oh, one more thing. you guys probably know this, but i just wanted to clarify that the black "root" from your wart is actually a tiny blood vessel that's feeding it. so yes -- if you can destroy it, you will kill the wart because it will starve.

In August of 2000 I noticed what looked like holes in the callous around the back of my heel on the bottom of my foot. There began to be more (and larger) holes appearing, so I started to dig around. I found the little black dots -- which I later learned are thrombosed capillaries), and someone told me they were plantar warts.

I picked at them a little here and there -- even tried pulling the irritated little blood vessels out with tweezers (painful). I tried several remedies including applying chalk to them, but nothing seemed to work.

Several months later I happened to mention them to my father and step-mother who were really big into essential oils. I've never really bought into all of that stuff, but they sent me home with a small bottle of oregano oil and said to put a few drops on the plantar warts and apply a band-aid. I did this for a couple of days (they told me to do it for two weeks) and then, in my half-hearted effort, forgot about it.

A few weeks later I noticed that the little plantar warts were gone, and the little black elongated blood vessels had disappeared. I'm not certain that the oregano oil was the reason since warts can and do occasionally clear up on their own, but it's worth a try for those desperate for a solution.

I remained wart free for several years -- up until a few weeks ago when I noticed one starting to form under the ball of my middle toe (which brought me to this thread). I will first try the oregano oil to see if that does the trick.

It's important to remember that plantar warts are caused by a contagious virus and must ultimately be defeated by your own immune system. It's my opinion that home remedies, if helpful, are stimulating the body to attack the virus or possibly help weaken the virus to give the body the upper hand (or foot, he he).

Anyway, I'll try to remember to post an update with the results of my new wart battle. Good luck to the rest of you in the meantime...

Might you have a corn? I once misdiagnosed a small corn as a planter's wart. I didn't know that a person could get a corn on the sole of their foot!

If it is wart, I agree with the suggestion for use of oil or oregano. Oil of oregano is antifungal, antimicrobal, etc. The oil must be cut 50/50 with olive oil, as pure oil of oregano is caustic (will literally cause a burn).

I have been faithfully using the duct tape for about 3-4 months. I try to change it on a daily basis, but sometimes it stays on for a couple days, no more than 3.This is the second time Ive tried this methiod, the first time I became frustrated because the duct tape only stayed in place for maybe a day.This time I was determined. I put the duct tape on and then wrapped it with stretchy first aid tape. This worked GREAT. As I was examining my wart today I noticed that the large holes were exposing little black seeds, or "roots". I squeezed them like I would a splinter, they came to the surface, enough so I could grab them with a tweezer.( gotta sanitize after)I got a few, and was very excited that my efforts were paying off.I still think I have a ways to go yet to get'em all, but with dilligence and belief, I know I can over come this ugly on going battle with these wicked little creatures! I read in one of the earlier statements about garlic, I love garlic and know that its an anti-fungal agent. I will follow up with that when I feel my wart has finally given up.

HI I know it works, but it should be used carefully. Podophyllum(may apple) contains compounds that inhibid mitosis. I have used it to get rid of warts on my hand and it works very well. Make sure you don't leave the sap on too long or use the sap for an extended period because, well, it stops mitosis and you don't want the rest of your body to stop growing, just the wart.

Hi I suffered from planters worts for a year and half. I was about to burn them off, but I ran accross a product on roseofsharonacres.com its their salve http://www.roseofsharonacres.com/inc/sdetail/282 I got it originaly for bug bites, and i thought well might as well try it what do i have to lose. I tried it and after about two to three weeks all of them except the two really big ones were completly gone. I was so amazed. I am still putting the salve on the two big ones and you can barely see them now. I did freezing, duct tape, chemicals, I was about to do burning and if that did not work i was going to let them cut them out.. I would advise everyone to take that chance and try this stuff it worked for me when nothing else would work...

For the record no one attached to kinesiology would do anything remotely like that. A practitioner of "Applied kinesiology" would do that, but like Scientology has nothing to do with science applied kinesiology has nothing to do with kinesiology.

Maybe someone could make a bonsai out of it to make it go away.

