Removing Plantar Warts With Duct Tape Doesn't Work – And What Actually Helps With Plantar Wart Treatment
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Why trying to use duct tape as a plantar wart treatment is a waste of time. And what actually works for plantar wart removal!
There are many myths regarding the successful treatment of plantar warts. One of the most popular (and incorrect) beliefs about removing plantar warts is that duct tape is a cure. The fact of the matter is that duct tape is no more effective then doing nothing at all. I know this first hand, because I spent an entire summer constantly reapplying duct tape to my feet and hands to unsuccessfully remove a wart. From the embarrassment of wearing duct tape, how it doesn't stay on very long, how the skin around the wart can be damaged by the duct tape glue, to how you can use warm water and pomeose stone to treat the wart, and what actually works to painlessly remove a plantar wart. This brief article will explain why duct tape does not help as a plantar wart cure, and what you can do to immediately remove yours.
False Assumptions
Like many people who have suffered from plantar warts, I spent a great deal of time trying out different treatments and remedies. While researching a solution on the Internet, I came across some dated research suggesting that duct tape could help remove a plantar wart. The idea was the duct tape would cut off the oxygen to the wart, so that it would shrink away. I thought the idea made sense, so I went out, got some duct tape, and applied it to the warts on my hands and feet. It would be a long time, before I discovered how foolish this idea really was.
Using Duct Tape As A Plantar Wart Remedy Is Embarrasing
The truth of the matter is, I was extremely desperate to get my plantar warts removed. I was very concerned that I would accidently pass on the virus so my family or friends. So I spent the entire summer of 2005 with duct tape on my fingertip, and on my feet. However, wearing duct tape on your hands and feet all day is rather embarrassing. The worst part by far was when members of the opposite sex would ask me "what is that silver stuff on your hands/feet?” This was just the beginning of the problems with duct tape treatment.
A Big Pain In The Ass
It turns out that duct tape does not stay on skin forever. The duct tape wouldn't stay on my finger very well (I had the plantar wart right on the tip) and the tape made the wart and surrounding skin very sensitive. And after a few months, constantly replacing the duct tape became a real chore. So of course this eventually led me to search again for a workable solution.
Once Step Closer To The Plantar Wart Cure
My first breakthrough came about when I got a pumice stone. A friend recommended that I try the plantar wart cure she used. All she did was put her warts in warm water for about five minutes. Next she would rub away the dead cells of the plantar wart with the pumice stone until she could see the roots. This works extremely well as a practical plantar wart cure. But there was one more thing that helped enormously.
The Plantar Wart Treatment Breakthrough
While researching online, we came across a study that was conducted by the Queens University. In it, the researchers discovered that placebo methods of treatment, worked more consistently then any other plantar wart cure available. Placebo methods worked better then asysilic acid, freezing, cutting, laser treatment and even duct tape. A well-known hypnotist from the United Kingdom called Mark Terrell created a powerful hypnosis mp3 for treating plantar warts. And this became the painless plantar wart cure.
Using What Works And Eliminating The Rest
By using the warm water and pumice stone treatment, the warts began to slowly shrink away. Once the plantar wart treatment and hypnosis mp3s were incorporated into the remedies, the success rate of patients skyrocketed. Today there is no longer any need to use duct tape as a plantar wart remedy.
Peter Hill is a writer who specializes in health and fitness. He runs an informational website that provides videos, articles, links and tips for removing plantar warts. For more information on plantar wart treatment, be sure to check out his site at http://plantarwartcure.blogspot.com
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This is an incorrect and more importantly INCOMPLETE assessment of duct tape therapy for wart removal. Clinical studies prove that 78% of those (including children 5 and older) treated with duct tape alone with no additional medication or supplemental therapy, lose the plantar wart (aka foot wart) in a variable 2 to 3 month time frame. Study 2 shows that 94% of people (again, including children 5 and older) lose their plantar wart with duct tape, an application of Salicylic acid (aspirin) for 3 days, and lidocaine when itching persists. The best method is the following:
1) Soak foot in warm, soapy water for 15 minutes -as warm as possible without becoming hot
2) Dry foot thoroughly, using towel and hairdryer to get the foot and toes completely dry
3) Apply Salicylic acid in the form of paste or preferably a band-aid type patch, such as those commonly found in pharmacy. (Ie. Compound W will work just fine) Be certain to apply directly to the wart without allowing the acid to touch area surrounding or outside the wart itself. The acid will deteriorate and render the healthy skin tender, this is not desired nor recommended.
