i have two and im sick of them, been using that selastic acid gel stuff but its so slow!
any tips before i buy a dremel! 😈

Pay up and look tough, go to the chiropodist.

Or small can of lighter fuel, 1 sock and a swan vesta.

Amputation

Leave it too it – I had a seriously large foot companion for years till I stopped hacking at it with scissors etc. – once left alone it vanished in a couple of weeks

get some waterproof tape (can't find an example, but like first aid gaffer tape) and stick a square over your veruca. If you get the right stuff it won't come off for days. Leave it for about 2 weeks, depending on the depth of your veruca. It will be suffocated and eventually die leaving white gunge which you can pull out of your foot. They can come back if not left long enough to kill off, but once you've got rid of most and have a crater in your foot where it was, put some of whatever you were using before in to 'kick it while its down' and finish it off.

Added bonus is that its good fun picking it out of your foot when dead, leaving a big hole in your foot (its not painful and goes away after a day without tape).

I've found that the selestic acid ONLY works if you rub off the hard surface skin with an amery board every 3 or 4 days, otherwise the acid doesn't touch the root.

jimmy- suffocate it!

do they have lungs

should i be chatting to it?!

Like Jimmy said try duct tape – cheap & easy.

a wart is a viral infection and does not need to breath as it's part of you…

It will be suffocated and eventually die leaving white gunge

What utter rubbish – It is caused by a virus (viral wart) – I have had loads and eventually they suddenly dissapear after a short period of itching. If you want to get rid of it quickly you should have it frozen off (cryotherapy) by a chiropodist. IMHO the over the counter treatments don not work – I have tried them all even self cryo kits.

You can get it frozen off by the nurse at your Drs.

yeah but the thing is,… 😳 freezing off ( checks no ones looking )…. hurts

but note that any of the above cures will probably work if you believe in them as warts seem particularly vulnerable to host suggestion…

I've had one of these bad boys on my foot for years. Tried all the above (sensible) suggestions, paint-on acid, over-the-counter freeze spray, silver nitrate pencil, duct tape, leaving it alone – the lot. None of them worked.

Went to the docs and was told that they don't offer any treatment for verrucas, apparently the freezing option is frowned upon! WTF.

So I guess it's either pony up for a private foot doc or live with it.

apparently the freezing option is frowned upon! WTF.

Hmm sounds like a money saving comment there? I have had one for 3 years now on my heal and if I want rid of it I'll go to LHC and get it frozen as I have done before (had 4 frozen off before)

I spent ages going to my docs to have the freeze spray treatment but as it was on the bottom of my foot walking never allowed it to blister properly and push the thing out.

I took to shaving the thing with a surgical scalpel and usingthe acid stuff. I have some scars from over enthusiastic cutting but the verruca has gone!

>Hmm sounds like a money saving comment there?

Quite possibly, perhaps I should get back in there and be more forceful with my planar wart removal demands 🙂

I've been using the acid stuff and tried the scholl freeze it yourself stuff but no change so far. I've just phoned the doctors after reading this thread to book an appointment for the chiropodist. STW has actually made me get off my ass and do something positive!

A small square of banana skin under a plaster…

Put it over the veruka before you go to bed and take it off when you wake up. Repeat each night (with a new bit of banana obviously), worked for me, it might work for you….

DAVE

as said its a viral infection (hpv virus)
we are told nowadays that treatment should only be offered if the lesion is painful or spreading otherwise leave it be for your own immune system to take care of.

most treatments centre around tissue destruction.

cryotherapy (freezing) is the first line treatment modality offered or salicylic acid (try to find something strongish 'verrugon' is my favourite at 50%. READ the label and dont use if contraindicated or you may end up with holes in your feet) bazooka etc are around 26% acid so gentler, another good one is occlusal.

the gaffa tape thing you should gently file the lesion apply the tape then leave for 6 days remove file and repeat etc etc it is thought that the adhesive in the tape stimulates an immune response.

above all they are very contagious so if you live with others then cover it up!!!!

there are no quick fixes for some people, i used to work in an nhs wart/verrucae clinic and we had people coming back for treatment once a week for 6years!!!!! (extreme cases though admittedly)

hugo… the local nhs PODIATRIST (as we are now called) wont treat a verrucae under the nhs unless it is very bad, unfortunately for the general public our services are now generally reserved for high/at risk patients nowadays.

banana skins lol if i had a pound for every time i have heard that

your own immune system to take care of

– can take years to undergo regression!

above all they are very contagious so if you live with others then cover it up!!!!

so why not try and remove them?

Right so getting on my soap box – these are very contageous but you can go around spreading them in public areas like swimming pools and changing rooms but , the NHS doesn't treat unless under pressure/bad/at risk. This is just a money saving exercise by good old NHS Management in my opinion.

foxy – exactly my thoughts. I go to the local gym most lunchtimes and use the shower facilities. My verruca is uncovered so perhaps I'm spreading the lurgy 🙂 I'd love to be able to get shot of it via the NHS – would go tomorrow if they offered the service.

Think out LHC still charges mind you 🙂 Correct me anyone if I am wrong about common route of person to person transmission of viral warts?

Mrs Mc had a huge one, and even after the doc froze it with nitrogen, it still grew back. We tried everything, Bazooka was also not up to the task. Then found about the banana trick. It seemed to work a treat for her, and now she says go banana every time.

She was quite convincing, so I have a bit of banana peel strapped to my own favorite verruka right now. Watch this space.

Then found about the banana trick. It seemed to work a treat for her, and now she says go banana every time.