What in the world is kinesiology? And what is scientology? I feel sure it does'nt have anything to do with science.

>> For the record no one attached to kinesiology would do anything remotely like that. A practitioner of "Applied kinesiology" would do that ...

You are right that there is a big difference between kinesiology and applied kinesiology. That approach sounds more like a form of hypnosis or suggestion to me (which has been found to be fairly effective in bringing about the remission of warts).

"...hypnosis or suggestion...has been found to be fairly effective in bringing about the remission of warts"

Actually this is not the case. According to a review in the British Medical Journal there's no basis for saying that hypnosis cures warts (the BMJ summarizes various wart treatments, listing salicylic acid products as the best means of wart removal. Interestingly, having a physician freeze off warts didn't rate any better than using duct tape. They don't let you link directly to the article, but you can find it via a Google search).

Now as to whether Scientology can cure warts - it's probably about as effective as hypnosis. Then again, I saw Tom Cruise on TV awhile back and didn't see any obvious warts on him, so maybe Scientology does do the trick. On the other hand, a Google search shows that there's a website run by a Scientology proponent named Leo Van Wart, so I suspect a conflict of interest. ;)

Can't find the BMJ article, but while searching, I came across an article from the Mayo Clinic Proceedings that did seem to think there might be something to it ... they reviewed several studies (far from all the published trials) and mentioned a study that found "Volunteers assigned to receive hypnosis had significantly fewer warts at the 6-week follow-up evaluation than did groups treated with either placebo or salicylic acid." The subsection concluded "A review of the use of hypnosis in dermatology supports its value for many skin conditions not believed to be under conscious control."

Here is a link that might be useful: Mayo Clinic Proceedings - Hypnosis in Contemporary Medicine

Well, it's not very hard to find the BMJ review of wart treatments. All you have to do is do a Google search on "british medical journal wart therapy" (autosuggestion isn't even required). There are several ratings of treatment - stuff that definitely works (salicylic acid), stuff that probably works (cryotherapy etc.) and stuff that needs further study (i.e. isn't supported by available evidence). On hypnosis, the BMJ reviewers said:

"If you have hypnosis, a therapist talks to you in a way that can focus your attention at the same time as making you feel very relaxed. Some small studies have looked at people who were hypnotised and then told to imagine their warts clearing up. But we can't tell from these studies if hypnosis helps get rid of warts or not."

Even the Mayo article notes that existing "studies" are complicated by spontaneous remission rates of 20-45% plus the impossibility of doing a controlled trial (i.e. having a study group that has a placebo administered instead of hypnosis). And if you look at those "studies" of hypnosis and warts, they're mostly case reports, involve very small numbers of people and are published in journals like the American Journal of Hypnosis (which are probably less likely to feature negative articles on hypnosis than larger, mainstream journals).

The good thing about having a spontaneous remission rate for warts of up to 45% means that close to half could go away on their own, no matter what you do. If a skin lesion is causing discomfort or pain and/or is unsightly, and won't respond to standard treatment, it might be worthwhile to ask if it really is a wart in the first place. You don't want to attempt hypnotizing away a basal cell carcinoma, or stick to duct tape to get rid of a melanoma (which can occur on the feet, and is not necessarily a pigmented lesion).

>> All you have to do is do a Google search on "british medical journal wart therapy"

Oh, so those are the magic words. I tried searching using the term "British Medical Journal warts hypnosis" and came up with nothing.

Then I tried the phrase that you suggested, and came up with a paper from the BMJ called "local treatments of cutaneous warts" that did not even mention hypnosis. And an article in the Journal of Young Investigators that probably discusses the article that you have in mind, but again, the word hypnosis does not appear there, and there is no link.

I just find it amazing that in this age of the internet, the BMJ can't seem to post information in a way that can easily be found and that a URL can't be used to reference that work. And I guess they are too good to index it in PubMed? Reminds me of the Steve Martin bit about Fred's Bank ... got your money right here - tucked away in it in the left front inside jacket pocket, white suit.

