Anyone Know Anything About Worts?

Updated on January 26, 2009
J.B. asks from Kansas City, MO
39 answers

My son has developed a wort a while back and now has a few on his hands. I know nothing about worts. I never had any but my best friend did. I remember her grandma put something on them and they eventually went away. I got a medication at the store and it didn't work. Does anyone know where they come from, how to prevent them and get rid of them?

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J.S.

answers from Springfield on

I use Compound W for wart removal. I used to get warts when I was a kid, and that's what my mom used. I remember that I liked watching it bubble up over the wart, then it hardened into a shell. (My husband got a wart on his finger, and I bought him some, but the doof never used it, and still has the ugly wart there.) Compound W is painless, but it does take several applications.

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T.W.

answers from Kansas City on

You can put duct tape on them for two weeks and they should be gone. On the hands it might be harder to keep the duct tape on, but on the feet this works!!!!

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D.Z.

answers from St. Louis on

If he has one watch for another to pop up someplace else as grandson had one almost down by genital area an now he has more one in crease of elbow an dr. has recomended his mother take him to dermatologist. So I would just head straight for the dermatologist.

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A.L.

answers from Kansas City on

My daughter had a bunch on her hands, we had them froze off several times at childrens mercy. They always came back. the dermatologist told me to give her i think it was 2-4 tagament a day. They went AWAY all of them!! And have never come back! He said they found this treatment by accident. They were doing a tagament drug study on men with hearturn, they all reported any warts they had, had gone away! Funny huh, i thought so. We tried and she took the meds for about a month or so, we didnt see any improvement so we stopped, but in a month they were all gone, he said it would take a while, but none have returned and that was 3 years ago. Good luck!

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C.C.

answers from St. Louis on

Here's another 'bend' to the potato story. My dad was in the army and met up with a man on the street who saw his hands... covered in warts. The man asked if my dad would like to get rid of them. The man proceeded to cut a potato in 1/2 and rub it all over my dad's hands. He said that it was important to bury the potato somewhere that would not be known to my dad and it was important that my dad didn't know what he was going to do beforehand (rub the potato on his warts). The warts went away and never returned. So, my daughter brought a friend over when she was in high school. One of her hands had many warts on it. I asked her if she wanted them to go away. Sure enough.. she did. (duh!) So, I cut a potato in 1/2 and rubbed it on her warts. After she left, I buried the potato. Her warts went away! I know.. it sounds like a joke.. or an old wive's tale, but it worked! I don't know why my dad never tried it on mine.. I had mine burned off. :o( Good luck! If it doesn't work, you can always use 'wart off'. I've known people who used it and it worked.

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C.M.

answers from Kansas City on

I don't know what causes them but I had worts when I was little. My mom put Vitamin E on them and they went away and I have never had them since. You can either get the Vitamin E capsules and poke a whole in it to apply the Vitamin E or you can now get the Vitamin E oil that you can put on. We always applied it once at bedtime and then covered it with the white medical tape. Don't cover it with a bandaid because the bandaid will soak up the oil. I think the capsules are a bit more concentrated so they might work faster then the oil but I haven't ever done it with the oil so I don't know for sure. It will probably take a couple of weeks to go away completely but as long as you are diligent, it will go away for good unlike the freezing and other treatments that they do at the doctors.

1 mom found this helpful

C.D.

answers from Springfield on

Hi J..
My son had a horrible time with warts on his hand when he was in 2nd grade. It started with one and spread to several. He was embarrassed and I wanted to help, so we tried the over the counter stuff but had no result. I bought a bottle of the stuff you can use to freeze them off at home, but when I read the package insert I was terrified to use it on him. So, we went to the pedicatrician who sent us to a dermatologist and it was awesome. We learned that warts are viral and that's why they spread. He said that most people eventually develop an immunity to them and they will go away on their own, but many people, especially children,aren't able to fight the virus on their own. Because of the location of the warts on my son's hand the doctor said it was good that we didn't try to freeze them off because it could have caused nerve damamge! I was shocked to find out that could happen. What the doctor did instead was to apply a drop of this stuff called blistering beatle juice to each wart. It sounds terrible, but it was painless! It forms a blister on the wart, and when the blister goes away the wart goes with it. My son said it didn't hurt at all, and the doctor even put a drop on my finger so I could see what it felt like for myself. The warts went away within a week or two. FYI the beatle juice really does come from a beatle! (Of course it is medical grade and safe!) My son is 12 now and the warts haven't returned. (Knock on wood!) :)

