Duct Tape for Plantar Warts

5 star (2) 
  100%

Srae (Indianapolis, IN) on 09/18/2021:
5 out of 5 stars

In 2000, I developed a plantar wart on the heel of my foot. I attempted to use Compound W pads and Compound W freezing treatments to get rid of it and neither worked. I also attempted soaking my foot in apple cider vinegar, using banana peel, and garlic oil. I attempted many remedies over the years and nothing worked. In fact the wart spread until I probably had around 30 warts on my heel by 2015. I was reluctant to have them frozen or burned off at the doctor's office because I had heard so many instances of re-occurrence after the treatments.

I had attempted the duct tape treatment before but never stuck with it long-term. In 2015, I started taping my heel with duct tape. I would leave it on for 3-4 days until it started falling off and then I would scrub my heal with soap and water and reapply.

Once a week, I would soak my foot in hot water with apple cider vinegar for 20-30 minutes. After soaking I would sand my heal to take the dead skin off. I would then dry my heal and reapply the duct tape. After 6 months of doing this consistently, all the warts on my heel were gone. It has been six years since then and they have not returned. If I had a wart occur again I would use the duct tape method to suffocate and remove it.

REPLY   3      

Liz (Boston, Massachusetts) on 07/31/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

I can't believe it, but duct tape actually worked in getting rid of a plantars wart I've had on the ball of my foot since I was a teenager, which was decades ago! It's slow-going, but it works. Prior to this, I had tried every product and procedure imaginable. Nothing worked. At best, I would have temporary relief but the wart would *always* grow back within weeks.

Just put a good-sized piece of tape over the wart and push down the sides of the tape to make sure it sticks well. When you bathe/shower, dry it off well and put a new piece of tape on. After a couple of days, you'll notice that the wart gets puffy with dead skin. Carefully use a razor blade (I put tape on one of the edges of the blade to make it easier to handle and safer to use) to slice off some of the dead skin - not too much. Just hold the blade parallel to the raised skin and shave a little bit off, then put a fresh piece of tape on. Repeat that process every few days - shaving just a tad of the dead skin off and never let the wart be without duct tape on it.

It took a few months of patience and diligence, but that sucker is GONE now! ;-) It's been five months and (knocks wood) - no sign of it. It feels sooo good to *finally* be rid of the pain that came with every step I took for all those years. As someone who takes nothing for granted, I am so grateful for the relief. I appreciate it every single day.

If your patient and diligent, the duct tape method *will* work.

REPLY   3      
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