The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Banana Peel
Posted by Mariella (Westfield, NJ) on 07/20/2009
★★★★★
Took a few weeks, but it worked! I've been dealing with a pretty big plantar wart on the heel for about 3 years and got two more on the same foot in the past 2 years. I tried freezing them several times with over the counter remedies, but I had the feeling that it only got worse. Then I came across this website and just had a go with the bananas. I used organic bananas and put a piece of the skin (the inside facing down) on each wart, and covered them with tape. I kept the tapes on 24/7 and renewed every time they got shifted. After about 2 1/2 months I was about to give up but then all of a sudden all three of the warts disappeared. It's amazing what mother nature can do! All it took was persistence and a lot of patience. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it, but three weeks ago I started taking an organic Acai juice blend from a health food store every morning.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by j b (Pushmataha, OK) on 07/20/2009
First I have many flat warts on my face. I am wondering if I "wash" my face in ACV maybe 3-4 times a day would that work? I would like to try this method but work in the public eye, so if I put it on my face, would my whole face turn black, or just the small wart spots? And do I need to use organic ACV or just plain ole grocery store kind? Please help thank you!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Answer (Middletown, Ky) on 10/31/2011
★★★★★
Yes - ACV will rid your face of any HPV, or wart related problem. Try one at a time, soak, let it sting, and repeat as often as its comfortable. Combine with iodine, to treat, in case it's a strain that doesn't respond well with ACV alone ...
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Victoria (San Diego, CA) on 07/15/2009
★★★★★
My husband recently got a wart on his hand. After reading this site, I read some of the testimonials to him and he decided to try the ACV on it. He put it on topically at night with cotton ball and tape. Within 2 days it had shrunk substantially and changed color. Within a week it turned black and fell off.
My husband has skin cancer on his face. He suddenly got this strange looking giant fleshy growth on his head right above the ear. I can't tell if it is a wart or a mole as it looks unlike any I've ever seen and the color was an odd shade of orangey-beige-brown. Anyhow, he started putting the ACV on it and it began to shrink rather dramatically...then he had some terrible pain on the top of the ear where the ACV poultice was touching and I looked back there and noticed a bunch of skin turning black and healing...so we know that something was wrong there too and is healing from the ACV. He said the pain was particulary acute on this part and is sending shooting pains down the nerves. Anyhow, ACV has another believer in my husband ( I already had been using it on my skin with good results.)
Next he is going to try it on his skin cancer.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sallie (Albuquerque, NM, USA) on 07/12/2009
★★★★★
ACV cured my planters warts. After spending $900 on seeing the dermatologist for a year and having him freeze my planter's warts on one heel over and over again, I found this web site. I tried the ACV treatment (organic brand) on the gauze part of a bandaid once in the morning and once at night. I wore the bandaid all the time. They were gone in three weeks. The dr. didn't believe it. His loss.
Banana Peel
Posted by Judy (Cullowhee, NC) on 07/04/2009
★★★★★
A round, smooth wart on my temple was getting larger and puffier. After a couple of days of trial and error, my best result was then achieved by using a small piece of blackened banana peel big enough to completely cover the wart under a watertight bandaid (having adhesive on all 4 sides). I changed the banana and bandaid morning and night.
Day one: the wart was completely flat, a little whitish, and it was clear that the wart was comprised of 3 equal sections. Day 2: edges of the wart were black, granular and broke off when touched. It appeared the wart could perhaps be lifted away, but it could not. Day 3: the wart was GONE. Vanished. Not a trace remaining. The skin underneath was not red or raised. Today, a good year later, it has not returned.
If there's a next time, I'll use the following amendments, as others have suggested: first, lightly roughen the wart with a pumice stone or fingernail file to make it more susceptible to treatment. Then, apply scrapings from the peel's interior, so as to reduce the bulk of the peel.
This was unbelievably simple. Thanks to all those who shared their experiences.
Salt Water
Posted by Mythos (Limassol, Cyprus) on 06/28/2009
★★★★★
Walk on the beach.
Try a long walk or jog on the sand by the sea with bare feet to cure your warts in a quick and pleasant way once and for all. I did this only 3-4 times and the warts literally evaporated and never came back. The sand wears off the skin and the warts and the sea salt with the iodine burns them out. No need for salicyllic acid or medieval burn-out surgery. Doctors will never tell you this. What will they sell?? If you have a sandy beach near you roll your trousers up, throw your shoes off and go for a long walk on the beach. Your warts will fall off and you will come back exercised and refreshed.