Hey, Eric,

was looking at that Young Investigators article, and they had a slightly different interpretation of the mysterious 2002 BMJ study - they interpreted it to say there is "no clear evidence that any of the medical treatments, (including cryotherapy) have higher cure rates or fewer side effects than the folk remedies." That is somewhat different from your elevation of (the often painful) cryotherapy that is performed millions of times each year above other 'unproven' remedies.

I guess you missed this in a previous post of mine, but I did not "elevate cryotherapy" above other proven remedies. What I said was:

"...the BMJ summarizes various wart treatments, listing salicylic acid products as the best means of wart removal. Interestingly, having a physician freeze off warts didn't rate any better than using duct tape."

I may actually have been a bit hard on cryotherapy, since there seems to somewhat better evidence in its favor overall than flat-out unproven remedies like hypnosis, but the overall knowledge to date suggests you're better off using a salicylic acid treatment instead.

Sorry you can't find the part about hypnosis in the BMJ article I quoted (which includes references). Just put in the search terms I listed and it's the very first article that comes up on Google (BMJ Best Treatments for warts).

Interesting that I'm advocating a plant-based remedy for warts (salicylic acid is a compound occurring in nature, including in willow extracts), and you're promoting a non-herbal therapy. ;)

>>Interesting that I'm advocating a plant-based remedy for warts (salicylic acid is a compound occurring in nature, including in willow extracts), and you're promoting a non-herbal therapy. ;)

Perhaps, although extremely concentrated acids (40% salicylic, glacial acetic acid, etc) seem to me to be rather industrial in their form. I have nothing against the careful use of such acids, though it clearly isn't part of the herbalist tradition. The BMJ article also discusses the use of may-apple extracts (podophyllin), although typically not for warts on the hands or feet, and that is something that can definitely damage other tissue if not applied carefully.

>> I guess you missed this in a previous post of mine, but I did not "elevate cryotherapy" above other proven remedies.

No, I said you elevated it over other 'unproven' treatments - was referring to your statement There are several ratings of treatment - stuff that definitely works (salicylic acid), stuff that probably works (cryotherapy etc.) and stuff that needs further study (i.e. isn't supported by available evidence). This is different from the rehash I read in the Young Investigator journal, (which said "there is "no clear evidence that any of the medical treatments, (including cryotherapy) have higher cure rates or fewer side effects than the folk remedies.") Your take on that point is consistent with the article, but I hadn't found it and read it when I wrote that.

I also disagree with one other part of your conclusion: "stuff that needs further study (i.e. isn't supported by available evidence). . My take is that hypnosis is supported by the available evidence, although that evidence is not strong enough according to your standards (ie, small study size, issues with study design, etc.).

Here is the link, though (as you noted), it only seems to work from web pages that are pre-approved by BMJ.
http://besttreatments.bmj.com/btuk/conditions/1000509724.html

Google presents different results from region to region, the rankings change over time, and they can apparently be varied based on a history of search patterns from a particular IP address or Google account information passed when doing a search. The BMJ apparently is blocking normal use of the URL as they are licensing and selling access - fine if they want to do that, but it seems to interfere with citation and discussion of the work.

>> plus the impossibility of doing a controlled trial (i.e. having a study group that has a placebo administered instead of hypnosis).

Came across an interesting challenge to 'evidence based' medicine in the BMJ that suggests that placebo controlled studies are not always necessary.

Here is a link that might be useful: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

"My take is that hypnosis is supported by the available evidence, although that evidence is not strong enough according to your standards (ie, small study size, issues with study design, etc.)."

It's not "my" standard under which hypnosis doesn't meet the grade as an effective treatment for warts. It's the standard of evidence-based medicine, as used by the British Medical Journal and the scientific community in general.

I liked the joke link about not needing a placebo-controlled trial to evaluate whether parachutes work. Similarly, I guess we can dispense with controlled trials for objectively goofy cancer remedies like homeopathic drugs and other forms of quackery. Relying on them to halt or cure cancer is the equivalent of jumping out of a plane without a parachute.

I got 33 warts on my foot and 1 on my hand

and as u cn understand i aint happy

im 17 and i feel unsure about the way i looked now but these it making my confident go down even more cz they look so ugly.

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee help me

Is there any advice to get rid of these.

