Loading...Plantar warts can be extremely tenacious, as anyone who has ever had a wart appear on the sole of the foot knows. (“Plantar” refers to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands.)
Getting Rid of Plantar Warts:
To get rid of plantar warts, people have tried applying salicylic acid (Advanced Biomedical Research, May 29, 2015); freezing them off with liquid nitrogen (BMJ, June 7, 2011); injecting vitamin D3 into the warts (Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, March, 2016) and covering them with the acne treatment adapalene (Indian Journal of Dermatology, Jan-Feb, 2015).
Home Remedies:
Others have tried home remedies such as banana peel, pineapple or turmeric. Soaking the affected foot in hot water is another favorite home remedy that is often successful. One home remedy we have never encountered is beet juice, though that was the subject of some confusion recently.
Beet Juice or Beetle Juice?
Q. I read on your web site that someone used beetle juice to get rid of plantar warts. Was that an error? Perchance the person meant beet juice?
A. We suspect you may have read this comment:
“I suffered from plantar warts on my big toe and on the ball of the same foot for many years. I finally saw a podiatrist who applied a topical solution made of beetle juice to my warts. Half a dozen such treatments made the warts disappear within a few months.”
The ‘beetle juice’ referred to above is cantharidin, a substance secreted by blister beetles. When it is applied to skin, it can cause blisters.
Cantharidin Against Plantar Warts:
It has been used to treat warts (Dermatology Online Journal, June 15, 2014), but it must be applied by a health professional. It is not a do-it-yourself remedy and can be quite painful. As far as we know, beet juice would be totally ineffective against warts.
photo credit: happyfeet34 cc cropped
Carol
NC
Years ago I had a wart on my little finger. My mom taped a small piece of raw potato on it with duct tape. The entire wart turned black and fell off within a week and never returned. She told me to keep the tape sealed so no air could get in.
Jo
WV/OH
After freezing and burning, planter wart still persisted for over 15 years, tried duct tape, banana, garlic, black salve etc etc. Doctor said there are a few different viruses that cause a planter wart, so I went and plucked some lemon balm which is known to kill viruses and works really good on cold sores I crushed it in hot water not boiling and applied it, the first day the majority of the wart and callus caused by it, fell off and a few cores fell out and some roots where exposed, no pain, no swelling, no bleeding etc. I continued using lemon balm and it is slowly killing it. My husband had a wart on his hand for a life time, and it grew horns, I made a poultice and bandaged it on his hand and the next morning the whole thing fell out and so far hasn’t returned. I only know that lemon balm virus fighting qualities is water soluble, boiling might reduce that, and prepared extracts might not have the same effect, if you don’t have fresh lemon balm, than use dried leaf and let the leaves soak in hot water not boiled. If there is a scientist or researcher that knows of a commercial extract that still has the virus fighting properties, or if they know of a way to preserve those properties other than dried leaves, please speak up.
Collins
Nc
The dermatologist used this “beetle juice” on my daughters ONE wart and it turned into about 40 baby ones instead!!! Angry mom!
Mary
I had this “beetlejuice” used on my 3 planter warts. It was relatively simple, my doctor applied it, put on a bandaid, and i let it sit for an hour or two, then washed it off. Warts came right off. Only issue i had was my final treatment (it took 3, but they were large warts). He didnt see any signs of the warts, but we did one more treatment to make sure they were gone, and unfortunantely I left it on too long, and it gave me a quite painful blood blister :/ overall, I suggest this.
Carol
WV
When I was about 12 years old I had a plantar wart on one foot. I went to the doctor, he took it off somehow, and it healed nicely. This was in a small town in PA.
MADELINE
Calif.
I would like to know what can be done for Planter Fasciitis.
James
Newport News, VA
Never again walk barefoot in the house or any where in the future. Wear specifically Birkenstocks to substitute for walking barefoot. Wear shoes with reasonably rigid molded arch supporting inserts. Many running shoe stores have the reasonably rigid molded arch supports for running shoes and 3/4 length reasonably rigid molded arch supports for street shoes. I transfer the 3/4 inserts when I change street shoes. At night wear a brace to keep your ankle at 90 degrees for the first weeks until you get the stretch in your fascia established. Do calf stretches soon after running or walking long distances.