Salt Water
Posted by Wart Hater (New York, New York) on 10/28/2009
★★★★★
I had warts on my right foot that were spreading over the course of a year. I tried cylic acid and it did not work for me. Then I would cut the warts off and apply the acid directly to the wart. Unforetunately, this only seemed to make it worse. One of the warts was growing the size of a nickel. One day I had the idea of going to the beach (I was living in Florida at the time) and exposing my foot to the sand and salt water. Almost immediately my foot started to feel better. After repeated visits all the warts just disappeared.
Salt Water
Posted by Christie (Springfield, IL) on 10/28/2009
★★★★★
My husband has always had several warts on his feet but refused to have them removed. After wading in the water in Jamaica his warts disappeared after about 2 weeks. They have been gone for 5 years now!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Laura (El Paso, TX) on 06/24/2009
★★★★★
My daughter had a wart on her wrist for close to one year. I came across this site and tried ACV on a cottonball w/ bandaid for two nights. The wart started to blacken after the first night's treatment, but the area that the cottonball soaked in ACV had been on was red, itchy, and scaley. I told my daughter to try to deal with it because the desired result was being achieved. The second night I put a layer of petroleum jelly around the wart to keep the ACV from irritating her skin. It worked a bit but it was already irritated so it didn't seem to give her much relief. She was certainly happy when the wart fell off and we could discontinue ACV altogether.
Tea Tree, Coconut Oil
Posted by Kalee (Rice Lake, WI) on 06/20/2009
★★★★★
About 8 months ago I had two warts around and under my pointer and middle finger of my left hand and one on the middle knuckle of my pointer finger on my right hand. I had these warts since I was 16 (I am now 20), so I had them for about 4 years. I had tried many things: Banana peel, duct tape, nail polish, apple cider vinegar, cutting them off, wart remover, freezing them...The list could go on. Some of them decreased the size by a small margin, but barely noticeable. I perform on clarinet and piano, and to have unsightly fingers as mine was embarrassing! Like I said, I tried all those things. I came across the combination of tea tree oil and coconut oil by trial and error. I love this site so when I got fed up with the warts, I came here. I tried tea tree oil on it's own, but it burned my fingers and they turned red and peeled where i had placed the cotton ball. They started going away! But I couldn't stand the burning when I used it. I saw some people used coconut oil on here, so I tried that by itself and it worked a little bit and it healed the burns from the tea tree oil. Then I combined the two and voila! No burns or peeling skin and the warts were gone by the fourth or fifth day of use! What I used was a very small part of a cotton ball with a dab of tea tree oil, then I put a bit of coconut oil on my fingers and wrapped a bandaid around it. Don't use a whole lot of tea tree oil, the piece of cotton should be small enough to fit over the wart, but not much bigger than that. Use more coconut oil than tea tree oil so that the burns won't be that bad. Hope this helps those who can't find a cure like I couldn't!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sally (Portland, Oregon) on 06/17/2009
★★★★★
i have been dealing with a wart on the top of my foot for several years. 3+. it would almost go away, then come back. a week ago i decided to try the acv treatment (it's summer and i don't want this unsightly wart on my foot!)
here's what i did. took a cotton ball, soaked it in acv, put the cotton ball on top of the wart, covered it with a bandaid, then covered the band aid with duct tape, left this on for 10+ hours, removed, let the wart breathe for a few hours and then do it all over again. i've been doing this for almost a week and i am now wart free! with in the first day or two the wart turned black and the size of it was reduced, and then tonight i was picking at it and the black scaby thing just fell off and no more wart!
thank you so much everyone who has posted their remedies and comments here! it is soo helpful! i am a firm believer in the healing powers of ACV! it truly works!
Lemon
Posted by Rebecca (Fresno, Ca) on 01/14/2012
What exactly do you mean by the "inside of the lemon rind"? How long was it in contact with the warts? Did the warts stay gone? Thanks.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Robin (Macomb, Michigan) on 05/31/2009
question about removing tattoo naturally: I have an old tattoo on my arm and was wondering if ACV would remove it since it works on moles i was wondering if anyone has tried it or if theres anything else i can try? Thanks!
EC: We don't have a tattoo removal page, so your question is going on the mole removal page for now! If this topic proves to be a popular subject, will add a new page.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Holly (Chicago Suburbs, IL USA) on 05/31/2009
★★★★★
I had a plantar wart on the bottom of my heel for many years (at least 7-8 years). I used OTC treatments that would seem to work at first, but would never completely get rid of it and it would just grow back.
