Duct Tape for Treating Warts

Newspaper Columns, Herb & Home Remedy Q&A June 15, 2007

Q. I had a wart near my ankle and decided to try the duct tape treatment. I cut a small piece of duct tape each morning and after my shower, stuck it over the wart. I did this every day for three weeks.

I noticed the top "layer" of the wart seemed to come off each time I removed the tape. When the wart was quite smooth, I filed it gently with an emery board and it bled a little. Then I forgot about it. Three weeks later, I looked for the wart and it was GONE! Duct tape worked for me!

A. Controlled studies of home remedies are rare, so it is often hard to assess their effectiveness. In the case of duct tape, though, there have been a couple of trials. In one, the investigators found that duct tape worked better than freezing warts off in children (Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oct. 2002).

More recently, scientists reported that duct tape is only slightly better than placebo in schoolchildren (Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med., Nov. 2006) and no better than placebo in adults (Archives of Dermatology, March, 2007). Although science suggests that you were fortunate, we have heard from other readers who also rid themselves of warts with duct tape and patience.

Reader Comments

My dermatologist actually recommended duct tape for wart removal several years ago. She cited research done by the US military, which has a big interest in cost-effective foot health for obvious reasons. Their research is available on the web. And it did work for me.

Posted by: Michele Ritan | June 17, 2007 5:01 PM

The new studies you mentioned have been written about in several places, and in only one there was an additional paragraph saying that to avoid a placebo effect, the researchers used clear duct tape rather than gray - and that the clear uses a different adhesive. No wonder they didn't get the positive results that your readers report!

Posted by: S.C. Tucker | June 24, 2007 10:09 PM

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Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

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