Loading...Q. You wrote about Dead Sea salts as a cure for warts. In my experience, the salts don’t need to be from that far away.
I live in Florida. Several years ago, I used to go dig for clams with my hands in the sand just south of the Sunshine Skyway. A prominent wart on my pinkie gradually disappeared, and has never returned.
A. This sounds like a very pleasant wart cure. We could not find any research that relates to using sea salt brine on warts, but it fits our favorite criteria: won’t hurt, might help and, in your case, doesn’t cost much. Another reader, RA, had this story: “Many years ago my wife had several good size plantar warts on the sole of her feet. She had surgery but that either didn’t remove it all or it returned. They were both painful and itchy.
“That summer we went to an ocean beach and she walked on the sand in the shallow surf. She said she recalls rubbing her feet hard into the wet sand to relieve the itching. Shortly thereafter the warts went away. She recalls the relief was almost immediate.“
Other home remedies that have been used to conquer warts include castor oil, turmeric, duct tape, lemon juice or banana peel. Other remedies include instant glue, vinegar, milkweed sap or regular soaks in hot water. This last was written up in the medical literature more than a half-century ago.
Tiffany
My family lived in Kona Hawaii for about 5 months, and while we were there I noticed my 10 year olds warts fading away even thought he had had them for years. I strongly believe it was the ocean.
Amanda
I had my heels covered in deep plantar warts. Moved to Hawaii, spent my days on the beach, and they were gone in a month. Never came back.
Rach
I used to have 3 warts: one on my thumb and 2 plantar warts. I was trying to remove them with a liquid but it didn’t work at all. I had a trip to the beach just for one day (Côte d’Azur), and it didn’t remove my warts. Then two months later I went to Cancún for a week, and the warts disappeared. It’s been a month, and they haven’t come back. Notice that I used to go to the beach a lot, and I knew I had something on my foot but didn’t know what it was, so I didn’t use treatment before. It fell off after a month of using treatment and then going to the beach.
Jessie
I can atest this to be true. My son had a wart for more than 2 years, tried liquid and band aid wart removers, with no success. My son went swimming in a Florida beach and we saw his start to go away after just one time. I started putting salt water on it at night and covered with a band aid. Its almoat gone. Less than 1 month.
Rob
I had huge plantar warts on both feet when I was a teen. I went to the dermatologist and he said: “They are too big to freeze. I can cut them off but you will be on crutches for a month.” I declined because I was going to the beach on the OBX of North Carolina a week later with my parents. After a week of walking on the beach and playing in the surf I happened to notice when I got home that the huge warts were gone. They have never returned.
Samantha
I’ve been trying to get rid of the warts that my son has had for the past 6-8 months. We just got back from a vacation to Florida and spent time at the ocean. One is magically gone within that week at the ocean, and the others are shrinking/going away! I am very curious if it’s the salt water too.
Sarah
Hello! I am very happy to hear about the warts going away, and you had mentioned that they never returned. I was wanting to know if you had noticed them coming back or not. Any information would help thank you!
Guam
This is true. I have had a wart on my left pointing finger for 12 years. I have tried all sorts of cures but it kept coming back. I recently got back from the Island of Guam. We stayed there for 2 weeks and enjoyed the SO BEATIFUL water. We at least soaked our bodies in the water for 2 hours each time we went. After the 1st week I noticed my wart was GONE!!! It’s been a couple months since we got back from the trip and no signs of it coming back.
Just my $.02 :)
Sam
Yes, agreed – we had the same experience with my 11 month-old puppy. She had 3 canine warts on her face and body for over a month. Was going to take her to the vet after our beach vacation, but 3 or 4 days into the vacation (with her swimming in the ocean every day), her warts disappeared. They just fell off, and these were big, obvious warts. She also had severe eye discharge since she was 10 weeks old (numerous vet visits could not determine the problem), and about a week after being at the beach the discharge got better; it’s been 2 weeks now and it’s almost gone. There is something to be said for the natural healing properties of nature!
Ali
UK
I have also experienced the sand cure for verrucas! I’ve had them on and off for years and have noticed that after a day or two walking around on the beach they clear up within a couple of weeks. I’d previously tried other treatments with little success (freezing, apple cider vinegar, Bazooka gel). I’m also amazed that sand isn’t pushed as potential cure for verrucas and a trip to the beach is my go-to treatment if I should ever see another one appear. I assume the tiny grains of sand can get into the surface of a verruca and dry it out really well. I also think walking barefoot on hot garden paving also helps. I know that sounds nuts, but I had one verruca disappear after a 2 week holiday in the south of France where I’d been walking constantly barefoot on the hot patio tiles!
Larry B.
Millers Creek, NC
Had them growing up in North Carolina. After one visit to the beach they disappeared within a few days.
Mary
Charlotte, NC
This just happened to my son! He had a wart on his hand and was really embarrassed by it. We were at the beach for a few days and he swam a little ( it was really cold) and played in the sand. On the way home he noticed his wart was almost gone! He is so happy! It can’t hurt to try this remedy, probably the most enjoyable cure I can think of!!!
H
Minneapolis
When I was ten I had three warts on my hand. We went to Florida and my brother and I swam in the golf for a couple days. I looked down after getting out of the water and my warts were gone. There were three ‘craters’ or ‘divots’ left where they’d been. It was amazing. I’m stunned that this is not in the literature.
