More Fun with Duct Tape and Warts

You may have heard the rumors, but it’s true that duct tape can help take care of warts. This has proven so effective that many providers are asking patients to try this technique even before buying over the counter remedies or going in to see a healthcare provider.

In October of 2002, an article in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reviewed approximately 50 patients who were either told to apply duct tape or had cryotherapy (better known as liquid nitrogen or liquid ether) treatments performed. More of the duct tape patients had wart resolution as compared to the traditional icy cold therapy.

What did they do? Simply, they had the wart covered for 6-7 solid days with duct tape. If it fell off sooner, it was replaced. When the week was up, the wart was buffed with an emery board. The duct tape was replaced for another week and this process was repeated until the wart has gone or two months has passed.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: the skin that is abraded by the emery board should be kept especially for use on warts since these are viral infections and can be spread to uninfected skin.

The process of wart removal is as unclear with this as with any other technique. We never really kill the viruses, even with salicylic acid or nitric acid. Instead, we are irritating the skin and trying to encourage the body’s own response to the viral skin infection. Also the thick layers of skin involved are macerated by the duct tape, a condition that resembles the wrinkling after prolonged soaking. Together, the wart has less of a chance of remaining viable on the skin surface.

Most importantly, this painless procedure works very often and can eliminate repeated unpleasant visits. If the wart is stubborn we can try other, more irritating methods in the office.