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Duct tape and warts....

Okay, I am fairly steamed up. I didn't realize that there are doctors that are still freezing small common warts (such at the little ones kids get on their hands) as first line treatment before trying duct tape. I don't even want to speculate on the motives for aggressive medical treatment, but I believe people should be informed about this simple way of treating small warts with duct tape.

First, there was a small controlled study done comparing freezing warts and using duct tape (plus some other approaches and no treatment). It turns out, the duct tape worked best with an 85% cure rate. Freezing the warts only had a success rate of approximately 60% .

So how does one do duct tape therapy?

In the study protocol, patients were asked to place a small piece of duct tape on the wart, trying to avoid getting a piece so big that it covered normal skin. Leave the duct tape on for 6 days and nights (replace right away if it falls off). Then take the duct tape off overnight. After that replace duct tape for 6 more days. Do this cycle until wart is gone.

Note that the protocol make it looks like it will take over a week for the duct tape treatment to work. I think there is a range in the time needed-my own wart and my child's small wart cleared after a few days of treatment. A friend with a large wart on her hand that had been resistant to all other treatments had to follow the duct tape protocol for a month in order for her wart to disappear.

Note: My child had a wart on his finger, so I put a band-aide over the small piece of duct tape to ensure the duct tape stayed on.....

In summary, this is a safe and inexpensive option for treating small common warts at home.

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