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Email a friendTurmeric Overcame Plantar Warts
Newspaper Columns, Herb & Home Remedy Q&A February 25, 2008
Q. My daughter had three stubborn warts on the bottom of her foot that hurt her terribly. We tried salicylic acid tape from the pharmacy. It always burned off all the good skin and left the wart intact.Duct tape didn't work, and neither did freezing them off at the doctor's office. They kept coming back.
I made a paste of fresh-scraped turmeric root and taped it on the warts. The warts were completely gone in three applications.
Bright pink fresh smooth skin grew in the black-specked holes left behind after the bandage was removed. After they fell off following the turmeric treatment, the warts never came back.
I bought the turmeric from the health food store and scraped off some. I taped a little lump the size of a pea on each wart and changed it each night. (I had her wear a sock to bed. Turmeric is neon yellow and stains bedding.) I have no idea why it works, but someone at work said it worked for him.
A. No one knows much about why any wart remedy works. Warts are caused by a virus, though. Curcumin, a compound found in turmeric, has antiviral activity (Virology, online Jan. 14, 2008), so perhaps that explains your success.
Tags: Curcumin, Turmeric, Warts
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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.
© 2008 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Reader Comments
My mother has wart on the bottom of her foot. Where can I purchase turmeric root? oakie
Posted by: Rebekah Nash | February 28, 2008 4:35 PM
I have had plantar warts numerous times.
I found that I scrape a little off with a razor blade, not enought to make it bleed, then I apply a patch of "Moleskin," a commercial product by DR Scholl (which I think contains salicylic acid), let it stay on for 3 or 4 days, then peel it off. A layer of skin about 1/16 inch thick comes off with it, but only from the wart. It does not bother the healthy skin. Repeat the process a few times and the wart is gone.
I have used this technique successfully at least 6 or 7 times over the last 20 years.
Posted by: bcb | March 1, 2008 8:20 PM
My son developed a wart on the bottom of his foot. Not taking care of it as I told him to (imagine that from a 22 year old boy) it grew and multiplied until it caused considerable pain when walking. By then nothing he tried helped.
His doctor wouldn't touch it and recommended a visit to a specialist. I told him to get some fresh turmeric but all he could find was the powder. I suggested he make a paste with a little oil. Mixing it with a few drops of olive oil and covering it with a bandage took away the warts and all pain in a couple of days! It has been several weeks since treatment and it has not come back.
Posted by: Linda | April 24, 2008 9:37 AM
Here's one more success in curing plantar warts with turmeric. After trying salicylic acid for a month with no result and reading about turmeric in your column, we put turmeric powder mixed with a little olive oil on my son's plantar wart, scuffing it a little with a pumice stone first and covering it lightly with a bandaid to keep from staining his socks. We did this daily for about three weeks. It stopped hurting within a couple of days and disappeared after about three weeks. Our pediatrician was very impressed with the results.
Posted by: PP | July 1, 2008 1:34 PM