16 Natural Remedies for Warts–Including a Crazy One That REALLY Works!
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Are you burdened by a stubborn wart? Here’s an assortment of natural remedies for warts, including one unbelievable one that really worked!
Would YOU try it?
I’m always on the hunt for natural remedies to treat ear infections, sinus infections, headaches, and more.
I’m just not a fan of prescription meds, or even OTC medications, mainly since one of the things that contributed to my health issues (including candida) is the overuse of meds and antibiotics in general.
So when warts surfaced in our home, I was not about to just run to the store to get an OTC wart remover – and I for sure wasn’t ready to pay $30 (how did it get that high?!) for a physician copay to have it removed from my son’s foot.
Warts are not a pleasant topic.
If you’ve ever had a wart, you know how hard it can be to get rid of it.
And it’s worse if you’ve got more than one wart. Once they start spreading they can really be tough to get rid of.
About 1 month ago I was helping my youngest get changed for bed. I don’t remember now what happened or why I noticed it, but I saw two small “somethings” on the sole of his foot, near the heel.
I wouldn’t have thought much of them, except for the fact that I remembered having a plantar’s wart when I was a young girl.
It was painful and it took a long time to get rid of it.
I think we went to the store and got an over-the-counter wart remover and I applied it over and over again.
And they’re gross.
Back to my son.
I took a closer look at his foot and scraped a little of the surface off of the skin.
It felt hard underneath, and I could see the tell-tale little brownish-black dots in the center of a pattern.
The dots are called wart seeds sometimes, but they really are little blood clots.
Blech.
Anyway, he clearly had two of them.
Then, my son showed me a “callus” on his toe.
Hmmmm…..
It was a big one. But was it really a callus?
I went to the internet and found a site with great diagnostic information to find out if he had a callus or wart on his foot.
How to Know If You Have a Wart or a Callus
To tell know if you have a wart or callus, you will need to press down on the thing (whatever it is) and find out when you have pain.
- If it hurts pushing straight down on it–it’s a callus.
- If it hurts putting pressure on the sides (by squeezing it)–it’s a wart.
Sure enough, we had a wart. No pain pressing down, but when I squeezed it, my son wasn’t happy.
Now it was time to try to get rid of warts.
Time to Get Rid of the Wart
A long time ago, we had tried using oregano oil before on a wart on my husband’s finger.
One day we were on a road trip. I put the oregano oil on it and within 3 hours it went from being a raised wart to being level with the rest of his skin.
It really worked great for a natural wart remedy, but we weren’t consistent enough to get rid of it, so it’s still there.
So I tried the oregano oil on my son’s foot for several days.
Again, I wasn’t consistent enough and no surprise–nothing happened.
I really wanted to be consistent with the oregano oil, but life was getting in the way.
So I hopped back on the internet and even asked my fans on my Facebook page for their ideas. (hop on over there if you haven’t already, K?)
Well, let me tell you, there were loads of ideas….
Natural Remedies for Warts
Following are some remedies that others suggested, plus some others that we didn’t get to try.
OTC Topical Treatments
(not going there again)
Super Glue
Doesn’t sounds very healthy to me.
Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
I did this once for a wart on my hand. It ended up burning the surrounding skin and was super painful.
Banana Peel
The inside of the peel. It turns out that the inside of the banana peel has some kind of enzyme that can help address warts.
Cutting
Some people try to just cut their own warts off (Not an option. No way.)
Removal By a Physician
Sounds like a good option, but I’ve read over and over that the wart often comes back. This was the case for one of my son’s friends.
Thuja
Thuja Oil, Thuja Extract, or Thuja Homeopathic pellets. A reader mentioned that this worked well, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Vapor Rub
It’s true. Some people report that using Vicks® or a Homemade Vapor Rub works great for addressing warts.
Tea Tree Oil
I didn’t try this one, but a friend told me that she tried it and it worked great!
Echaveria
One reader wrote in to say that this plant, also known as the common garden ‘hens and chickens’ and often grown in succulent gardens and rock gardens. Simply break off a leaf and squeeze the juice onto the wart morning and night!
Garlic
One reader mentioned that a slice of garlic on the wart worked well. That makes sense since warts are caused by a virus and garlic is antiviral.
Milkweed
Milkweed juice applied daily has been reported to help with warts.
