# Wart treatment.. how long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629 "2006-05-29T15:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lupine73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@lupine73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lupine73)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/1 "2006-05-29T15:37:57Z")
Couple questions here… I’ve been dealing with a wart problem for at least 1.5 months now… Have tried a couple different treatments, nothing is working. On the third one now (Tetrasil) and after two weeks, still no improvement… in fact… this is what leads me to my first question… Is it normal, during treatment, for warts to increase in size and/or have a couple more pop up in the immediate area? Part of the whole “gotta get worse before it gets better” thing? And second… How long can it take to successfully remove warts through a treatment? I don’t mean removal via cryo or acid, etc… but just applying something that attacks the virus and eliminates the wart(s)? Are some cases simply more “stubborn” than others and it’s normal for it to take a while? Thanks in advance… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/2 "2006-05-29T15:52:42Z")
[Just a heads up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7438466#post7438466) ---
**Author:** ![lupine73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@lupine73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lupine73)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/3 "2006-05-29T15:56:30Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Just a heads up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7438466#post7438466) Yeah I’ve read about that, and it’s kinda funny, actually. I wonder if Duct tape will someday be available only with a prescription… but anyway… The problem is the area I have the warts in is covered in hair… and ripping hair out along with each removal of the tape would be a bit unpleasant… If I get desperate enough, sure… but… would rather try a less “adhesive” route, first. 🙂 My hopes in posting this thread is just for some kind of peace-of-mind that what I’m experiencing - stubborn wartage - is commonplace and not something to be concerned about. Thanks 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/4 "2006-05-29T17:01:01Z")
It’s even worse than you think; even when you think you’ve totally gotten rid of the little buggers, and there’s no sign of them, there’s a fair chance they’ll return, in exactly the same place, grinning up at you trimumphantly. My doctor told me that sometimes you’re lucky enough that your immune system kicks in, and takes care of them all on its own. After (literally) years of trying various treatments for the warts on my foot (freezing, salicylic acid, duct tape…), that’s exactly what happened - they disappeared within the space of a month. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/5 "2006-05-29T17:20:23Z")
Until the slug - impaled on the hawthorne twig - dies. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/6 "2006-05-29T17:41:58Z")
> [@DarrenS](#): > > … > My doctor told me that sometimes you’re lucky enough that your immune system kicks in, and takes care of them all on its own. After (literally) years of trying various treatments for the warts on my foot (freezing, salicylic acid, duct tape…), that’s exactly what happened - they disappeared within the space of a month. Your doc told you true. Way long time ago, I had a wart on my finger “burnt” by some kind of electric needle. When the thing healed, the wart was gone never to return. Yet, on the other occasion in my life when I got one on my foot, I was about to schedule removal when the thing started getting smaller and disappeared. Within a few weeks, all on its own. Go figure. But neither of them ever came back, so buck up and best wishes! ---
**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:** [May 31, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/7 "2006-05-31T16:10:16Z")
Have someone near you treated for warts. Yours will go away. JUST KIDDING… mostly… about 3 years ago, my daughter had 4 warts appear in a space of a couple of months. Because of the speed of their appearance, and the fact that I developed one also right then, I figured they must be an unusually contagious version, so I took her to the pediatrician. They froze 3 of the 4. All 4 disappeared - as did mine. Strange. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/8 "2006-05-31T17:01:36Z")
> [@lupine73](#): > > The problem is the area I have the warts in is covered in hair… You could always shave the hair away. And if, in doing so, you cut off the wart, well. . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/9 "2006-05-31T17:50:05Z")
I have had warts on & off since HS. I don’t believe that any OTC remedy actually gets rid of them at all. It pares down the dead skin, but it never kills the root. The only way to get rid of it is some kind of surgical intervention, or your own immune system attacking it. I had a plantar wart removed once, because it is so painful. Any others I have had were experiences very similar to other posters, where after literally years, the wart just shrank and went away. And if there was more than one, they all did it at the same time. If we could figure out what makes the immune system just decide to attack the virus like that out of nowhere, we would all be rich! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/10 "2006-05-31T18:08:35Z")
No cites for you, this is just from first-hand personal experience. To remove a wart: first, get an emery board or nail file and rasp away, reducing the wart as much as possible to flat skin. This does not hurt. Having done this, thoroughly wash and dry the area. Now, you can get over-the-counter treatments that, when correctly applied, sort of ‘deep freeze’ the wart area. Apply the treatment to the wart area, following the instructions that come with the product. After two weeks, repeat the whole procedure. This will remove the wart. Two points: the instructions that come with the freeze-zap product usualy don’t mention the rasping away with an emery board part. And they usually _under_-estimate how many re-applications you may need. I found that I had to go through the above cycle four times before the little nuisances were gone. So to answer your OP directly, yes, it’s possible for the fight to last longer than conventional estimates and each individual case can vary. But don’t give up - you _can_ get rid of them. And i found the above cycle of treatment to be very effective. As regards the other part of the OP - about other warts arising in the area of the first - I got nuthin’. ---
**Author:** ![lupine73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@lupine73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lupine73)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wart-treatment-how-long/358629/11 "2006-06-05T15:26:22Z")
Well, I’m trying Tetrasil for them now. It’s said to attack the virus itself, which would then result in the warts disappearing as well. Curious if anyone here has ever used Tetrasil on a wart? If so, did it work, and about how long did it take? Thanks!