# So I'm getting a wart removed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726 "2008-07-25T13:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/1 "2008-07-25T13:09:08Z")
I’ve had this wart on my pinky for like a year and I’m getting it frozen off today. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/2 "2008-07-25T13:12:13Z")
It’s no big deal. I’ve had plenty removed over the years. You’ll be glad you got it over with. I have this weird non-warty thing on my finger. I had one removed years ago from another finger, and it was like mini-surgery. The new one is still there, 'cuz I’m chicken. It’s like a squishy little ball just under the skin of my left pinkie… Weird. Good luck! You’ll be fine! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/3 "2008-07-25T13:50:50Z")
I had to have one on my foot treated several times the course of a few weeks. A couple of times he even had to take a scraper to it. I remember it quite clearly, but not because it was painful, it was very interesting. I can still point to the exact spot on my foot. It’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/4 "2008-07-25T16:40:40Z")
I’ve had better luck with salicylic acid patches than with either freezing or lasering. Keep that in mind when it comes back in a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/5 "2008-07-25T16:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] I’ve had better luck with salicylic acid patches than with either freezing or lasering. Keep that in mind when it comes back in a few months. [/QUOTE] On the other hand, mine never has, and it’s been more than 20 years. So YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/6 "2008-07-25T17:05:34Z")
Be very careful! My uncle had the same thing and about 50 years later he died! Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/7 "2008-07-25T19:02:32Z")
It’s not bad. At its worst, I remember it as a “so cold it hurts” kind of feeling, like going into a really cold lake or sticking an ice cube to a spot for a while. I had this done a few times to my feet (middle school, gym class, wear shoes in the locker room kids!) and it was neat to see the white dead patches. Eventually I got tired of them slowly freezing and scraping a little off at each visit so I went to my own devices (fingers) and just tore off the patches of dead skin on my feet. There were some big craters for a while, but it didn’t hurt at all since the skin was already dead and it eventually filled in with healthy cells and I haven’t had any warts since. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/8 "2008-07-25T19:14:27Z")
Yeah. I felt that “so cold it hurts” feeling. The doctor told me that I would be able to just pull it off once i get a fluid-filled blister. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/9 "2008-07-25T22:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] On the other hand, mine never has, and it’s been more than 20 years. So YMMV. [/QUOTE] Quite - my daughter had a couple frozen off about 5 years ago, and they never came back. Including one (of the 4 she had) which was _not_ frozen off but went away anyway. AND including one on _my_ finger, which was similarly not frozen off but went away on its own when my daughter’s were treated. 😕 We never did figure that out! ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/10 "2008-07-26T00:19:36Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Quite - my daughter had a couple frozen off about 5 years ago, and they never came back. Including one (of the 4 she had) which was _not_ frozen off but went away anyway. AND including one on _my_ finger, which was similarly not frozen off but went away on its own when my daughter’s were treated. 😕 We never did figure that out! [/QUOTE] Your body’s immune system can fight warts. Some people think you can “wish” them away, or put duct tape on them, or bury something in the backyard under the full moon, or whatever, and that those things work, but really it’s just the good old immune system. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/11 "2008-07-26T00:29:13Z")
Awww, I thought the thread might about a more interesting type of wart… ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/12 "2008-07-26T00:36:08Z")
I had a crazy amount of warts when I was a kid - just one of those running around in swamps, picking up frogs kinda kids, I guess 🙂 We tried everything to get them to go away - I had them on my hands and my feet and my ankles, and they could be a real nuisance (esp. the plantar warts). Oddly enough, there was no single solution for every one, but some would respond to freezing, some to some sort of shot (I once had 25 shots in a single sitting), and one on my right index finger I had to get lasered off. Now my nail grows all the way down on that side. As an adult, I have some scars, but I haven’t had a wart in probably a decade. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-getting-a-wart-removed/457726/13 "2008-07-26T02:09:42Z")
[QUOTE=Alice The Goon] Your body’s immune system can fight warts. Some people think you can “wish” them away, or put duct tape on them, or bury something in the backyard under the full moon, or whatever, and that those things work, but really it’s just the good old immune system. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, I know all that - I just wonder what triggered the immune system in this particular situation. My theory is that somehow, the treatment of the others woke “something” up in my daughter’s system, and that basically her system decided to attack the frozen ones and while it was at it, took care of the others. Mine? Personally I think it was the dead cat and the stump water under the full moon, the timing is just odd 🙂