I have tryed different stuff like freezing etc but it too many so it hard 2 do n painfull.

Compound W really does work a lot of the time, and freezing is a lot less painful than what I did as a kid (my mother was in to complimentary and alternative medicine so we never could get any of the highly effective treatments OTC, we had to cut them out with a knife).

Apollog, that study is about when the mechanism of action is clear and controlled studies are not feasible, in the case of herbs controlled studies are almost always feasible and the mechanism working in the human body rarely is a certainty.

Wow, lots of suggestions for plantar warts, so named because they are usually on the bottom of the feet? Not sure, but when I was twelve, and running around in the pool and shower areas of YMCA, i got those nasty things. I dug at one and saw those little black "seeds." Totally grossed me out. My mother took me to have them frozen off, and I haven't had any more in almost twenty years. They are definitely different from other warts.

About40 years ago I got my first Plantars Wart. It hurt like heck and I tried digging it out. It looked like a carrot and it was so painful it brought me to tears. I couldn't do it.
My Aunt said oh that's easy to get rid of. Use a styptic pencil. It a crayon shape pencil that people used on their face when they shaved and got razor cuts. I got the styptic pencil at the drug store wet it with water and covered the area, waited for it to dry to a white coating. She said to do this 2 to 3 times a day wait for it to dry and then put my socks back on and I did. Within a month it had vanished. The active ingredient in a styptic pencil is Aluminum Sulfate. THE OLD METHODS ARE THE BEST
I HOPE THIS HELP ALL WHO HAVE PLANTARS WARTS... It's not spelled PLANTERS... FYI

Plantar warts are the warts that happen on the bottom of the foot, the thick skin makes them extra pesky, its the same Human Pappiloma Virus you find on other parts of the body.

Like the potato peel recipe: take a fresh banana peel & tape it to the wart, inside skin of the peel to the wart. (I use duct tape & just enough peel to cover the wart). Leave on for 24 hours. Replace with a new piece of banana peel. After a few days the wart will begin to separate from the surrounding skin. You can keep it up with the banana peel until it separates completely or try to dig it out. Depends on your pain tolerance level.

After more than a decade the damn thing is coming back! or I somehow got another one on the exact same spot (there is a scar there, and I've had pain in that spot since I got that wart) this will not be fun.

Please - HereisLarry - and everyone else - don't take anything topically or internally which contains aluminum. After failing on my own to heal my plantar's warts, I went to the area's best foot doctor for 6 months, and he got me to dab this prescription fluid on the warts twice a day, then three times a day. Then after six months I noticed weird health problems - the worst is that my eyesight became suddenly terrible!!! I soooo regret having done this.

Check for aluminum in any topical or internal products!!! Don't do what I did!!!

Compound W. The best method i have come across is breaking down the skin a bit with the CW and then ripping the skin open the rest of the way to remove the wart. At least for the one on my finger (trouble is that it keeps coming back--been stressed lately)
Bottom of the feet are a bit different: I had a couple on my foot about 10 yrs ago. CW was necessary for warts that started sprouting the white stuff, but not so if they had not yet broken the skin. It's best to rip the skin open before they break through and take them out. The skin will have a nice little pocket where the wart use to be. It's quite interesting. I held my seven foot warts in my hand before throwing them away, never to return. Felt good.

What if it's not a plantar wart? What if it's a plant?

Ive had these warts for like 4 years and they don't ever go away
i used duofilm, laser and had it burnt off with liquid nitrogen but they never go
it is almost impossible to get rid of this awful pests that stick to your foot
recently they have spread in little bits more and more across my foot and all i want to do is get rid of them ASAP
Please help with ideas??

One day I looked on the bottom of my foot and I realized something.. I saw a little black dot on my right foot. I thought it was dirt so I washed it off with soap. I started freaking out cuz it would not come off. I picked it, but it was painful. I told my mom and finally she took me to the dermatologist and they gave my this acid (like the one above^^) and it didnt hurt or anything! Until I got blisters. The point of the acid was to get blisters and hopefully your immune system will realize that something wrong with my foot, so they will fight it off. After 3 days it doesn't hurt anymore and they seem to have gotten smaller.