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D.L.

answers from Topeka on

Worts are actually contagious and caused by a virus. One of my daughters fights with them constantly. Take your child to a dermatologist not your family md. The dermatologist deals with them more and gives better advice and drugs for them.

Good luck,
D.

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L.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi! This may sound really weird, but it totally works! you can use duct tape to get them off. i am sure if you google "removing warts with duct tape" you will find specific directions. Good Luck!

A.H.

answers from St. Joseph on

Of course, you can have the doctor remove them, but the treatments can leave scars, and the warts may still reappear (that's true with any treatment).

Home remedies and OTC medicines usually take several weeks to work. These are a few home remedies that have worked for us or someone we know:

1. Vitamin A capsules (such as fish oil), opened and applied directly to the warts (do not take orally). Cover with a snug bandage. Takes about 10 weeks to work.

2. Chlorine bleach applied with a Q-tip directly to the warts (be careful not to get any on the surrounding skin; it's irritating!) and then covered with a band-aid. Takes about 2 to 3 months to get rid of them completely.

3. Rub a raw potato on the warts once or twice daily. Can't recall how long this takes to work, about 10-12 weeks?

I'm sure there are other folk/home remedies available on the internet, as well. HTH! Good luck!
--A.

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J.B.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J.,

Warts are just a virus, usually no biggie. My step son had warts on his fingers and hands (apparently its very common for little boys). We used the wart medicine, Compound W. It works to get rid of them, but they always come back! So, eventually we had to go to the doctor and have them frozen off.

Good luck!
Jenn

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J.G.

answers from St. Louis on

For prevention: Make sure to get enough vitamin E. A natural source like oily grains (whole grains that get ground) or nuts/seeds. White flour is missing this key ingredient b/c it makes it spoil once the wheat is milled into flour.

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C.K.

answers from Kansas City on

My daughter had one on her finger when she was around 3. The doctor said we could freeze it but recommended we just leave it as her body will eventually find it, attack it, and it will go away. We left it alone and sure enough it was soon gone. Same thing then happened to my youngest at around the same age, we left it alone and it eventually went away as well and they have had no reoccurance. My step-son had several when he was around 7 and we did have those frozen with some success, a few came back and we had to refreeze.

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V.L.

answers from Kansas City on

My 9 year old had one on her finger last year. We used
compound W that we got over the counter at the pharmacy.
It came in a tube, and it basically, froze it. We put some
directly unto the wart, and it turned white right away. It was gone within days. It did hurt when we did it but the
pain went away fast.

The pharmacist told me they can be contagious.

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C.S.

answers from Lawrence on

Hey J.!

I wanted to let you know that there is a few things to help with warts. A key ingredient that is going to work wonders to clear them up is tea tree oil BUT you need to make sure you buy the highest grade that comes directly from Australia. Health food stores carry a lower grade. There is also Renew lotion that will help along with the tea tree oil and a few other products that I know will help clear this up. I work with a wellness company where you can get these products and several others I know said it worked wonders and cleared them up for them too. Send me a personal note and I can contact you to let you know so much more. A great thing about it is there is not any chemicals used in any of these products either so if it is ingested or near the mouth you won't have to worry about anything.