Milk Thistle Extract
Since milk thistle is also antiviral this has been successful for some as well.
Basil
This is another antiviral plant that works for some to get rid of warts. You can crush a few leaves of fresh basil and rub the paste on the warts, or apply the crushed leaves over the warts and cover that with medical or duct tape.
Aspirin
The main ingredient in aspirin is salicylic acid, the main ingredient in wart remover. One reader told me that putting a paste of aspirin on the wart for 2-3 days with tape over it caused the wart to come off and never return!
and other concoctions of all sorts. However one option really caught my eye.
Urine.
Yeppers. You all remember my post on natural ear infection remedies, right?
Well, at the time I tried that in my son’s ear (of course, after reading all over the internet that urine therapy has been used by many cultures for many years and there was even an international convention on it–so don’t think I’m just so crazy that I’ll try anything that I read on the internet–’cause I’m not), I was already trying this on my son’s warts.
But I wasn’t sure if it was going to take care of the more stubborn ones so I didn’t want to share it yet.
Well, now you can see how well this natural wart remedy worked and judge for yourself.
How to Use Urine on a Wart
Basically you just urinate in a cup, put the urine on a small piece of cotton ball or pad.
Squeeze to remove the excess.
Put the soaked pad or cotton ball on the wart.
Cut medical tape in the appropriate size to cover the wart and the cotton. At least you need the cotton to stay put.
Repeat daily.
We did this for a few weeks. It would have gone faster if I’d remembered to change the cotton daily, but sometimes I forgot.
But every day we noticed an obvious change in the big wart.
This is what his toe looked like after the “pee pee treatment” was done!
All gone except for some peeling skin.
And the other warts are gone as well.
Even while we were treating the first 3, one more showed up on the other foot (lovely) and that one is gone as well.
Now, I am thinking the oregano oil would have worked if I had been more diligent, but I would forget sometimes and frankly, urine is a lot cheaper.
But if you’re squeemish about the urine therapy, then hop over to Rocky Mountain Oils and get some oregano oil. It’s great stuff and is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. I’ve even heard of folks treating MRSA successfully with it. Now that’s something to have on hand, you know?
If you’re curious about what essential oils company I recommend, you can read my series on Which Essential Oils Company is Best.
One Amazing Testimonial About Urine on a Wart
But I tried the urine also because the testimonials were so emphatic.
One was even pretty hilarious.
A man said his whole family had been plagued by plantar warts–except for him.
He thought it was because he had the habit of urinating in the shower, so he thought his feet were getting a natural anti-wart treatment every day.
I don’t know, but interesting, huh?
Urine Therapy for Warts–Is It Crazy?
Likely you think this is just gross and NUTS, right?
Well, check out this book – it’s got some very nice reviews.
I say – if you can get things done naturally and inexpensively then it’s worth looking at :).
Another Great Option
A lot of people get great results with Rowe Casa’s Feet and Nail Salve. It’s full of antiviral ingredients. Check out the reviews. You’ll see a lot of positive results on warts and fungus too!
Which of these Natural Remedies for Warts will you try?
Thank you very much. For the treatment of wart problem, you should take medication properly, it helps you to remove the wart problem regularly.
thnks, i’ll try @v
Im female 27 y-o and i had plantar wart on my left foot for 2 years. i had it cos unhygienic pedicure at saloon (ouch!).
For 2 years i have been struggling cos i like sports and it hurts me and i cant wear heels anymore. I visited 3 doctors, went to 2 laser treatment and it failed me (painful as hell and it grew bigger).
Until the last doctor told me its an HPV virus and theres no one single method guarantee for each patient. The thing that can cure the virus is our immune system.
So heres all the method that i tried and failed
– OTC salicylic acid
– 40% plast salicylic acid
– laser treatment
– banana peel
– lemon essential oil
– garlic
Heres what cures me
– daily intake of Zinc Vitamin
– duct tape
– ACV (Bragg’s brand)
– Tea tree oil (Body shop)
How i did it. So i took one vit zinc pill everyday for 1 month. Then i continue my acv treatment + tea tree oil every night (did it for 2 months and i almost lose hope but keep doing it). And in the morning i use cotton bud just a dab of acv and a drop of tea tree oil. And always have my wart duct taped almost all the time. And thank god its gone now.