My Husband had a planters wart on the bottom of his foot by the ball of his foot. I bought him a wart freeze product which did not help at all, in fact it cause 2 more warts to appear. after two wart freeze products at $30 a pop, I finally thought what kills everything, bleach. So my Husband dug out the dead skin off the warts and I took bleach on a q-tip and put it into each wart. I did not dig it in, just twirled it in the holes. The next day they turned black. I was not sure if we did the right thing but my Husbands pain was gone when he was work on his feet all day. In one week warts where completly gone with one application. They have not returned at all. Not sure if this is good for everybody, but sure worked for him.

This thread helped me to hunt up an interesting article on medcal treatment of warts (thanks to the poster above that mentioned warts can be caused by human papilloma viruses)--it reviews the subject from the perspective of dermatologists.

Here is a link that might be useful: Telemedicine Site

All warts are by definition caused by human papillomavirus(es).

Beyond being nonherbal, bleach is a toxic agent which should not be applied to skin.

I recently had a planters wart on the bottom of my foot. I found a home remedy that said take a small slice of potato skin. Put the potato skin with the pulp side on the wart and cover it with a band aid. Keep replacing the piece of potato skin every morning and evening. After two days, I picked at the ward and the whole thing popped out leaving a hole in my foot. No more pain the the wart is gone.

I've been at it for almost two months trying to rid myself of this nasty thing on the ball of my left foot. I use the CW discs with the sticky pad on top and have had zero luck. Every two days i soak it and use a callous blade to scrape it down... it just seems so deep that really no medications are getting in there. I am going to try duct tape and banana peel.

I had a very persistent plantar wart since 1993 (thanks to college and its shared shower space). Finally got rid of it and its relatives in 2009. It was a lone wart for about 10 years. Then it spread to about 5 - 10 warts on the bottom of my foot. Nothing worked when I tried to rid of it.

Saw a dermatologist who treated it with cryotherapy in 2004. The warts just spread. The infection eventually spread to the the top of my foot on the toes. When it went visible I decided to declare WAR! I read up on the available treatments. Being uninsured and a little ticked that cryotherapy did not work, I tried duct tape therapy. No such luck -- It didn't work. So I tried again. Nothing. In fact, every attempt I made to rid of it made the infection (warts) spread. Finally I combined OTC acid treatment with duct tape and the infection resolved. No more warts!

I will say the infection was pretty widespread on my foot. I ended up treating only the warts that were visible on my toes. I treated it with acid (Compound W) and covered the acid treatment with duct tape. Following a day of that, I would rip off the tape and scrape off the skin from the wart. It was pretty deep and painful. After scraping, I slathered on more acid treatment. WARNING - this method is painful (it burns)! But it was effective for me. I believe it was a good two weeks to a month of this painful treatment before I noticed the wart I was treating was going away.

I was surprised that the other untreated warts were also dissipating. I finally found a method that signaled to my immune system to fight off the infection (HPV). The key to fighting warts (for people who are prone to them) is persistence. I am now wart-free!!

i went to the doctors yesterday and they said to put duck tape on the infected areia for about 1 mounth hope it helps!!!

Bleach

Hi i have a Plantars wart on the bottom of my foot i got mine from the YMCA those nasty little things you can get easily if you go there i have had mine for about 2 years and the best thing that is working so far for me is apple cider vineger and i have been digging it out with tweezers but it it very painfull because i have very sensitive feet next i am going to try the nail polish and about the nail polish-is there a certain color you put on it??? Does it matter??? Please write back to me and HELP ME!!!!! To get rid of this ugly thing on my foot

learned this trick from an old master herbalist, it works.

take a bit of banana skin, the yellow part, cut to the size of the plantar's wart, then attach it to the plantar's wart, white side facing the wart, with tape. Do not use a piece larger than the wart itself or it will eat away at good tissue. replace 2x a day till the plantar wart is gone.

I haven't had planters wart since I was very little, but a few years ago, I had a wart on the side of my face and found that Edgar Cayce recommended castor oil for warts. I'm not sure how I learned about black walnut, but one day I was walking in the parking lot at work and found a crushed black walnut and rubbed the fruit on my wart. Then, I started using the castor oil and the wart was gone in few days. Planer's warts are very painful, too.

