Getting Rid Of Warts

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In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝How to get rid of warts and stop them from coming back?❞

First we’ll mention: it does matter what kind of warts they are, and where they are. It’s easier to treat a wart on a finger than on the genitals or an eyelid, for example.

To speak in broad terms, though, warts are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).

There is a HPV vaccine; you can read about it here: Everything you need to know about cervical cancer*

You can get the vaccine as an adult, but it’s most readily given to children, as it is most effective before first encountering HPV. Otherwise, most people contract the virus at some point, and it is highly contagious, so prevention as early as possible is good. Sometimes people will hand-wring about giving a HPV vaccine to children as HPV is mostly transmitted sexually so it “shouldn’t” be necessary yet, but 1) better to get it done and not have to worry about it later 2) it’s not only transmitted sexually, but by touch in general, and it is highly resistant to disinfectants.

*You may be wondering: why is the link about cervical cancer? And the answer is that almost all cervical cancer is caused by HPV.

However, if you have warts, this does not mean you are necessarily at high risk of cervical cancer (or oropharyngeal cancer, which is also mostly caused by HPV).

There are hundreds of known types of HPV, and the most common wart-inducing types aren’t known to increase cancer risk. Please note that this is not an exhaustive statement though; there are a lot of types where it’s not fully known what they do. Also, many people will have numerous types of HPV.

You asked us about treating warts, so that’s important knowledge, but to save space on discussing the many types of HPV (which is a fascinating topic, especially when it comes to some of the most common types like 2 and 16, and the most risky types like 16 and 18), we’ll direct you to a convenient table of HPV types on Wikipedia that tells which kinds do what.

So, can we destroy the virus once infected?

Yes!

…ish. That is to say, we can destroy them locally (at the site of the wart), but we will still remain infected by the virus, meaning they can always reappear (we can reduce the risks though; more on that later).

Destroying it mostly comes in two main forms:

• Salicylic acid or similar chemical products: needs to be used every day, for weeks, but will destroy the wart tissue (and the virus contained within it) while leaving healthy tissue mostly unaffected (it’s only mildly corrosive to our own flesh) but still, try to get it only on the wart. Here’s an example product on Amazon.
• Liquid nitrogen or other freezing treatments: usually only takes a few treatments to destroy it completely. Liquid nitrogen is usually available only via a doctor, unless for some reason you happen to have access to it yourself, but we recommend getting professional (medical professional!) assistance, as otherwise it can very easily destroy your flesh too. Milder, at-home freezing treatments are not as effective as liquid nitrogen, but still much more effective than corrosive chemical treatments. The at-home kits usually involve a canister containing chemicals that produce an endothermic reaction when mixed, and this mixture is then either sprayed via a nozzle placed around the wart (to avoid getting other tissue), or else isn’t sprayed anywhere, and just cools a conductive metal element the tip of which is then placed on the wart to freeze it off. Here’s an example product on Amazon.

There are a lot of home remedies that people try; most of them do not work.

Here’s a list: 16 Natural Home Remedies for Warts ← we’re not recommending these, but we link them for your interest.

About avoiding reoccurrence

There are two main things here:

• don’t reinfect yourself: so for example try to avoid touching it (spreads it about anywhere else you touch), and consider anything you used on it physically (e.g. pumice stone, nail file, etc) contaminated and now capable of spreading it to other parts of you (or indeed other people, if it’s a shared item, so don’t share it). Remember, it’s very resistant to disinfecting, so unless you have a medical grade autoclave or seriously strong industrial chemicals, you’re very unlikely to successfully disinfect such items at home.
• look after your immune system: most warts go away by themselves in about 18 months. Is it because they just got fed up of being a nuisance? No, it’s because your immune system finally beat them (on that particular battleground, at least). So, look after your immune system, and it will not only help you get rid of extant warts more quickly, but also reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

Learn more about that latter: Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters!

Take care!