4) Cover the salicylic acid pad with duct tape cut to size. The duct tape should be cut just enough to cover the wart with salicylic patch, with enough tape left around the edges so it can stick to the unaffected skin.
5) Press the tape so that it sticks to the skin to secure it well enough to stay in place, thus cutting off the air and light to the wart. Without oxygen, the virus will sufficate and not be able to continue growth. This will also allow the body's own immune system to overpower the viral infection faster to impede it's growth and subsequently cause the virus to die. When the tape comes off, or a bath/shower is needed, remove the tape and once again soak the foot in warm, soapy water but this time you will want to use either an emery board or pumice stone to gently rub the dead skin off the top of the wart. Do so gently and carefully so as not to disrupt or affect the nerve since this will cause a good deal of pain. Especially take caution with children, not to rub the pumice stone too hard and cause needless pain on the wart. Remember! The wart has a nerve beneath it or attached to it, so you do NOT want to scrape or rub the stone with more than a gentle motion. Viruses are sensitive to heat and so the warmer the water, the better.
Note: Be careful with children, not to make the water too hot.
6) Follow this procedure for 3-4 days with the Salicylic acid bandage (with children under 6, it's advisable to go no longer than 3 days with the bandage) then remove the patch and use only duct tape.
7) Continue with duct tape alone, for the next 4-8 weeks. After the 6th or 7th day, you should notice the wart begining to peel off or detach from the foot.
8) After each bath or soaking of foot, if tolerated, rub the dead skin from the wart and allow the wart to air dry. Again, use a hair dryer to thoroughly dry the foot and in between the toes.
9) Once this treatment has been followed the wart will come off on it's own. The time varies anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks.
NOTE: 1) to minimize itching use benocaine spray (Dermoplast) on a Q-Tip, then clean the skin around the wart with warm water and dry thoroughly to allow the duct tape to stick again. Use lidocaine patch cut to the form of the wart if lidocaine patch is available. 2) to minimize pain when pressure is applied to wart, you may use several layers of tape to form a thicker pad when walking.
Re: Post on Wart removal with Duct Tape
Pardon the misspelled words:Suffocate, Benzocaine and beginning.
My sincere apologies. DC
Duct tape DOES work. I had a plantars wart for over 13 years on the ball of my right foot which made walking early in the morning and late at night very painful but i dealt with it. I had it cut out and burned off but it always came back a couple weeks later. I heard about the duct tape treatment and tried it. I would put a piece of duct tape on everymorning and wear it until the next morning and take it off, shower, then put another one on. Did that for 8 weeks and the wart was completely gone for good..its been 9 months now. BTW the first few days with the duct tape made my wart hurt more than usual, but after that was fine. Enjoy
Hey Dr. Cullen,
Thanks for making the commend. I apreciate your input. Although I have to be honest that I almost completely disagree with your method of removal. I tried duct tape for an entire summer without any success what soever. What made the ultimate difference was warm watter and scraping the warts with a pomuce stone. Aswell, the weekend I listened to the hypnosis mp3 was the last weekend I had to scrape away at the warts as well. But all that being said, I do realize that many people have enjoyed success with treatments like burning, cutting, freezing, acid, etc... However from my experience all these methods are just more trouble then they are worth.
Just my 2 cents.
