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How to Get Rid of Skin Warts

Warts are an ugly, embarrassing nuisance that can grow anywhere on your body. Warts come from viruses known as human papillomavirus, or HPV. There are more than 80 types of HPV. Warts can be spread by scratching and picking at them, and through contact with contaminated razors or towels. Warts are transmitted when they come in direct contact with broken or cracked skin, and may take from two to nine months to show. Common, flat, filiform, periungal, and plantar warts are the five types of nongenital skin warts. Each type can respond differently to different treatments.

Things You'll Need

  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Petroleum jelly
  • Emory board or pumice stone
  • Plastic zip-lock bag large enough for emory board or pumice stone
  • Cotton balls
  • Waterproof medical tape, 1" wide
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Instructions

  1. Preparation

    • 1

      Soak the wart in warm water to soften the skin. This can be done while taking a bath, if desired.

    • 2

      Roughen up the top layer of skin on the wart using a new emery board or pumice stone. Make sure the skin that comes from the wart does not contaminate the surfaces around where you are working. This skin contains live viruses.

    • 3

      Wrap the bits of skin that came from the wart in tissue and dispose of them in the trash. Put the emory board or pumice stone in a plastic bag. Do not use these for anything but the wart.

    • 4

      Coat the skin surrounding the wart with a thin layer of petroleum jelly. Do not coat any part of the wart while doing this.

    Treatment

    • 5

      Separate a small piece of a cotton ball, just large enough to cover the wart. Wet the piece of cotton ball with the apple cider vinegar.

    • 6

      Cover the wart with the saturated cotton. Tape the cotton in place over the wart, using the waterproof medical tape to cover it. Leave it covered with the vinegar-soaked cotton for at eight to 12 hours, or overnight.

    • 7

      Uncover the wart and leave it exposed to the air for the next 12 hours.

    • 8

      Repeat these steps each day until the wart is gone. The wart will become discolored and form a scab. It will take from threes days to three weeks for the wart to disappear.

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