Can I treat warts at home?

Although warts usually go away on their own, they are ugly and uncomfortable, so you may want to try treating them at home. Many warts respond well to treatments available at the drugstore.

Some things to remember:

You can spread warts to other parts of your body, and they are contagious to others. If a treatment requires that you rub the wart with a fingernail file or a pumice stone, do not use that utensil on any other part of your body, and do not allow anyone else to use it.

Do not try to treat warts on your feet if you have diabetes. See your doctor. Diabetes can cause loss of sensation in your feet, so you can easily injure yourself without realizing it.

Do not try to remove warts on your face or another sensitive part (such as genitals, mouth, or nostrils) of your body with at-home treatments.

Freezing Treatments

These treatments spray concentrated cold air (usually liquid nitrogen) onto your wart. This kills the skin and allows you to scrape away the surface of the wart. These treatments are a good choice if you want to try to remove a wart quickly, but they are not strong enough to remove all warts.

Treatments and Patches Containing Salicylic Acid

You must use these products every day, often for a few weeks. They will work best if you soak the wart in water for about 15 minutes before you apply the treatment.

Duct Tape

Some people have had success treating warts with duct tape. The process involves covering the wart with a small piece of duct tape for several days, then soaking the wart, and, finally, rubbing the wart to remove the dead skin. This approach can take several rounds of treatments to work.