Cindy
Work At Home United
www.2abetterlife.com
www.2liveabetterlife.com
____@____.com

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L.B.

answers from Kansas City on

I used to work for a dermatologist- and sometimes people would try duct tape at home before they came into our office. Sounds weird i know but it really does work sometimes. It suffocates it.
Also if the over the counter meds don't work- and they usually don't- you could go to a dermatologist and they can either freeze it off- or there is also other ways of treating them if you don't want to have them frozen- because it does sting- especially for the little ones! Hope this helps!

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T.N.

answers from Kansas City on

Warts are contagious and viral. I would recommend taking him to the Dr. and asking them if there is an over the counter or natural option...

Then, start talking to his friend's Moms & school to see if you can track down who it was that passed it to your son and try to avoid re-exposure!

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J.S.

answers from Memphis on

My son had a couple on his foot last year. We tried the over the counter stuff for a couple of months, but nothing helped. We ended up going to the pediatrician and he had to freeze them off-not fun for my son (or me) at all, but after two times, they disappeared. They won't go away on their own.

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B.D.

answers from St. Louis on

I have battled with plantar warts on my feet my whole life, I have had them frozen, laser treated, RX drugs applied, but all very painful and/or expensive. I have finally found something easy and pain-free! I got a bottle of highly concentrated Colloidal Silver liquid at the health food store. I simply applie a drop of it on my warts 2x daily, and in 2 or 3 weeks they were gone, and have been gone for 7 months or so. It is also working on some small warts on my sons arm. There are many uses for colloidal silver, but it is designed to kills viruses, which is what a wart is. I am SO thankful for trying it, and recommend it to everyone I know with warts.

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D.M.

answers from Lawrence on

Hi J., I had warts when I was little and had serveral. They are a virus, I had to have my frooze off and I was 12. It was painful and I had to do it 2 or 3 times but all of them went away except one and my mom bought some compound w at the store and that worked great! You have to apply it a few times but it does work. I am now 26 and had a wart come up a few months ago. I was going to have them freeze it off but it went away on it's own. I hope this helps you. Take care and God Bless!

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G.S.

answers from Springfield on

My son developed a wart on the palm of his hand last year. His pediatrician did this procedure in her office where she froze it off. He had four treatments and now it's gone. From what she told me they come from germs...not washing your hand after using the restroom, being in contact with other children at school (playing, taking things from them that they eventually put in their mouth) who don't pratice good hygiene...

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M.G.

answers from Kansas City on

J., Worts are a bacteria of some kind the bore deep into the skin. Compound W works, you have to put more on each day. If you peel off the top layer before applying more it will go away faster. We put band-aids on top of my son's while the Compound W was working. It may bleed when you finally get it all off, that is a good thing! Once you get it off keep an eye on that spot for a month or so to make sure you got it all and it is not coming back. You could get them also, so wash your hands well after working with them.

Good Luck, M.

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L.S.

answers from St. Louis on

You mentioned grandmas so I have to tell you what my grandma did for my older brother. She cut a potato in half, rubbed one half on the wart and had him go on the deck and throw it over his shoulder off the deck. His wart was gone in a week or so. Sounds nuts I know...I had mine frozen off!!

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R.M.

answers from Topeka on

As someone has already mentioned...warts are Viral...and will normally go away on their own but it can take a long time and some of them can spread. I would try the Compound W... but be prepared that as it is working it can really sting when you re-apply it. I would also get some duct tape and wind it tightly around the wart...something about depriving it of oxygen is supposed to help speed the process of killing it off.
If all else fails....you will need to go to the doctor...I finally had to have several of them burned off when I was a child.
Good luck!!
R. Ann

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F.C.

answers from St. Louis on

Hi
my son had a wort on his finger and we tried the over the counter stuff too and it did not work for us either. We went to the dermatoligist and they froze it off. It was pretty painful for him but it did go away. After he had already gotten it removed a friend of ours told us that her son had several worts and he had to go to they dermatologist several times to have his frozen off but they kept coming back. She found out from a friend of hers that if you apply toothpaste and then cover with duct tape it will go away without the pain. They tried it and after about 4 days the worts were gone. I would try this before going to the dr. Hope this helps. ALSO THEY TOLD ME THAT WORTS ARE A VIRUS THEY GET FROM SOMEONE ELSE THAT HAS THEM.

