Q. Years ago my daughter had eight plantar warts on the bottoms of her feet. She could hardly walk and I tried everything to no avail.
A friend of mine suggested squeezing fresh lemon juice on them three or four times a day. We had nothing to lose so we tried it. Those warts turned black and fell off so fast she was completely healed within four weeks. I hope this will help others.
A. Thanks for the fascinating suggestion. Here’s another story:
“We dealt with plantar warts in every way possible–surgery and freezing–plus the terrible pain that goes along with these treatments.
“My husband’s golf partner gave us the best information that I had ever heard: IODINE. I painted my grandson’s plantar wart with iodine morning and night for six weeks. It went away, no pain, just patience. The cost was less than $2.00 compared to hundreds I spent on my other children.”
Then there is this:
“When I had a plantar wart that the Podiatrist couldn’t remove with liquid nitrogen, (two treatments), my sister suggested I try essential oil of oregano covered with duct tape. I did that for 2 weeks and the wart went away so successfully there is not even a place on my metatarsal that shows where it was! And painlessly (unlike freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen, which is very painful).”
And here’s a remedy for regular warts that goes back a very long time:
“When I was a Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts (about 1948), we had to hold hands for the opening or closing ceremony every week. I had a big, fuzzy looking wart at the juncture of my ring and little finger and the other boys hated to hold hands with me. Somewhere, my mother heard that castor oil would remove warts.
“I was VERY motivated and applied it possibly 4 or 5 times a day (I kept the little bottle of castor oil in my pocket). After just a few weeks, as I applied the castor oil one day, the wart just “rolled” out of its socket. The little socket it left gradually completely healed so I had normal skin there. I can still see a little scar where it was.I have occasionally wondered if the oil or the toxic effects of the castor killed the virus.”
We have been collecting wart remedies for over 35 years. In The People’s Pharmacy (published originally in 1976) we suggested soaking the warts in a salt water solution (30%) or taking desiccated liver tablets orally. Since then we have collected dozens of other remedies that people insist are sure-fire cures. Nothing works for everyone, but many visitors to this website insist that Tagamet (cimetidine) taken orally can cure recalcitrant warts. Others maintain that vinegar soaks will do the job.
If you love home remedies as much as we do you will want to know that we have collected many of our favorite wart remedies in our new book from National Geographic, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. In addition to wart remedies we have something for almost anything that ails you, here’s just a few:
- Allergies
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Back pain
- Body odor
- Burns
- Bursitis
- Canker Sores
- Colds
- Constipation
- Coughs
- Cuts & bruises
- Dandruff
- Diabetes
- Diarrhea
- Dry Skin
- Eczema
- Fibromyalgia
- Gas
- Gout
- Headaches
- Hemorrhoids
- High Blood Pressure
- High cholesterol
- Hot flashes
- Insomnia
- Kidney Stones
- Lice
- Muscle cramps
- Nausea
- Nerve pain
- Psoriasis
- Raynaud’s disease
- Sinusitis
- Wound care