Sabrina
I used to have them on my hands and finger. Peel and slice fresh garlic. After bathing put a piece of garlic on the wart with a bandaide. Keep putting fresh garlic as needed. Depending on the size of the wart it will fall off in 4 to 10 days and never return. When one starts get it early. It will not hurt like acid… or leave a scar.
gabriele
Los Angeles, CA
It was almost 40 years ago but when a young mother was talking about the problems her young son was having with plantar warts and other foot problems. I went to my Adele Davis books and showed her the pertinent portions which included Vitamin E applied to
the wart. (Let’s Get Well). I think AD also recommended Vit. A but I had enough Vit E on hand that I could give her some to try.
On the other problem (a recurring rash) for which the boy had been given Rx cortisone. I
suggested getting him white cotton socks, double rinsing them when washing, not using fabric softener and avoiding shoes which were made from all synthetic materials. I knew most families have to buy what they can afford but there are usually some choices which would be better than others.
I had a shoe repair shop, and the next time she came in she told me she didn’t know what worked but the warts were gone and the rashes also. She wanted to know more so I recommended she go to the local (branch) library (it was a rural area) and ask for the AD books and anything else they might have.
Betts
Chattanooga
My mother was a self made mountain doctor. She cured my plantar warts when I was a teenager burning the midnight oil studying. She opened a capsule of fish oil, I think it was cod liver oil, applied it to he wart, bandaged it, puta sock on to keep the sheets clean. She then had us injest the capsule with the remaining oil. The warts disappeared within 2 weeks, never to return again.
The reasoning went like this: using the eyes under lamplight causes the body to use up vitamin A, the cod liver oil replaces it. Ergo, plantar warts may be a vitamin A deficiency.
Marlene
Mount Dora, FL
After 2 treatments with liquid nitrogen (VERY PAINFUL) failed, my sister suggested using Essential Oil of Oregano on the wart, and cover with duct tape. I did this for two weeks and the wart disappeared.
A.X.
Some essential oils, including especially oregano oil, work because they erode some coating that wart cells produce in order to cloak themselves from your immune system (apparently cancer cells are allowed to grow because of a similar dynamic — they produce something that hides them from your immune system). You have to use a carrier oil because oregano oil is one of the ones that burns if you use it straight.
I used coconut oil, in a mixture that had as much oregano oil as possible, and I put it on at night so it would have a chance to soak in and be there without getting rubbed off by socks and shoes, etc. In the morning and at night, scrape off whatever you can get off with a tiny razor blade. Also, soak the foot before applying the oil. It should help it absorb better.
Lolly
GA
I took echinacea pills (from the Dollar store!)for 2 wks. & that worked for mine. I had applied all kinds of remedies suggested by Dr. and even had them shaved by 2 podiatrists. Apparently, the body has to fight the virus from within and echinacea jolted my immune system .
Vivian
I got rid of a couple of these warts on the bottom of the ball of my foot by cutting a small piece of duct tape and placing it over the wart so it got no air or light. It works but you have to be very persistent.
Christopher
Wausau, WI
When my daughter was 2, she developed a plantar wart..and not wanting to go to the doctor, I thought about using Tea Tree Oil, I did some research, and every night before bed, we would apply some oil to the Wart with a cotton ball, and tape the cotton ball in place with a band aid, apply her sock, an within approx 6 weeks, the Plantars Wart disappeared and has not returned since.
Ashley A
Durham, NC
I have had some success with the removal of plantar warts with “beetle juice” as Cantharidin. It often requires more than one application and those subsequent applications are extroidinarily painful leaving behind gaping bloody wounds once the wart and surrounding tissue is removed. In my case it was a cluster they were trying to remove and my wound ended up being the size of a half dollar easily. The discomfort was pretty tolerable the first time it was applied, as the blister formed slowly. However after the second application, a large blister formed in a matter of a couple hours and was the worst acute pain ever!! So beware, while it may work well for some and be fairly mild, it’s not a great solution for all and it has the potential to be extremely painful!! The second application was applied too soon in my opinion and I later required surgery to try and remove some that were not removed after the second treatment, because I refused any more Cantharidin. To this day I will not consider it again!
Catherine
Madison,Wisconsin
It worked again years later when her son had a plantar wart.
Catherine
Madison, Wisconsin
My daughter had a planter wart.
Her doctor had a patient whose
grandmother suggested using aloe when the doctors efforts failed to remove it. Since it worked he had 18 patients use it as well. It worked in all but one patient. Our instructions were to cut the leaf of an aloe plant, rub the cut end on wart twice a day for 2 weeks. It worked. It turned black and came off. The leaf may be wrapped and refrigerated to use again till dry.