# Do OTC Wart Removers Work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413 "2015-07-28T19:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/1 "2015-07-28T19:50:14Z")
I have a wart-the dermatologist has seen it, and says it is harmless. I would like to get rid of it-there are OTC solutions that claim to do this-do they work? if i have it done by a doctor, how do they remove them (liquid nitrogen)? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/2 "2015-07-28T20:04:39Z")
Aspirin plasters (i.e. Salicylic acid) generally work, if you are persistent. Like Compound W and Medi-plast. The data on duct tape is less promising. I don’t recommend it. Otherwise, the rest of the effective treatments tend to be by prescription, or are office-based procedures such as freezing or cautery. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/3 "2015-07-28T20:22:25Z")
Was there a reason the dermatologist didn’t remove it when he/she saw it? Did he/she say that it was better left alone? I’d be leery of doing something if the dermatologist didn’t think it advisable. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/4 "2015-07-28T21:39:18Z")
I have in the past gotten rid of warts by putting a small chunk of garlic on them every night, covered by a Band-Aid. But this hasn’t worked all the time for me. Also, some small warts will clear up on their own. ETA, I suppose it’s possible the garlic-treated warts also cleared up on their own; but these were plantar warts I didn’t want frozen because it’s painful, whereas the warts that disappear on their own are on my hands. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/5 "2015-07-28T21:46:37Z")
> [@](#): > > You got to go all by yourself, to the middle of the woods, where you know there’s a spunk-water stump, and just as it’s midnight you back up against the stump and jam your hand in and say: > > ‘Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts, > Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts,’ > and then walk away quick, eleven steps, with your eyes shut, and then turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody. Because if you speak the charm’s busted.” > Mark Twain The reason that there are so many so called cures for warts is that they will go away all by themselves. A search will find you thousands, many as daft as the one above. Do what your dermatologist says (he is the one with all those years of study) and leave it alone. One morning you will wake up and it will be gone - just like that. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/6 "2015-07-28T22:20:35Z")
It’s not as daft as you think; as I understand it the reason for using doctor-approved treatments like blistering agents is to irritate the skin and mobilize an immune response to help wipe out the wart–or so I was told by a podiatrist. And raw garlic will irritate the skin. And not all warts will go away on their own. I had one on my foot for about ten years. It was treated by a doctor, it went away, it came back. Ignoring it for long periods just meant it got bigger. Finally it took a year of treatments, sometimes every two weeks, to get rid of it. The podiatrist told me she had a patient who had to give up as a career as a dancer because of plantar warts that just would not go away even with intensive treatment. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/7 "2015-07-28T22:55:49Z")
What is (counts on fingers…) Plan G when you have a wart that’s resistant to Compound W, OTC freeze spray, trimming at home, dermatologist’s application of liquid nitrogen, scraping/paring by a derm and dermatologist-strength blistering/dissolving agents? I’ve got one on the inside of a finger joint that starts to hurt when it gets too big. I have to shave the top of it off once a week or so to keep it tolerable, but would prefer to have it gone. I’ve had three or four visits to two dermatologists, and it just laughs at anything they aim at it. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/8 "2015-07-28T23:09:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Aspirin plasters (i.e. Salicylic acid) generally work, **if you are persistent**. Like Compound W and Medi-plast. Bolded for truth. I’ve had good luck with Compound W, but it takes a while - as in twice-daily application for a duration measured in weeks, not days. **gotpasswords** , I got nothing for you. A third dermatologist? ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/9 "2015-07-28T23:26:57Z")
Compound W works for me. Get the gel and not the liquid. One of the liquid’s ingredients is ether and it evaporates quickly. The gel lasts a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/10 "2015-07-29T00:23:09Z")
The plantar wart “donut” treatment stickers eventually do work. I believe it’s the combination of salicylic acid and trapped skin moisture. My wife has had success with duct tape on plantar worts. I believe the paint-on wart treatments seal the surface of the skin so that moisture is trapped in the dead surface tissue and the body recognizes the invasion of the wort virus. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/11 "2015-07-29T03:58:37Z")
When I was a young’n, I had a wart on my left thenar eminence. I Compound W’d it up the ying yang. That’d take it down to a pale larva-like nub, but it’d always grow back. Finally ,one day, while playing football in the street, I tripped up hard on the downslope and saved my gorgeous visage by landing on the palms of my hands. Shredded them to hell. Wart hasn’t been back. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/12 "2015-07-29T11:47:41Z")
Concur with others here that Compound W (and cheaper generic meds with the same active ingredient) will work, provided you apply them daily for an extended period of time. A couple of years ago I got rid of two plantar warts with the stuff, but I was applying it daily for perhaps 3 weeks. Maybe a week after the first application, the outer layers of skin toughened and separated from the deeper layers; I was able to painlessly peel that piece off (along with some of the wart), exposing newer skin underneath. This process repeated a couple of times until the remaining skin was so thin and tender that further application of the medicine caused major irritation, so I stopped. At that point, the wart was gone, the skin healed up, and I’ve been wart-free ever since. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/13 "2015-07-29T12:02:36Z")
I cut off all I possibly can myself, then smear the salicylic stuff on the tender skin that is left daily for a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-otc-wart-removers-work/726413/14 "2015-07-29T12:07:13Z")
The evidence is growing that your immune system will cause warts to die. Picking at them may cause them to go away, actually scratching around them is recommended. This is suppose to stimulate the immune system. In my case I accidently slammed my hand in a door and two little warts on the tip of one finger soon disappeared. An old thread had someone’s experience of thinking away a wart, something that may be entirely possible if it can stimulate the immune system. I mention this because it makes me wonder if any of the wart removing chemicals, garlic, duct tape, etc. are just causing your immune system to fight off the wart.