Years later during a doctor appointment I brought it up, hoping to get it treated once and for all. It was a new doctor for me, and I was shocked when she actually gave me a home remedy to try instead (yea doctor!) - duct tape (plus pumice stone to remove dead skin). She said it would take months, but would suffocate the wart (or something like that). Instead it seemed to kill some skin around it. One time I removed the tape months into the treatment, and it tore into the skin around the wart instead...yet I still saw a small white ball intact in that deeper layer of the skin (surely the wart). I gave up on that home remedy.
A couple years later at another doctor appointment (late last year), I brought it up again with a different doctor (HMOs, sigh). First she tried the freezing treatment, but after 3 visits it barely phased the wart (if at all). Since it's an HMO, I had to wait for a referral to a dermatologist after that (it took about 2 weeks to finally get it).
During that waiting time, I finally discovered the ACV REMEDY on this site, so I never went to the derm at all. I was seeing FAST results in the first week, so I had much hope. Most of it was gone within 2 weeks, but for months after I went back and forth with treatment never knowing whether it was all gone. I think the plantar warts grow deeper than other warts and are probably harder to get rid of. I came to the conclusion that as long as I can still see any specks of skin darkening (black/brown/dark red) where the wart was during my treatment, then it is still there. Keep treating it.
MY TREATMENT DETAILS:
I want to note that I DID use the grocery store ACV. That is generally not recommended for ACV remedies. In my opinion, ACV taken internally should definitely be with "the mother", but maybe not necessarily for external remedies (or at least for warts) if you can't easily get an organic brand with the mother.
I used cotton from a Q-tip (that was enough to cover my wart), dipped it in ACV, and covered it with a couple band-aids (like an "X", to prevent ACV from leaking outside the band-aid). I would usually do this around bedtime and remove it in the morning. I have also done it during the day if I missed a treatment, but it's probably better (or at least easier) to do when you won't be on your feet a lot, plus you can make use of the hours of down time while sleeping. In the early stages, I could feel a little pain sometimes, but it would never seem to last long or be that noticeable. Overall, no real problem with that. When the wart turns dark (black/brown/dark red), that is a good sign.
Eventually the dead skin has to be removed/scraped. Sometimes it comes off easily, but it becomes more challenging if you have to keep going deeper. Pumice stone would probably be safest, but it seems hard to keep clean. I used a less safe method, which was to scrape with the side of an exacto razor blade (cleaned with rubbing alcohol). It worked well, but it is sharp, and I can't say I never ended up with a cut or two no matter how careful I tried to be.
It was hard to tell when the wart was completely gone. When I could not see the ACV having anymore effect on the skin during treatments, especially when there were no more specks becoming darkened, that's when I believed it was really gone. I am monitoring just in case, and will retreat if needed. So far so good after a few weeks.
Either way, I definitely accept this as a very effective, safe, and cheap wart remedy!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Kat (Washington DC) on 05/24/2009
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
I am treating my flat hand warts (on the back of my hand) with ACV. The ACV seems to be working. The warts turned into a scab, and in about 1.5 weeks 2 of the scabs have fallen off and left pink skin. My concern is that when I would remove the bandages in the morning, I would find that I had new warts (where the adhesive portion of the bandaid had been). It seems that the warts are contagious when they are being treated. Is there any way I can treat the warts without causing new ones to pop up? Has anyone had this problem, and how did you resolve it?
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Carly (Auckland, Nz) on 08/31/2009
The warts can be very contagious in general. If you have damaged skin it is more susceptible to the HPV virus that causes warts. Perhaps the damaged skin caused by the bandaid's adhesive is becoming infected. I'm not sure how to help sorry...perhaps you could try treating a larger area around the warts to help prevent the spreading.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lee (Tampa, Fl) on 09/19/2009
The same thing happened to me when I treated two small flat warts on my nose and hand. The ACV aggravates them and I think the bandage spreads them in the local area. It works, but then the open sores make it very very easy to spread to other parts as well have a few popping up in other spots despite insane hand washing and disinfecting of towels, tub, shower, etc). I quit the ACV and switched to witch hazel, just applied with a cotton ball and let to dry no bandage). This method isn't nearly as dramatic, but it does slowly decrease the size of the little buggers, without craters or open wounds. I'm still healing from the ACV craters (after a week), and seeing significant decrease in the witch hazel treated ones daily. If you have flat warts, try witch hazel first!!!! I wish I had.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Mayka (Cambridge, Uk) on 05/25/2010
I have multiple flat worts on my stomach. I have been treating most of them with a banana peel, as they are wide spread (in the morning I just spread the inside of the banana peel all over my stomach, and let it dry, then get dressed). The biggest wart I decided to treat with ACV and tape with bandages. I noticed the same thing as you describe: it's been a week now and the wart has become very "raw" and it stings, and I don't see improvement. AS a matter of fact, it seems to be getting worse, but I didn't know if it was just the 'process' before it gets better. Moreover, there are now satellite warts around the big one, which seem to have popped up in the areas where the tape was.