So glad it’s gone!
Apple cider vinegar is very effective and very fast. You can see the roots go black almost immediately. Just soak a very small piece of cotton ball into the vinegar, just large enough to cover the wart, and place it over the wart with a band aide or duct tape, over night, and within a few days. it is gone.
It stings pretty bad though, doesn’t it? Thanks!
Oh come on!? :)))) pure nature fragrance. Very good for oily skin treatment also. Clears pores, dilute 50/50 with water. soak cotton pad, clean oily skin surface, Splash with water afterwards, to clean after using to avoid drying of the skin, especially when cleaning face.
:).
Do you have to open the wart for this to work? How about if wart is under the skin and not out yet?
It’s very difficult to use ACV on tiny warts. I have more than 50 itty bitty warts on one hand (from less than 1mm-4mm across, some now ‘joined’), clustered around my knuckles, and several on the other hand, the underside of my forearm, and on one knee too, now. I had one wart on my thumb when I was a little girl, and Mum helped rid me of it with very diligent use of an OTC Wart Kill that I remember being quite painful.
Fast-forward to my senior high school years, and a wart reappeared in that same spot. I tried OTC Wart Kill. No good. I tried duct tape. No good. I tried ‘Moxa Sticks’ for years… I remember feeling the ‘core’ of the wart burning, but the wart never went away. And by then it had a few friends. In my twenties, I tried banana peel, which was very difficult and time-consuming considering the size of my warts. Inevitably, the peel came into contact with skin around my warts, which lead to agonising burns, and yet more warts. I tried at-home freezing kits; Tea Tree Oil; ACV (again, burned skin and more warts). The only remedy I’ve had any success with was ‘H-Warts’ by Healing Natural Oils. The website used to claim that warts would be gone in a month with consistent twice-daily application (no specific claims now): I used it twice every day religiously for 5 months, and while the warts became less prominent, less red, and no more warts appeared, they are still very much present.
I’ve since tried ACV again (applied with a Q-tip, and then covered with duct tape), and allowed my husband to try burning a few of the larger ones off, but to no avail. My sisters had success with ACV on larger warts, but I’m keen to try both the urine treatment and the Oregano Oil (not simultaneously, of course) – anything is better than hands plastered with clusters of tiny warts!
Please will somebody help I’m sick worried abt my son ,?He’s 8 m has developed seed wart under the ball of his foot , now everyone is suggesting duct tape ? So do I’ve to put vinegar on his seed wart and then place duct tape ? Because when I tried to cut off those black sprouting seed like spikes it started to bleed ? I immediately apply tincture n cover it with Coton n bandage ? Please help!
I don’t recommend cutting those since they can bleed. Please take care to stop his bleeding and call a physician if you need to. I would do a different topical treatment.
DO you use the same cup of pee throughout the treatment or fresh pee every day?
I personally did not save it.
Does coconut oil work?
I have no idea.
I had a plantars wart on my foot and one on my finger. I say had because they are gone. I tried everything you can think of to get rid of them. Doctor tried freezing.. 60.00 down the drain because that didn’t work. bought all the was at the store. That was another big waste of money and I tried duct tape and that didn’t work for me. I ran across the idea of oregano oil.. I bought a bottle on amazon for 10.00. I put a few drops on a bandage and applied to my warts.. I did that once a day for about a week and they are gone.. so save yourself some money and try that first..
Glad to hear that worked for you!! Much better than all the doctor’s office money for sure.
Oregano oil will only work if it can contact the inner part of the wart. This will require lopping some skin off the top to expose the “seed”. DON’T skimp on this part and DON’T believe others for whom this was apparently unnecessary (I assure you they are of the fortunate minority). For 1/2 the price of a OTC home freeze kit, you can surely find a decent nail scissors that will effectively cut skin in thin layers. This is also safer than using a blade, especially if treating a plantar wart anywhere under your foot. Unless you have been blessed with great flexibility (or double jointed ankles) you will probably struggle to properly see & work on the wart. Don’t fear hurting yourself, the skin down-there is already tough as nails and you’ll be amazed how much you can chop off without feeling anything (ironically, its BECAUSE you let the skin under your foot get that tough/calloused, that the *$%# verruca got in there in the FIRST place). Also note that if you’re a swimmer or like long hot showers, your under-foot skin will ALWAYS be softer and easier to cut for an hour or so afterwards. If you don’t swim or dig long showers, you can also get beneficial effects by soaking your foot for 30 or 40 minutes before your skin removal adventure.
