Warts
 

Ok so a question for y'all.
I am a chef by trade and as such contract warts on my hands and fingers almost yearly. I have tried all the over the counter meds and freezing etc.
Just got home from doc and she froze them and said if not shrinking in a week come back. Hmm, I just paid you to remove them and now I have to pay you again?
So my question is this. What if anything can I do to take care of these darned things? I have one that is raised a good 3mm off the side of my finger and is starting to get painful. The rest are just small and a PITA.
Thank you for any info anyone can afford me.

I've had a couple I burned off with canned air..

Take and air duster can, put the tube on, flip the can upside down, then sprat the wart with it. Spray as long as you can stand. Repeat if necessary..

Nice. Never thought of canned air.
The biggest one is about ready to just be hacked off. It is so annoying. and it hurts

I'm sorry I have no advice for you but I am curious: Why would a chef be more likely to contract warts?

Warts are a common occurrence in the kitchen with the handling of raw meat. And we patty all of our own burgers daily so I am in raw hamburger daily. Plus I cut all of our steaks in house so I am in raw rib rolls at least once a week.
Just one of the joys of being a kitchen rat. I know, I know. Rubber gloves. However they are not required with the washing of hands before and after handling of raw meat, plus I find them dangerous when handling a knife. Blood is a lubricant and have cut myself more using gloves than not.

Read this article this morning.....
Did you know that the milky sap of the Dandelion can be used as glue? The sap also removes warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores. It soothes bee stings, blisters and can be used as a mosquito repellent.

I treat a lot of skin lesions at my office. For large warts, I shave them down as close as I can to being level with the skin. That way I'm not trying to freeze my way through all that. Also, I double freeze. I freeze the lesion then after about ten seconds I freeze again. My patients rarely need a second treatment.

hope this helps... anette

Just had one zapped a couple days ago by my Dr. with canned air as she was removing precancerous growths.

Dunno how this would work for you doing what you do, but mash a clove of garlic and & pile it on the wart. Cover it with a band aid & replace daily for a few days. It'll shrink up & go away. You know it's working as it'll turn white & wrinkly. Maybe if you do it at night it may take a little longer but this really works!

anette,
I wish she would have shaved them down, especially the biggest one. She froze it 3 times and it isn't red at all 2 hours later.
I may try the garlic for a few days while waiting on this freezing.
And the dandelion is interesting, however here on the peninsula of Door County WI it will be at least a month before we see them.

If you get dry ice in the pellet form, they will work like a charm.

Warts are caused by a virus- specifically human papillomavirus.

Link: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-a...topic-overview

They say milkweed sap does the same thing.

shave it yourself before your next visit, or get a trusted friend to do it for you. not sure who your provider is, but not all are familiar with the right procedure. I went to a PA once with plantar warts, she just kinda sprayed in their direction, no reducing cone, and told me to come back in a week. um, no thanks.

also, not sure about dandelion or milkweed... but the medication podophyllin is from mayapples

My grandson had a wart on the bottom of his foot, my daughter put duct tape on it for about a month and the wary peeled off with the tape one day it left a little hole in his foot....something about the body detecting the duct tape as an foreign thing on his body and fights it

Samm

Yes, duct tape works, but you need to put a new piece on every day and keep it on. I don't think you'd be able to work with food with it on and no gloves. I have to say, the thought of a chef with warts on his hands and no gloves making my food is a pretty gross thought. The warts themselves shed pathogenic viruses. Warts are a human virus and aren't picked up from other animals or meat.

Do as samm said. Use real duct tape. Leave it on the wart for a week or so and it will die.

My bad. I apologize.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bo.../#.UYMZVWS9Kc0

Still, there's something about you handling my hamburger patty with warts on your hands and no gloves that somehow makes me lose my appetite! :(

Duct tape is normally used along with apple cider vinegar and a circular bandaid. The duct tape is only used to secure the bandaid during sleep. Search at youtube.com for something like "wart apple cider vinegar" and you'll find lots.

Duct tape adhesive has sicylic acid in it. Minimal. Why it takes a month or better. I ca t wear duct tape like that.

Now of we could jus figure out how to cure it

Totally understand. Knowing it isn't contagious I don't worry about it. However I would never have a discussion at work about it. Not gonna go sit down and ask a table I they know how to get rid of warts. Worked in a lot of kitchens, my hands are the least of my worries.

The adhesive itself doesn't have salicylic acid in it but using the two together can get rid of the wart it just takes quite awhile.

I'd ask your Dr to shave it and then freeze it, of course it may take a few times to completely get rid of it and it could easily pop up somewhere else because the virus will always be in your body.

You should be using gloves...

I am typically a lurker, not a poster, but we do have some experience with warts I'd like to share. My son, when he was young (8-10), had warts on his hand. We tried every wart removal product we could find and then went to a dermatologist. The dermatologist froze them and shaved them again and again, but they would always come back. One day, while at our pharmacy, the pharmacy tech asked us if we had tried Tagamet, the medicine for indigestion. We looked at him like he had 3 heads, but he said that one of the side effects of Tagamet was that it caused people's warts to go away. We bought some (generic equivalent) and he took it regularly. In six weeks the warts were gone and never returned. That was 15+ years ago and he hasn't had a wart since. Prior to the Tagamet, we tried for 2 years to get rid of the warts using conventional methods and nothing worked until we used the Tagamet. If you google "tagamet for warts" you will get quite a few hits. It certainly worked for my son. YMMV.

Interesting. Some stomach ulcers are caused by a virus too. I wonder if the Tagamet works on the HPV the same way it does H. pylori in the stomach.

Tagamet and warts:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/...et-zaps-warts/

Try the garlic. Growing up on a dirt farm this was our remedy for alot of stuff as it is a natural germ killer, everyone in the family who has had warts has used garlic and they never come back.

My son had 3 really ugly, big warts on his hand when he was 13 or 14. We bought Dr Scholl's Freeze Away and he used it with my supervision, or at least I thought......Later on I found the package and it was empty. He still had the darn warts. About a month later I asked to see his hand and they were gone. He didn't even notice! No scar or sore, nothing. Just gone. These warts were as big as pencil erasers and narley looking. Big I can almost guarantee he used the entire container on them.