The banana peel is much slower, but it seems to be actually drying the warts. Ah... I have much more work... Good luck everyone.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Answer (Middletown, Ky) on 10/31/2011
Often there are multiple warts, below the surface, that ACV (with the mother) will reveal when you apply the ACV. Just keep treating it, or all locations... That is why a lot of people have large areas they report as being "burned" or "red. " There are several infections located on, or, near, the original site of treatment... Keep applying the ACV, perhaps with a touch of Iodine afterwards... Iodine treats similar and different strains too ...
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by John (San Marcos, California) on 05/19/2009
★★★★★
I read the accounts of ACV curing warts and decided to try it. Previously I had tried different treatments but they actually would reduce the wart but then it would grow back even larger. Anyway I started soaking a small piece of cotton in ACV and placing this like a poultice over the wart and then place a bandaid on top to hold it. I would change this for a new application every 12 hours. Within a couple of days the wart started to turn whitish and then black. After about 4 days about half of the wart was black and simply peeled off when I removed the bandaid one evening. I continued with the same results. The wart had originally been about 3/16" to 1/8" above the level of my skin. Now, if there is any of it left, it is flush with the surrounding skin. There was no pain during this whole process except for some minor irritation during the second or third day. All in all this seems to be a safe, effective method for dealing with warts.
I started on 05/09/09 so the whole process (for me) took about 10 days. Hope this helps.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Belinda (San Antonio, TX) on 05/12/2009
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar cured my wart on my forehead. I tried banana peels (fresh and frozen), aspirin, duct tape, garlic oil, garlic juice, sliced garlic, potato peels and oregano oil...none of them worked. The ACV got rid of the wart on top of the skin in 3 days. Then I let the scab heal and applied ACV for another 3 days to get rid of the portion under the skin (it was a pretty large wart). Just saturated a little piece of cotton ball with ACV and used a band-aid to hold it on the wart and changed it morning and night. I'm so pleased! I read about the ACV on this website. Thanks everybody!!!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sharon (Brick, New Jersey) on 07/19/2009
I would like to email someone who submitted their experience with ACV. My daughters wart has been under her right nostril probably almost a year now. Thought it was a pimple at first, doesn't seem to bother her but now believe it is a wart. Her Bat Mitzvah is in 4 weeks and would love to try and get rid of it. She is concerned about the blackening and possible irritation to surrounding skin. This one person whom I'd like to correspond with had a wart on their forehead and got rid of it in 4 days. They just didn't put much detail on their testimony except that they used ACV. Thanks
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Alex (Boston, MA) on 07/19/2009
Hello, I am replying to Sharon from Brick, New Jersey's posting. For warts, I have had tremendous success with Manuka honey as well as manuka oil. Just apply it topically and you will see results in a couple of days. I have suffered from warts on my hands for which I tried many, many treatments, from burning them off with over the counter medications to the banana peel to tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, copper pennies, etc. Nothing worked until I tried manuka. I believe that there are different strands of microorganisms that cause the warts and that may be the reason why some things very work well for some people and not for others, but I really think that manuka is worth a try.
ACV, Banana Peel, Duct Tape
Posted by Kathy (Reading, Berkshire, UK) on 07/23/2009
I have read the remedy for banana peel with interest, my 10 year old daughter had one recently removed from her thumb using Bazooka, but two have now appeared on her face, one on her lower lip a nasty tiny cauliflower devil about the size of a pea, and the other just below her eye. At first we thought it was a calcium spot but it has grown slightly and the GP confirmed they were different types of wart. She bravely agreed to have them frozen, but when the time came, she just couldn't bring herself to keep still and we agreed it would be too dangerous to continue. Does anyone have any advice on how to apply the banana peel to these facial warts? I suppose I could duct tape them on at night, but any other suggestions would be most helpful. Many thanks
ACV, Banana Peel, Duct Tape
Posted by Jmt (Seattle, Wa) on 03/01/2011
★★★★★
I have had plantar warts on both of my feet at one time or another, I tried freezing, duct tape, and even tried bleomycin (incredibly painful) injected by a dermatologist. The only thing that ever worked was to use mediplast (it is the only product that seems to work), using this technique:
www.wartsplantarwarts.comIt really is that easy, just get mediplast and tape, you don't even need to use nearly as much tape as in that picture or really even use a pumice stone, scissors will work.
