it looked a bit unhealthy and had gone within a month!
Have also heard pineapple has enzymes that work the same way.

that's interesting @Nannydoodles !

After years of trying everything on a stubborn verucca, which was spawning mini veruccas everywhere, revolting, I read another MN thread which said clear nail varnish. Sounded ridiculous. But, you know, try anything once. Used it every night for about a month, and blow me down, it worked! Assume it would also work on a wart??

@BigWoollyJumpers ooh I might try the clear nail varnish. I have a verucca that I've tried and tried for months (years) to get rid of it and it refuses to leave!!

@Nannydoodles I used apple cider vinegar on cotton wool stuck on with a plaster on a wart I had on the tip of my thumb / under the thumb nail. It took a while but it did go. I tried it on the verruca but it hasn't worked (although I'll admit I haven't been consistent as awkward to do on my foot).

That makes sense, I’ve heard of people putting duck tape on them, I think it works because it blocks off the oxygen. I’m less keen on going to work looking like a DIY disaster but clear nail varnish would be fine.

I found bazuka extra strength actually worked really well as long as I was religious about applying it every day. I had no luck with nail varnish or duct tape, and apple cider vinegar on an earlier one worked well but left me with a scar (plus, it reeked to the high heavens and was embarrassing to try to conceal).