Dab the oil onto the wart with a cotton swab (resist the urge to just use the dropper that comes with the oil bottle). Notice I said “dab” and not “irrigate”. A little of this stuff goes a long way, and the only thing overuse will do is make you smell like an even bigger spice ball.
Cut an appropriate size patch of duct tape that will cover the wart and allow overlap by perhaps a 1/2 inch around. Note that I have tried a number of different brands of tape and have had no adverse reactions (earlier posts suggested some brands/types might be toxic- this reader doubts it). Depending on the topography of the foot part you’re applying the patch onto, you may find it easier to start at one edge and smooth down across and beyond the wart, instead of applying center-first and working your way out. The idea is to get the adhesive to stick to the adjacent skin around the wart, so that the oil gets “sealed” in. If you see oil ooze out, PEEL THE TAPE OFF & START OVER! Use your alcohol swabs to clean the oil off around the wart (without taking oil off wart itself), until your tape patch sticks.
Things to remember about this treatment-
=> It is NOT an overnight cure! You WILL need to keep at this for AT LEAST several days (changing your patch daily- perhaps more often if you swim or shower a lot). DON’T stop the treatment if/when you start to see relief/benefits. Keep going for a few more days, until you are CERTAIN that you’re clear.
=> Wart viruses are CONTAGIOUS and can even come back and re-infect you after you’re seemingly clear. If you live with other people, try to find an alternate place to shower for a while if-possible. If you MUST share a shower, be sure to disinfect the tub bottom or enclosure floor, after every use. If you’re unsure what to use, contact your local institutional cleaning supplies provider and admit all. Most will sell over the counter to the public and there are great products out there which will kill almost anything that moves under a microscope, without smelling like a bucket of chlorine pucks or causing 3rd degree chemical burns.
=> Be sure to disinfect anywhere you walk bare-footed with a known wart– EVEN if you have a tape patch over it. Better-yet, just AVOID walking bare-footed with a known wart. Disinfect anything non-disposable that you use to touch the wart (like the scissors you used to cut the skin). Speaking of cutting skin, be sure that the pieces fall somewhere that can be cleaned and disinfected as-well. Disinfect your locker room flip flops and spray/wipe-off a little of that industrial disinfectant in your shoes. This is WAR folks, and if you want to win against a virus which has probably been around millions of years and is highly-adaptable, you can’t leave any stones unturned!
So about these siscors and this viable option . My son is 8. He had had one wary under big toe we treated with the pads as directed. Then we say a raise on foot under the big toe. That’s when we noticed several potential al warts under the skin. Dr looked and said yes they are wary and warts have Roots so they will sprees even if h do the right things. We went to dermatooogist so froze the many ( I hope all) but it was unbearable to I watch the kind of pain my son was in. Now we are told it will blister, in a week try daily trying to file down gently and see u in 4 weeks we will be this 4-6 times. I need to find a diff option to help can’t see him in that kind of pain again. So will cutting the skin down to the wary hurt? What if we don’t know if we got to the wart as they are under the skin and not sure if we know how many are together. How can we blanket cover and treat the area. Please help!!
I am absolutely amazed! I have been doing so many freezer kits that you buy at the store (I have three plantars warts on my feet, all at different stages) and I will most definitely be trying this. so easy and cheap. I don’t want to have to go to the doctor for something like this. Thank you for the tips(:
I was also wondering how long it took for your sons to go away!?
Hi there. I mentioned in the post that it took a few weeks but I think that was longer than necessary b/c we didn’t change the cotton ball frequently enough. Hope that helps and that it works for you!
You are so welcome!
Try oregano oil on a bandage.. worked for me
Hello Whole New Mom,
I’ve had a wart on my “pinky” finger left hand for many months.
It has started to be painful. I’ll try your Natural Home Remedy using urine.
Thank you.
Hi there and I so hope it works for you!
I did this too… minus the urine. The duct tape does the trick!
Glad to hear it! Make sure to use non toxic duct tape if you have to do it again.