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T.M.

answers from Kansas City on

First thing is to be sure it's a wart. My mom tried to use compound W on me when I was small, it never went away, it wasn't a wart.
My son had one on his hand and the doctor froze it off, it took more than one time and yes it hurts, I had a mole frozen off, but it does come off eventually.

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M.C.

answers from St. Louis on

Hi J.! Sorry but I don't know where they come from or how to prevent them, but my son had worts on his hand and my pediatrician told me to simply cover it with surgical tape (like the stuff in first aid kits) or duct tape, and every night peel it off and put on new. He gave me a handout on how it works, and I am sorry to tell you I can't find that either, but it was the only thing that worked after I tried several things (topicals) that hadn't worked. Apparently when you peel it off every night it takes layers off. Hope this helps! Kristin

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S.S.

answers from St. Louis on

Hi J., warts are caused by a virus, and they can be contagious, but they are harmless as far as health goes. They can be ugly and annoying however. There are several ways to get rid of them. The doctor can burn or freeze them off, but if you want to save a lot of money you can treat them at home. There are at-home freezing treatments you can get at the drug store and Wal-mart, these can be painful but effective if used correctly. Compund W does work if you use it consistently. You have to understand that sometimes it takes more time to get rid of them than we would like. It has also been reported that if you cover them with duct tape every day for a while they will be 'smothered' and go away. I have heard this on the news several times. What worked for me personally is to work on a wart after a bath or doing dishes, which makes it soft, then I trim off the top which is usually painless, and or use an emery board on it, then I put Compound W on it and it does go away within a week. I don't know how old your son is, you can make your decision based on his age and pain tolerence etc. But, once a person gets the virus in their system I don't think it ever goes away. So he is likely to get more thru the years. But don't worry too much---It is WAYY more common than you know, and as I said before harmless to the health. Good luck! :)

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D.D.

answers from St. Louis on

J.-

My son, who is now 13, experienced warts all over his fingers when he was in 4th and 5th grade. We tried everything from having them surgically removed by a doctor, over the counter meds to home remedies. We were so extreme in treatment due to kids teasing him at school and his embarrassment with them. Nothing seemed to work EXCEPT....US LEAVING THEM ALONE!!! It seemed like the minute we didn't fuss over them and worry about them they went away. I know the doctor told us they are caused by a virus that the body is fighting but I'd also swear they spread with worry and stress. Good luck to you.

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L.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J.,

It sounds like you got some great advice! You can now buy and over the counter kit of the liquid nitrogen to "freeze" them off. Which I recently had to do with my college age son home on winter break. I'm not sure I would want to freeze them myself on a young child.
I did want to issue a very strong caution on the Tagamet comment. As a registered nurse I'm quite frankly a little surprised and concerned this "remedy" was given to the poster by a doc at Children's Mercy Hospital.
First of all Tagamaet is a med for adults with adult issues. While I'm sure it may have dosing guidelines for kids who also may have GI issues, I can guarantee you that it was NOT tested on children and to be recommended for an "off label" use frightens me. And I'm not just some crazy nurse, but I worked within the pharmaceutical industry in research. Drugs are not tested on children but just assumed safe at lower dosages. And the recommendation of that drug for something it is not normally prescribed for does happen more than you think, but it doesn't mean it's safe.

Please do not give your son tagamet and stick to the proven methods of dealing with the warts.

Good Luck.

Lori K

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V.F.

answers from Topeka on

A very good reasonable home remedy for warts is to use "Duct Tape". You cut it the size of the wart and leave it on for 6 days, off one and then 6 days again. There is also a freeze off over the counter to use that usually has to be done twice beofre they fall off. My grandson has had some and he got several books at the library so he could understand them. Warts are a virus that will remain in the system once you have them.