Colin
First of all, a plantar wart refers to a wart on the bottom of the foot (plantar surface). It does not refer to all warts. I have had great success with the duct tape treatment. It worked on my daughter's plantar wart that did not respond to cryotherapy as well as on a wart on my son's arm. I have recommended duct tape in combination with an over-the- counter salicylic patch to friends as well as to my patients. Soak, rough up the wart a bit, salicylic patch and duct tape. After about a week, a plantar wart, core and all, should come off.
colin, you my friend are absolutely retarded...plantar wart = wart on the foot you moron. You obviously didn't research your shit too much. And hypnosis? Yeah, that sure IS gonna help. What a joke. To be honest, you are so retarded that I really would like to punch you in the face, you deserve to be kicked in the nuts and have those damn warts come back. Moron.
Ummm, yeah imonaboat...who's retarded and a moron??? Based on your obscene comment, I'd say it's you, my friend.
Hypnosis for warts eh? Sounds like someones trying to sell something. I guess they will rid peope of cancer as well? Give it up! Nobody with half a brain is buying that.
Hi Shelly,
I understand you are skeptical. However hypnosis is excellent for planter wart removal and has been proven to work for many many years. Don't take my word for it though. See for yourself http://PlanterWartRemoval.net/recommends/hypnosisf .
After all I was reluctant to share my personal story since this view goes against the common advice to use duct tape, freezing, burning, cutting, etc...
All I can say is it helped me after I had tried EVERYTHING. And now I'm just sharing this secret for everyone else's benefit. Besides I don't even really enjoy being in the spotlight like this. Everything I wrote is true and there is no need for the negative comments.
Sincerely,
Colin
Well trying to figure out how to remove my sons planters wart and was reading how you said hypnosis. Well let me tell you s story about that my husband had a huge planters wart when he was about 8 so his mother reclaims. She took khim to the doctor's and he said he could remove it with acid and it was gonna hurt or he could hypotize him and there would be no pain. So that is what he did was hiptotized him and the wart dryed up and fell out probably 4 weeks later. So in you faces that the people that are being very rude and they are talking bull shit of of their asses! (sorry can't spell Hipnotize??) Keep up the good work Dr. Colin
FYI- plantar warts are charcterized by the fact that they only "grow" on your feet. Not on your hands!
Excuse me but duct tape DOES work, i had a plantar wart in my big toe, at the bottom, and it grew, so i finally got duct tape because then i had like 15 warts and it came off in like a week, it went black, i took the duct tape off, and it died and now i am happy because it doesn't hurt me anymore
You are an idiot I had a planters wart, put duct tape on and it went away in about 3 weeks. Get your facts straight!
Thanks for clarifying Dr Cullen. It looks like duct tape works on some people and not on others. I will give it a try. My plantar wart is really starting to annoy me.
Duct tape. In a well-publicized 2002 study, duct tape wiped out more warts than freezing (cryotherapy) did. Study participants who used "duct tape therapy" covered their warts in duct tape for six days, then soaked their warts in water, and gently rubbed warts with an emery board or pumice stone. They repeated this process for up to two months or until their warts went away. Researchers hypothesize that this unconventional therapy may work by irritating warts and the surrounding skin, prompting the body's immune system to attack. Today, duct tape is commonly used to treat warts, especially for children who may find freezing painful or scary. It's often combined with salicylic acid.
Here's my theory FWIW: Nobody really knows why duct tape works. The oxygen supply comes from the blood. Perhaps the wart also receives oxygen from the air, I don't know, but I am skeptical of the theory that duct tape cuts off the oxygen supply.
The key to removing the wart is to declare war on the hard outer surface. A combination of filing and a mild acid (apple cider vinegar, salicylic) seems to work. It has to be kept up until the wart is gone; otherwise it just comes back again.
It appears, for some reason, that the immune system doesn't really bother with warts. Here is my whacked out theory: If the treatment is painful, that's actually a good thing. It tells the immune system it has a job to do. If hypnosis works, maybe the subconscious is kinda telling the immune system to get 'er done.