Could be coincidence but I never say never 😉

It will be suffocated and eventually die leaving white gunge

What utter rubbish – It is caused by a virus (viral wart) – I have had loads and eventually they suddenly dissapear after a short period of itching. If you want to get rid of it quickly you should have it frozen off (cryotherapy) by a chiropodist. IMHO the over the counter treatments don not work – I have tried them all even self cryo kits.

Speaking from experience here. I'd previously been to the chiropodist and had an excruciating ordeal of lasering it off, which didn't work. Went to the docs as a last resort and 'suffocating it' was how he described it. Never understood it, maybe he was talking lay-person speak. regardless, it worked and cost 50p rather than whatever silly money the chirop's charged (this was back in the day)

If the taping over it works, then maybe the stick on patches you put over blisters would be good, they stay well stuck onto foot skin for ages, and pretty sure they dont breathe. But I stand by my first post the chiropodist is the fastest way to remove it.

"once left alone it vanished in a couple of weeks"

I had the self same experience – it went quickly after I gave up treating it with over the counter remedies.

If this is how it works, then the other "desperation" treatments: banana, duct tape etc, may be red-herrings.

This is just a money saving exercise by good old NHS Management in my opinion.

Indeed. Some might argue that less money spent on something that will generally go by itself means more money to spend on other things like cancer and heart disease.

Mine is > 10 yrs old I reckon, it's on the ball of the foot where the skin is tougher/thicker so I guess the darn thing has made itself right at home. Can't see it clearing up of it's own accord.

Indeed. Some might argue that less money spent on something that will generally go by itself means more money to spend on other things like cancer and heart disease.

OK so any non-lethal or non-serious disease we should stop treating right? Do me a favour – The NHS needs managing properly – there are so many man hours and money wasted in beaurocarcy that treatments like this are dropped 👿

Personal involvement myself in the NHS and my wife works in the NHS!

Perhaps you should tell that to the Swine Flu Board in the Government about giving out TammiFlu! What a waste of money that is – can I have my cryo instead of my share of TammiFlu!

so mountain carrot,
youre saying your missus now goes of to bed reguarly with a bannana and says she sweares by one…..for her veruka
are you downstairs on STW forum while this is going on…… 😆

banana skin works, ive tried it on mine, my wife is a chiropodist, and it has worked on patients of hers also

Should the banana be fairtrade and organic?

There has been a varying level of interest in the potential therapeutic role of banana skins in the treatment of a wide range of dermatological conditions, including plantar warts. Most sources of information are anecdotal, with only one reference identified from a search of the scientific literature.(ref 1) Practically, this treatment involves the opposition of a cut piece of banana skin to the cutaneous wart, held in situ with an adhesive dressing.

So the evidence base for this form of therapy is poor. However, there is a paucity of robust data to guide a rational approach to the topical treatment of cutaneous warts. Nevertheless, simple occlusion with duct tape in association with paring down of the wart is an effective and safe strategy.

Indeed, it may be the occlusion associated with holding the banana skin in situ that is responsible for its purported therapeutic effect. A systematic review of topical treatments available for cutaneous warts demonstrated salicylic acid preparations had most evidence for efficacy. (ref 2)

Most warts resolve within 12 months, so a conservative approach is a valid option if the wart is asymptomatic. However, if troublesome, occlusion of warts with banana skins is safe and may be effective, although robust evidence is lacking.

Some truth poss? Will try it on mine – no harm in it I guess 😉

OK so any non-lethal or non-serious disease we should stop treating right? Do me a favour – The NHS needs managing properly – there are so many man hours and money wasted in beaurocarcy that treatments like this are dropped

Actually, yes I do think that diseases that are generally self limiting shouldn't be treated on the NHS, the economics don't make sense. Agreed about there being problems in NHS management, but until they are sorted (not an easy or quick task) decisions about what conditions to treat, and what conditions not to need to be made, or we have to increase the overall NHS budget if we want to avoid making those decisions.

Personal involvement myself in the NHS and my wife works in the NHS!

How, and as what may I ask?

Perhaps you should tell that to the Swine Flu Board in the Government about giving out TammiFlu! What a waste of money that is – can I have my cryo instead of my share of TammiFlu!

I'm not disagreeing about the Tamiflu, not sure what that's got to do with this discussion though?

I'm not disagreeing about the Tamiflu, not sure what that's got to do with this discussion though?

Just answering your initial comment about my statement Kramer – using it as an example of not treating non-serious illnesses! Dicotomy here?

How, and as what may I ask?

You can ask but as I didn't elaborate for my own reasons.

My criticisms is not of the people working in the NHS (as most are dedicated and skillful – athough some a quite clearly not!) itself as budgets have to be managed it is the system itself!

Getting off my soap box now 😳

foxyrider – flu isn't a trivial illness though. Any type of flu is a serious disease, and if possible should be treated. My only argument with tamiflu is that we're giving out a treatment that's not very good.

flu isn't a trivial illness though

– I didn't say it was trivial!

I would agree that initially we didn't know the pathogenicity of H1N1 and so were being cautious. Certainly I do not think that Winter Flu vaccination is a waste of time. I am not an have not said this if you read above.

My point really was that many things (including minor surgery and treatments like verruca removal (esp painful ones and persistent ones) should be available but the time and money wasting in the NHS seems to me to be the cause of such treatments being non-available?

I also think that vaccination is likely to be a loss leader, as in the 58' and '67 pandemics as the majority of people have been infected, in limiting spread. I agree that at risk groups and workers in the NHS etc should be given the vaccine like in winter flu to help reduce spread to high risk in-contacts.

Stick some duck tape over it. My GP suggested it and it does work.