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S.L.

answers from Joplin on

My daughter has some on her knees and once in a while gets one on her hands. They are caused by a virus. Sometimes over the counter products will eventually get rid of them but you have to be very consistent. From what I have researched online sometimes they just have to go away on their own. There are some natural things I have read about but have not tried yet, like garlic or fresh pineapple allowed to sit on it for a while. The best thing I have found but is hard to get a kid to do consistently is to rub it, rub it, rub it, anytime he would be just sitting around. Then when he gets to the black seeds pick them out. I did that when I was young and they went away. My daughter did this with a couple of hers but doesn't have the patience to be very consistent. They can spread to other ppl too so be careful and have him wash his hands a lot if he does this.

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S.D.

answers from Topeka on

I had a few in the yrs past my sis and dad did also and now 1 showed up again on my ring finger since being pregnant unable to treat it,but here is what worked for me Lemons buy 1 and cut a small piece off squeeze some juice on the wart and then put it on the finger with a bandaid for a day or over nite do this everyday and eventually it'll go away without medication or having to burn them off.

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L.L.

answers from Wichita on

Warts are usually viral in nature and kind of "burrow" down in the skin. There is an over-the-counter medicine called Compound W that is really good at not only clearing warts but also at preventing them. It basically deadens the skin (and the wart). It doesn't hurt the surrounding skin but kills the wart from the root. It does, however, kind of hurt to use it but when I used it on my daughter several years ago, she said it hurt for a while but then after a couple of days she didn't notice it any more (because the wart was being killed off). If, however, this does not work, you could take your son to the doctor and they can either burn it off, excise it or freeze it with liquid nitrogen.

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K.C.

answers from Wichita on

I get a wart on my finger (the under side that you grasp things with) ever few years. There is only one & I am not patient enough to wait months for it to go away, Plus my warts usually will not go away with OCT treatments. I go to my dr & have him freeze it off. Yes it is painful as he is freezing it, but it doesn't hurt much afterwards (if at all).

God Bless!

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T.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Worts are caused by a virus. How old is your son? My daughter had one on her finger when she was under 2. I took her to the Dr. who told me to leave it alone and it should go away on its own. Sure enough, it did (after a few months). That is the only one she has ever had. I think it is okay to treat older children, but just leave it alone if he is younger.

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L.B.

answers from St. Joseph on

Are they warts or mollusulum? I would certainly take him to the Dr to make a determination. Both are viral but you don't outgrown warts..washing helps but it's not a cure all. Sometimes it just happens. The medication from the store is basically a watered down version of "freezing" the warts off. For it to work you need to keep applying the medication and inbetween doses filing or using some kind of abrasive substance to get the dead skin off so the medicine can continue its path to the core. At home methods can work but they can take a long time to work.

Your other option is to go to the Dr and have them take care of it either by freezing/burning them off. I will warn you that this is a painful process and depending upon how old (i.e. how long the warts have been around) and how deeply they are imbedded can be a lengthy process. I avoided telling my mother about some warts that I had developed on the ball of my foot because I remembered the painful process when I was a child...well it went on for several years and when she discovered it decided I HAD to get them taken care of...13 warts and 9 months later (and A LOT OF PAIN) they were finally gone. At any rate, the sooner they are taken care of the better.

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J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

My son had some warts on his knee that we were using Compound W on. It was working VERY SLOWLY. After several weeks of applying every other night, he spent the day in an indoor, hotel pool for a birthday party. The next day they were completely gone and haven't returned! I'm guessing the combination of wart medicine & chlorine??

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A.P.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J.,
My daughter just had about 7 plantar warts frozen off last month and there is barely any sign now that she had them. (most were on her feet/toe area, and they have little black seeds buried within the wart.) One or two got really big, so I wanted the doc to deal with it. **The number one place to pick up the virus: at public pools, where the virus thrives in the warm water surrounding the pool where people walk barefoot.
Angie

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