Warts Home Remedies

After acne, warts are the most common dermatological complaint. At any one time, about 10 percent of people have a wart, says Robert Garry, Ph.D. About 25 percent will get one sometime in their lives.

Warts are caused by a virus. It's in the air, and you pick it up the same way you do any viral infection. If you're susceptible to the virus and you have an appropriate cut or crack in the skin for it to take hold, you'll get a wart.

Warts are benign skin tumors that can occur singly or in large packs on just about any part of the body. They come in several different varieties, each bearing its own special name, each caused by various strains of the papillomavirus. The virus masterfully tricks the body into providing it with free room and board in a sheltered "house"—the wart.

Unfortunately, standard medical treatments are often violent—burning, scraping, cutting, freezing, injecting, or zapping the wart with a laser. Many are also painful. Some even leave scars. The irony is, these techniques are not always effective. To add insult to injury, warts often reappear, no matter what treatment is used.

Knowing all this, you may want to try some home remedies before heading to the doctor's office. But, by all means, heed the advice of Thomas Goodman Jr., M.D. "Don't injure yourself with wart treatments. Start with simple measures and persist for several weeks before proceeding to stronger ones."

Unless otherwise noted, the following are effective for both common warts and plantar warts (those found on the foot).