I appreciate the comment Joseph OGERSHOK, but I just want to state for the record, that I did try, duct tape for an ENTIRE SUMMER. With no relief... In fact, I just found the warts continued to spread, despite constantly reapplying duct tape. Let me illustrate the reality of duct tape on the feet.... Your feet sweat, and after a few hours, even the strong glue in the duct tape loses strength, and before long, its not even flush against the skin. Also if you do a little more research online, you will discover, that shockingly, that military test of duct tape for planter wants was more or less inconclusive. But don't take my word for it, give it a try. After you run out of patience with that ineffective method, come back and comment on your experiences, I'm sure you will have more then 2 cents to add to the discussion. I wish everything that appeared in the google machine was true... but unfortunately you have to try things for yourself and reach your own conclusions. Everything I wrote about is 100% true... for me. I will swear up and down, time and time again, freezing, acid, burning, cutting, scraping, tea tree oil, and a few other treatments I have long forgotten about, they just don't cut it! Pumice stone and warm water might just be the "cure" but it sure ain't duct tape.... I testify!!!
I hate my plantar wart so much!!!!!?
I'm on the starting stages of evicting a wart from my foot haha no longer welcome!! I bought some hottpink duct tape and I'm crossing my fingers! But I'm happy that dr.c listed his experiences with this problem to help I just think it a little pathetic that people have to throw negative comments toward a person only trying to help other people on the process of looking for ideas of wart removal! Just one question if your warts were removed by duct tape why are you even looking at this page?? Just a question... But anyways I wish the best to people looking for solutions and listing solutions to try and help others :)
What's more likely here? That a bunch of duct tape salesmen are trying to pitch the duct tape method or that some cheese ball is trying to sell some phony tapes?
Never, ever use a pumice stone or file to grind down a wart site. Since the stone or file will collect wart virus-containing dead skin cells on its surface as you use it, you may end up spreading the virus to a larger area. This means more warts. If you must take off a layer of callus or dead tissue, use a callus shaver to shave the dead skin off with an actual blade. This way you're not grinding wart virus cells into the surrounding area of your foot like some kind of maniacal wart farmer. To use a shaver, it's important that the skin of the callus be dry, whether you hair-dry or air out over a few hours. It's nearly impossible to get any shaving done on *moist* dead skin as the spongy tissue just tends to squish around under the blade and won't allow the blade to "bite" and shave.
I would like to say I had a pea size wart on my face and couldn't use acid or anything like that because of accidental damage to eyes etc. I had this gradually increasing in size wart for about 8 months. Went to dermatologist and he told me they would cut it out but it would leave a scar.
I've also heard this is quite painful too.
I did not go for this and politely declined but mentioned the duct tape method and he reckoned it wouldn't work!
I told look I will this a try and if it doesn't I'll come back. He then said it will get worse and harder to cut out. But,
I felt I didn't have anything to lose and tried it - guess what? it did work... but you must keep the tape on for an entire 7 days or more. Don't take it off. It does itch a bit after a couple days but again don't take off the tape to wash or anything, I think if air gets to it even for a minute or it won't work. (a bit of itching against pain from surgery no contest)
At the end it will peel away like a bit of white dead skin.
That was 3 years ago and today 2011 there is no scarring nothing, completely gone with no sign of it ever being there.
Contrast that with the view of "specialist dermatologist" ... just goes to show you what they know!
And you don't have to pay a fortune for the treatment either.
Excuse me negative comment-ers,
Do we not have different bodies than that of others?
Thats all I have to say.
-Demi
So - you have a website touting a cure for plantar warts whent he referring address is plantErwartremoval.net? Really? And your basis for this is an experience with a non-plantar wart on a finger? Really?
Buyer beware, folks.
I had two plantar warts...one on my toe and the other on the ball of my foot. I tried the freezing, but wasn't getting anywhere with it. What I learned weeks later is that you have to expose the inside of the wart. The outer portion of the wart is usually dead skin.