ACV, Banana Peel, Duct Tape
Posted by Erin (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) on 05/09/2012
I have been alternating a taped on banana peel and Apple Cider Vinegar for the last week while just putting some athletic tape on it during the day.
Now, I am beginning to question whether I have a plantar wart or a corn. If you do a search for either image, you will get pictures of corns that are plantar warts or vice versa. I did have a black dot I think (could have just been dirt I guess), and now I have a tiny crater surrounded by puffy skin, but no dots. Nothing has turn black and cauliflowery yet, but I have that damn tiny crater and puffy hard skin around it (kinda looks like a wide volcano) that will not go away. It has been only a week though.
As far as the previous question about oil pulling, you cannot find information for why it "detoxes" because it does not detox. Oil pulling is great for teeth whitening and gum issues and hairy tongue (most often confused for oral thrush) which is a bacteria issue (not yeast, though there may be a yeast build up on the tongue because of the poor shedding).
People think that somehow the vein under your tongue transports the oil into your blood which attracts toxins, causing a "herx" reaction with symptoms. These symptoms that people think are proof of detoxification include, mild headache, diarrhea, sores in the mouth, fatigue, etc. Once these "herx" symptoms go away, people feel detoxed.
Here is the thing about the Herxheimer Reaction. There is very little modern research on whether or not this reaction exists, and the older research deals with serious antibiotics used on serious diseases, like Lyme or Syphilis. Even if Sunflower Oil (which is antimicrobial) was somehow able to be absorbed into the blood stream and act as a magnet for toxins, it would not be to the degree that would cause a herx reaction. There is a confusion of bacteria with "toxins" here too. Just look this stuff up.
So the symptoms can be much more logically explained.
mild headache- you are stressing your jaw for twenty minutes. Too much vigor would cause a stress headache (mild).
Diarrhea- You are still ingesting some oil which is fat. If you have ever eaten at a high end restaurant that uses high quality butters and oils, you have probably had diarrhea to mild loose stool issues after that meal. You have lubed your tubes.
Placebo is a big deal, and if it works, awesome. The mind is a powerful tool and there is nothing wrong with a little mind over matter to get well in very minor instances of illness. Taking any action towards one's health improves one's mood. Once your body gets used to the slight increase in fat intake, and the diarrhea subsists, and you believe that you are toxin free, a boost in mood and energy (though possibly fleeting with exercise and a health diet) is guaranteed.
People also like to feel in control of uncontrollable situations, and often times these instances of supposed "control" are unhealthy bc medical advice is being ignored.
We live in a society that wants to believe unlicensed "naturopaths" over highly specialized, trained, and scientific doctors. I am not sure why it does not occur to the same people that someone is much more likely to seek a quick profit off of pseudo"natural" products that take no effort and little money to create, than scientists who dedicate hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of their time, and their careers to curing disease and preventing death (which is a pretty hopeless position to begin with considering dying is inevitable).
Just use common sense. Oil cannot pull toxins out of your body through your tongue, your intestines do not store ancient, indigestible poop, and candida has not infested your entire body causing extreme fatigue and poor digestion (eating poorly does this which is why giving up sugar eventually makes you feel better... To give up sugar one must give up many preservatives and food without nutritional value).... And science is not evil. Common sense.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Linda (Treorchy, Rhondda, South Wales) on 05/07/2009
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar Cured my 9 year old daughters Wart! Megs had a wart on her finger for about 2 years. Only little, and it didn't cause her any discomfort, but she is now at that age when these things are starting to bother her. I didn't want to go down the route of chemicle "cures" from the Chemist, so one evening I soaked a tiny piece of cotton wool with neat Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, and placed it over her finger and stuck a couple of waterproof plasters on it. After 2 days the plaster came off whilst she was at dance class. First thing I noticed was that the wart had gone from a little whiteish lump, to a flat black spot. As we had run out of water proof plasters (and they did make writing difficult for her) we decided to leave it as is was until school breaks up for Whitson. However last night theh little black spot detached it self from her finger, leaving behind a lovely fresh pink finger, as far as wer can see.... no wart!
