Skin Problems & Treatments Health Center

Home treatment is often the first treatment used for warts. When done properly, home treatment is usually less painful than surgical treatment.

Home treatment includes:

• Salicylic acid, which is currently considered the most desirable wart treatment, based on its effectiveness and safety. It is as effective as or more effective than other treatment, with minimal risk and pain.¹ The treatment takes 2 to 3 months. Salicylic acid formulas include Compound W and Occlusal.
• Tape occlusion (duct tape), in which you use duct tape to cover the wart for a period of time. This treatment takes 1 to 2 months.
• Nonprescription cryotherapy. Although cryotherapy can be performed in your doctor's office, a type of this treatment for common warts on the hands and feet can be done at home. You spray a combination of two chemicals into a foam applicator and then hold the applicator to the wart for a few seconds. This treatment should not be used for children younger than 4 or by pregnant or breast-feeding women.

If you are uncertain that a skin growth is a wart, or if you have diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, or other major illnesses that may affect your treatment, it is best to see a health professional.

Do not use home treatment methods to remove genital warts. For more information, see the topic Genital Warts.

Using salicylic acid

Salicylic acid is available as a paint, cream, plaster, tape, or patch that you put on the wart. Be sure to read and follow the specific instructions that are supplied with the medicine, or follow your doctor's instructions. Salicylic acid may take weeks to months to cure a wart.

For best results:

• Before applying salicylic acid, soak the wart in water to help loosen and soften skin. This helps the medicine penetrate the skin more easily.
• Apply salicylic acid to the wart when you go to bed. Cover the area with a bandage or sock and wash off the medicine in the morning.
• Avoid getting salicylic acid on your unaffected skin. Salicylic acid should touch only the wart.
• With repeated application, salicylic acid causes the wart tissue to become soft so that it can be rubbed off easily.
• Remove dead tissue daily or once or twice a week with careful use of a file or pumice stone or as instructed on the medicine package. Dead tissue contains living wart virus, so dispose of the dead skin carefully. The pumice stone or file will also have living wart virus on it. Don't use the file or pumice stone for any other purpose, or you may spread the virus.
• If treatment causes the area to become too tender, stop using the medicine for 2 to 3 days.

Reducing plantar wart pain