I took my nail clippers and would cut at it every other day os so as to expose more and more of the inside.(no pain) I actually enjoyed it.
It made made me feel like I was getting somewhere with it's removal faster. Between clipping I would apply duct tape to soften
the area up and keep it contained. After a day or so you will see more of the top layers to remove.The trick is to expose the inside as much as you can.
Everyday I could see layers and layers coming off. It is a time consuming treatment, but they all are. Just make sure you keep the duct tape on after you clip layers and then peel it off after a day or so to remove more wart layers..it will get old, but just keep it up.
I don't believe there is any real magic in duct tape, but it makes a good seal on your skin to moisten the area and dead skin sticks to the tape when you peel it away.
My last few treatments were with the freeze application because I could see the black dots and the base of the wart. I knew I would be freezing the core at this
point and it worked…..it's just not fun, but dealing with pain everyday isn't either.
My husband is not a sucker for quackery (he's a PhD computer scientist), but he had a really hideous case of plantar warts, and after trying chemical treatments was told surgery might be the only option. He sought a 2nd opinion from a dermatologist who suggested duct tape. The warts he had been plagued with for over a year cleared up within a couple of months.
I am presently engaged in a round of taping and was mildly discouraged to read this article...and then I hit the hypnosis part. Ass.
Occlusional suffocation FTW!
Plantar warts do not grow on ones hands. They are restricted to the bottom of feet. You are a fool good sir.
Sixty years ago I had a plantar wart, the foot Dr. Used the acid scrape method and after several weeks the wart was gone. Thirty years ago other foot had a plantar wart on the ball of foot used the duct tape method. The tape stuck well through baths showers. After seven days removed the tape and the hard little wart came with it. Now I had another wart, first foot tried the tape method again, could not get the tape to stick but kept renewing it every day for seven days. The wart came out with the tape. There are good brands of tape and bad brands. Buy your tape from a plumbing or electrical supply place. They have better tape and it is not apt to be old tape.
I tried duct tape and its been five days but my plantar wart has only become worse. it also resembled a crater. for the past 3 hours i took the duct tape off and the wart has almost seemed to die down a bit but still hurts like hell. i can barely walk. any advice?
I am a med student and my medical journal indicates duct tape as a first line of treatment for removal of plantar warts!
Plantar warts occasionally form on the hands as well. Esp. the palms. It seems that there are a few effective ways to get the callous, and then the plantar wart to peel off, (apple cider vinegar being a popular one) but what do you then to keep the thing from growing back in in a matter of days. I've been at mine for close to three months (a very old wart that does not allow me to bend my thumb once the callous has formed) and have got it down to raw skin numerous times. But normal skin with normal lines and fingerprints does not seem to regrow. Very frustrating.
I don't agree with this article. I've had numerous plantar warts on the bottom of one of my feet for years now and nothing worked. I resisted trying the duct tape cure until recently. After a friend told me it really did work for her, I applied duct tape to all my warts, reapplying it each time my foot got wet. I apply it small pieces, with 2- 3 layers on top of each wart. It's now been a few weeks and the clusters of warts on the side of my feet are ENTIRELY gone. There are just empty craters where they once had been. My 3rd largest wart is becoming hollowed out as well, and wart tissue is sloughing off my remaining 2 larger warts. Duct tape does work.
You've been flagged. The duct tape method works, you are promoting a scam (mp3-placebo), shame on you.
You've got to be fkin kidding me.
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- Planter Wart Removal
Everything You Want To Know About Planter Wart Removal - Secrets of Planter Wart Removal
The World Least Known (And Most Effective) Planter Wart Removal Method - Hypnotism For Planter Wart Removal
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Despite the fact that warts can be treated without so much as a scratch, most people think planter wart removal requires burning, cutting, freezing acid or lasers.
MrMarmalade 3 years ago
Thanks for all your research.
Worth a try