I found this online specifically recommended by Cayce for plantars' warts. Hope this isn't redundant. This is a long thread...

It would be nice if this solution
worked for all warts, but it seems from
the readings that there are some instances
where the warts require a different
approach. In this case, the situation
appears to be plantar warts, a painful
situation indeed! Here, Cayce suggests
mixing spirits of camphor with baking
soda. This is a remedy I applied myself
in college, and I am here to tell you personally
that "it works!"

"(Q) There are two growths that
appear to be warts on the ball of my left
foot; what is the best way to dissolve or
remove them?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/895289

Here is a link that might be useful: EZINE/Cayce

hi, i have had this planter wart on the bottom of my foot for almost a year me and my mother have tried everything same thing with my doctor. i didn't know i had a wart in till 4 months of having it after that i started treating it with the dr.scholl's planter wart bandaids and for some reason it wouldn't go down. my doctor has been trying getting rid all the dead wart and then freezing it but for some reason it will not go down. its come to point that i have started limping with the pain. the wart is were i put my weight on and it came to the point i couldn't even play lacrosse for the last year of high school. it was very upsetting. i need something to get rid of it fast and quick. some please help me.

I once had a planter's wart between my toes. After reading in an herb book that lemon juice defeated warts, I saturated a cotton ball with lemon juice and placed it between the two toes, After several treatments the wart disappeared. I only did it for a lark. I had no faith in the treatment at all. But since it was low cost, what was the harm in trying? Since then, I've become a believer in herbs.

Temp:

A planter's wart between the toes is quite unusual. Are you sure or could it have been a regular wart?

Thanks.

HerbDoctor

By definition, a plantar wart occurs on the sole of the foot. Warts having the same cause (human papillomavirus) can occur anywhere on the foot, including between the toes, or even under nails.

Here is a link that might be useful: more on foot warts

Hi. I've had the HPV virus 1 (Plantar Warts) for about two years now. My first plantar wart appeared in between my big toe and on the toe next to it. (Making it very hard to keep clean) I'm essentially on step 1... I went to my doctor and he gave me IMIQUIMOD CREAM (5%). So far this has done nothing but spread them... Rather quickly. I went from having four warts to now having eleven. I have a feeling my doctor just gave me the most expensive subscription at his financial benefit. The medication costs $350 and I have to get it refilled two more times. Wasting about 12 weeks of actually finding a cure... Meanwhile the warts are spreading. I live in SC and I really dislike the doctors around here... No matter what I say... I am never right and they tell me that... Straight up. The doctors here will tell you not to diagnose yourself and to stay away from trying to find "natural remedies". Is it just me or am I in a really sticky situation? What should I do?

JD:

I'm suspicious of what your doctor told you. Sounds like he may have misdiagnosed. Please, describe what you have and what it looks like.

Thanks.

HerbDoctor

I also have a Planter Wart, its been over a year now. Initially had cut my foot on glass and removed several small slithers of glass. The cut healed but I still felt there was glass in there so eventually went to the doctors only to discover that it was now a Planter Wart. I had stayed at a caravan park when I first had the cut and the doctor said I probably picked up the virus from the shower.
I have had 3 sessions with the doctor with the freezing, which gave me relief for a few weeks, but am back to square one.
I have been reading other readers cures and last night applied Radium weed from my garden, this morning the tough skin peeled away in the shower, I have now taped a piece of potato peel skin side up to my foot. I will keep you posted on how this goes.
I am hoping to be rid of this painful wart by next month as I go on holidays overseas in July, I had thought of getting it surgically removed but after seeing pictures of the wound left I decided not to.

Fingers crossed!!

K I'm a 13 year old boy and I have a about 4 big planter warts on my foot and lots and lots of tiny ones. I've tried the Dr. Shols freeze away, CW, the stuff my doctor uses is like acid, Little bandages that kill the wart..... But it all just doesn't work 1 and a half years later NOTHING IS HAPPENING

Please planter warts are ruining my life