Methods Used for Wart Removal at Home

Before attempting wart removal at home you must have some idea of warts and nature. So let us first learn some facts about warts before learning the removal methods.

Although most warts are benign they can cause a lot of embarrassment to the person who is afflicted by them, especially if they are present in the visible areas of the body. They are caused by different types of viruses that are slow acting. There are at least 60 known types of these viruses, known as Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV). Warts can either appear on the skin singly or in clusters. They are usually of three types – common warts, plantar warts and Genital Warts.

Because they look unbecoming many people would like to to remove the warts as soon as they appear. There are a variety of treatments available for removal of warts like freezing them out with liquid nitrogen, with salicylic acid, laser surgery, duct tape and do it yourself methods using home remedies. You can either seek professional help for wart removal or you can choose to remove them at home. Both are equally effective. Because it is easy to remove warts at home many people prefer to heal warts the natural way. Doctors called dermatologists are professionally trained to remove warts.

Common warts can be found at any location on the body but they are usually located on the fingers, hands, elbows, forearms,the skin around the nails, face and knees. Commonly they appear on the skin that is exposed to trauma, abrasion or constant friction as they act as entry points for the virus. Common warts are either raised or flat, dry or moist, can have a rough or pitted surface. The viruses that cause common warts are extremely contagious and enter the body by way of the breaks in the skin. They can spread fast if they are picked, trimmed, touched, bitten or cut during shaving. However they generally do not cause pain or itching.

Plantar warts grow on the soles of the feet and on the underside of the toes. They look like calluses but unlike them are soft and can easily bleed when their surfaces are trimmed. They don’t spread to other regions of the body. Genital Warts are the soft and moist growths around the penis, vagina, anus,groin and scrotum and in men they grow in the urethra also. They look like tiny cauliflowers red or pink in appearance. They are transferred from person to person through oral, vaginal or anal intercourse. A child born to a mother having Genital Warts may get the HPV virus. Warts do not appear until after three months of being infected by the HPV virus, during which time they will have spread.

A few of the most used home remedies for treatment of warts are given below:

• Applying fresh Aloe Vera juice directly is useful for dissolving the warts and toning the skin. Thus it can be used as a effective and safe wart remover.

• The fresh milky sap from the leaf or stem of milkweed, a weed that is widespread in North America can be applied directly to the warts once a day and show very good results. The benefit of this procedure is that it does not irritate and does not effect normal skin in any way.

• Proteolytic enzymes contained in papaya, pineapple, figs and babana can help to digest and dissolve the warts and can be used safely for removing warts. The fresh plant sap or concentrate can be used by taping it to the wart for a few hours a day.

• Asparagus, citrus fruits, eggs, onions and garlic have sulfur containing amino acids and their inclusion in the diet can help in preventing the spread of warts.