Dionne
Scotland
I agree. I was plagued by warts and verrucas. My warts were surgically removed but the nurses couldn’t get rid of my verrucas. Moved to Australia and spent lots of time walking along the sea shore. They dried up and disappeared.
Back in Scotland and the verrucas are back. Been treating them for three years now. Remembered about the sea clearing them the last time and came across this blog via Google. I have a holiday cottage booked near the coast next week, so I’m going to try and walk in the sea everyday. Unfortunately, it’s October tomorrow, so I might freeze them off too! Lol!
Julie
The exact same thing happened to me as noted in the answer. I had several painful plantar warts on the sole of my feet for over 10 years. I tried everything, and ended up having surgery. One came right back and even doubled to the size of about a quarter. About a year after my surgery I went for a walk in the surf of a Maine beach and as soon as the next day I noticed the callous of the wart was gone. A couple days later it healed and the rest is history. I wish I had known before I spent way too much money on treatments, specialists and surgery.
Ren
MIchigan
My son had a wart, which progressively increased in size over a 3-4 year period. It increased in size and spread to the point where it overtook the entire nail and half of the underside of his little finger on his right hand. We attempted every treatment (old wives tales included) from clear finger nail polish (to cut off any oxygen from the tissue), duct tape, 2-4 full bottles of the common drug store wart remover (freeze treatment and liquid option(s)), oils, before we finally landed at his Dermatologists office; imploring for any other options as this issue was impeding his sport activities.
The Dermatologist ran through their gambit of options: freezing, burning and cutting it out/off, something called Beetlejuice; which caused a huge blister, before it was supposed to fall out. Only the wart came back double in size and bigger and more pronounced than before. After seven months of treatment with his Dermatologist, the doctor finally admitted that there wasn’t anything else they could do; and “good luck with your wart!”…we haven’t been back since for his wart or any other treatments.
Then the end of this past June, he went on a vacation with some family friends to Florida; the boys spent a fair amount of their time enjoying water sports in/on/around the ocean, which is obviously salt saturated. He arrive back home 9 days later beyond excited…MOM!, MOM!, look it’s GONE!…the ocean actually healed my finger…I hadn’t seen his actual finger (the way it is supposed to be) in so long; the transformation was beyond amazing.
So, there is something HUGE to be said for the power of salt, and salty environments; bacteria doesn’t like it, and it does heal warts the size of your finger!
Lori
Massachusetts
I absolutely believe that sea salt and/or shore sand cleared my plantar warts! I had a large wart in the middle of my heel that had been being treated by my podiatrist every 2 weeks for several months – shaving, prescription strength acid, etc. It was incredibly painful. Not only did it keep getting larger and more painful, but also spread, causing 3 more small and painful plantar warts – one of which was between my toes! It was to the point that my hips hurt because I was limping constantly and my gait changed. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the beach for a weekend, and I spent a lot of time walking along the shore, and intentionally rubbing my feet on rocks and in the sand. One week later, the 3 smaller warts were gone. 3 days after that, (10 days later), the large one was completely gone – fell out and left a small hole where it used to be! I am convinced and absolutely thrilled!!!
Martha V.
Karnataka
I had a wart which progressively got worse over 6 years. Recently it spread across my left thumb and into the nail. Doctors said it would be nearly impossible to remove it. I was applying medication (wart removal liquid), but there was no sign of it reducing. 2 weeks ago I went on a deep-sea snorkeling trip where there was a rock formation. In that rock island there was a pond with sea water collected during hight tide. This water was super saturated with salt. I spent a few hours in this pond. Next day I saw that the wart was reduced to 30% of its size!! Just in one day!!!! I could not get rid of it in 6 years, and now it seems to have reduced a lot. This is amazing. Guess I’ll go surfing every week!
S.Jana
India
For years, I was fed-up with wart on my wright hand thumb & middle figure. Tried cyclical acid, liquid nitrogen and what not, including trimming with sharp blades. Last month, I was on vacation to Maldives for a week. After the snorkeling session on the third day, I noticed that the wart is coming off naturally. I pitched it off easily with my left hand. And now I have to warts and surprisingly have no trace of it at all.
donna
Will this work with regular sea salt or kosher salt ?
paulbyr
My dog has a wart on her ear and castor oil doesn’t seem to be working. We will be in Port St. Lucie in 2 weeks for a several months stay – Should I just bring a bucket with beach sand and ocean water home and apply wet sand to the wart daily?
Should I apply the castor oil in the morning and the sea water and sand in the afternoon? What’s your best guess – I know this isn’t a science.
Thanks
CRL
I had forgotten my warts! I moved here to Florida from Texas some years ago and loved being so near the beach that I go often…. some small time after I started going to the beaches of Clearwater (I live in Pinellas County where the beaches are numerous and lovely white sand with warm, clean saltwater) – my warts that I had “learned to live with” started disappearing.
It’s been so long now without their return that I used to joke that I was allergic to Dallas because I had unrelenting warts there. The warts have never returned, hence my forgetting them until now… gotta be something to it. Come on down ya’ll and visit Florida…we have enough beaches to rid all your warts!