Your fingers are not the only places that a wart may appear – fleshy growths that are eye-catching and often a source of embarrassment. Typical treatments for wart removal include painful procedures that can leave behind a scar. When it comes to home remedies for warts removal, you can avoid some of the medical solutions most often used to remove warts, including burning, scraping, cutting, freezing, and lasers.
What are Warts?
Warts are hard growths that develop on the skin of both adults and children. While they are harmless and not life threatening, warts can spread to the rest of the body. Warts can also appear anywhere on the body, including the genitals.
Different Kinds of Warts![wart removal]( "wart removal")
Warts are mainly caused by a viral infection called the human papillomavirus (HPV), which attacks the top layer of skin. There are more than 60 strains responsible for the variety of warts that develop on humans. The virus causes cells to grow rapidly, which is why fleshy growths form on the skin. A couple of types of warts to consider include:
• Flat warts (also known as juvenile warts) are about the size of a pinhead and usually appear on the face, but can also develop on the arms, knees, or hands. They can be pink, light brown, or yellow in color.
• Genital warts affect the penis, urethra, and rectal area of a man and the vaginal lips, inside the vagina, cervix, uterus, and around the anus of a woman. Warts on the genitals can be raised or flat, red, pink, or gray-colored cauliflower-shaped lesions.
• Warts can appear on the hand, and when they are found on the palm of the hand, they are called palmar warts.
• Plantar warts appear on the soles of the feet, while periungual warts strike under or around toenails and fingernails. [1]
• Filiforme warts are long, narrow, and flesh colored – occurring as a single wart or appearing in clusters. They usually form around the eyelids, face, neck, or lips.
Wart Home Remedies
You certainly don’t want a wart to attract unwanted attention. When you’d like to avoid typical methods of wart removal, such as freezing and chemical-based medications, consider the following home remedies for warts:
a) Vitamin A:
Apply vitamin A as a topical treatment for warts. Break open a capsule and squeeze the liquid onto a wart. Rub it in for a daily application. Results vary depending on the kind of warts you have. For example, plantar warts may take two to five months to heal, while juvenile warts can disappear in as little as one month.
b) Vitamin C:
Add water to crushed vitamin C tablets to create a paste for treating warts. Apply the mixture to a wart and cover with a bandage to keep the paste in place. It is believed that the high acidity of ascorbic acid can kill the virus responsible for warts. Avoid spreading paste onto skin, as it can cause irritation.
c) Flaxseed Oil:
Make a poultice for warts by mixing ground flaxseeds with flaxseed oil and a small amount of raw honey. Apply the remedy to a wart and make sure to change the poultice on a daily basis.
d) Milkweed:
The Native Americans used the milkweed plant to treat warts by tearing a leaf or stem and applying the milky white fluid that comes out onto their skin growths.
e) Duct Tape:
A well-known home remedy for warts is to use duct tape – a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week method that really works when done properly. Snugly wrap duct tape around your wart and leave it on – changing only when it needs a cleaner look. If you are patient and persistent for at least three weeks, you could eliminate warts that appear on fingers. When you don’t have any duct tape on hand, you can use any medical or First Aid tape as a replacement.
f) Castor Oil:
Apply one drop of warm castor oil to a wart and cover with a Band-Aid. Change the covering two times per day.
g) Baking Soda and Castor Oil:
Mix castor oil with baking soda to create a thick paste that is applied to warts a couple of times per day. Cover with a bandage, glove or sock to keep the paste in place.
h) Garlic:
Place a crushed clove of garlic on a wart and cover it with a Band-Aid.
i) Vinegar:
For a daily treatment, soak your wart in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes, and then pat dry. With a cotton ball, apply apple cider vinegar to the wart and leave on until it dries. Wash off with water and dry.
j) Birch Tree:
You’re in luck if you have a birch tree in your backyard. It is said that fresh birch bark can treat warts. Some people have taped a piece of bark directly on their skin. Others have added two teaspoons of powdered birch bark to a cup of boiling water. After sitting the mixture for about 10 minutes, they directly applied the liquid to warts.
k) Potato:
Some people have rubbed a square of raw potato on a wart as a daily home remedy.
l) Dandelion:
Extract the sap from a dandelion stem and directly apply to your warts[2].
m) Leave Alone:
If you’re disinterested in taking a medical approach to wart removal, keep in mind the estimation that 40 to 50% of all warts eventually disappear on their own – usually within two years. This is especially true in children, who are known to lose their warts spontaneously.
n) Wheat Germ Oil and Molasses:
There have been reports that taking ½ teaspoon of wheat germ oil and ½ teaspoon of blackstrap molasses can eliminate warts.
o) Special Enzymes:
Fruits, such as papaya, pineapple, figs, and banana offer enzymes called proteolytic enzymes, which safely digest and dissolve warts. For instance, apply freshly cut pineapple onto affected skin a couple of times per day. Results should emerge in two to three days. You can also rub the inside of a banana peel onto warts to see changes within weeks of treatment.
p) Grapefruit Juice:
Place a drop of fresh grapefruit juice onto a wart, and then cover with a bandage. Repeat this remedy three to four times per day to encourage warts to disappear.
q) Lemon Juice:
Apply lemon juice to warts or you may also dip a slice of lemon in apple cider vinegar with a pinch of salt for a topical treatment. Rub the lemon slice onto affected areas.
r) Coriander:
Mix one teaspoon of coriander leaves juice with a pinch of turmeric for a daily topical treatment for warts.
s) Cloves:
Rub clove oil over affected skin for at least two times per day to see an improvement in the appearance of warts.
t) Aloe Vera:
Apply fresh aloe vera juice in an effort to dissolve warts.
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