Duct Tape Wart Removal Method – Proven to Eliminate Growths

One of the most common skin infections we know of is warts. In general, they are caused by human papillomavirus or HPV. Sometimes warts can sometimes go away by themselves without any form of treatments. But, without help, it can take anywhere from a few months to several years for them to completely disappear.

Before you ask, many people immediately assume when they hear “duct tape for warts“, you are ripping the wart off with the glue from the duct tape. Not the case! You are going to wrap the wart up and starve its oxygen.

This is where home remedies (complete list of natural wart solutions: https://warts.org/wart-removal/natural)  step in to help assist. One of the most efficient home remedies that are also mentioned in some of our different treatment articles here is the duct tape wart removal method. This is one of the easiest ways to remove a wart, but it should be noted that removal could take a bit longer compared with other wart removal treatments. It’s very cost efficient because there is no need to purchase medications to aid in treating warts. You can basically use this item you have in the house.

Duct tape is normally used to hold things together, patch them or as a sturdy binder of some sort. In the case of our irritating warts, duct tape has a different job to do. Their main task is to eliminate warts that grow in any part of the human body. As a matter of fact, Dr. Dean Focht from the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati created a study and established that duct tape wart removal was more effective than cryotherapy, which is another form of wart removal treatment that freezes warts with the use of liquid nitrogen or nitrous oxide.

Twenty-two out of the 51 subjects that took part in the study using duct tape wart removal treatment saw success. This is compared to fifteen subjects who had success with cryotherapy as their wart removal treatment. (Dean R. Focht III; Carole Spicer; Mary P. Fairchock. The Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris (the Common Wart). Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, Oct 2002; 156: 971-974).

In 2006, another study was made with more reasonable results in terms of comparing the effectiveness of the use of duct tape and a placebo. 16% of the cases were found to be more effective using the duct tape wart removal compared to the 6% of the test subjects who used the placebo. (Study of Duct Tape on Warts: Marloes de Haen, et al. Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Placebo in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris (Warts) in Primary School Children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006; 160: 1121-1126).

How to Use Duct Tape to Remove Warts

The process is commenced by cutting off and placing a small piece of duct tape on the wart as if placing a band-aid. No special duct tape needed. You can use the standard gray ones you normally see in hardware or grocery stores.
Ensure that the wart is fully covered. Let the duct tape sit for 6 days to a week. Take off and discard the duct tape and then dip the infected area in warm water and scrub off the dead wart tissue with a nail file made from emery or pumice stone.

Leave it uncovered overnight (or ten to twelve hours) to dry up. Then place a new strip of duct tape covering the wart or warts again. Repeat this process for eight weeks or two months and then warts should completely come off.
For a faster and more effective way of removing warts, the duct tape wart removal method is combined with Salicylic Acid. This is done by applying a 17% Salicylic Acid solution to the wart. Allow it to dry just before placing the piece of duct tape and the same rules and methods apply as stated earlier.

After waking up in the morning, remove the duct tape and notice that the size of the wart is growing smaller and smaller each day. Continue doing the process every night before going to bed until the warts are completely removed.

Reasons Why Duct Tape Wart Removal Can Be Effective

In contrast with some of the other methods of treating warts, the intention of using duct tape as a wart removal is to not treat the virus that caused the wart in the first place. What it really does is it stops the wart from scattering to other parts of the body. For a wart to survive and flourish, they would need air and sunlight. Placing a piece of duct tape to cover the wart blocks the air and stops the growth of the wart. It is also believed that using duct tape for wart removal forces the immune system to destroy the virus causing the wart.

The duct tape inflames the wart until the immune system responds to the area where the wart is located. This then allows the immune system to destroy the HPV and the wart. This apparently is a faster process compared to just allowing the wart to come off naturally untreated. However, this theory hasn’t been proven by scientific research. Another unproven theory states that the strong adhesive of the duct tape helps remove the dead skin where the virus hides.

Duct tape is composed of three major layers. The first layer is a stretchable and strong layer that is normally made up of polyethylene coating or commonly known as polyester. The second layer has a meshed fabric and the third one is a pressure sensitive adhesive layer that contains chemicals with a formula of (C4H6O2)n.

As soon as the duct tape is placed on the wart, it now connects the top portion of the wart with the sticky adhesive of the duct tape. Pulling off the duct tape after a few days will definitely remove the top portion of the wart as well. Pain may be present upon removal of the duct tape, but this is surely less painful compared with doing the surgery option or cryotherapy. In addition, this is way cheaper than doing the laser wart removal and duct tape has fewer chemicals compared to oral medications that can be bought over the counter.

Positive and Negative Side of Using Duct Tape to Get Rid of Warts

There are definitely some advantages and some negative effects as well. Basically, the good thing about using duct tape as a way of removing warts is because it is very cheap, and it is also less painful than most other wart removal treatments.

A lot of theories arose regarding the use of duct tape but there are studies that prove the effectiveness of duct tape in wart removal. Leaving the wart untreated could take up to several years for it to naturally come off. The usage of duct tape can reduce it to two months.

On the other hand, it also has its opposite side. The chemicals found on the adhesive of the duct tape can cause your skin to become sodden and reddish. If this happens when using duct tape to remove warts, you must discontinue the method for several days just to allow the skin to dry, breath and recover.

If you have sensitive skin, this is not a good choice for you as it can cause rashes and redness or even worse, bleeding when pulling off the duct tape.

Please take note that you cannot use the duct tape wart removal method on all kinds of wart problems. If you have warts on or near your genital parts, under the armpit or inside your nose and mouth, it is discouraged that you use duct tape to remove these warts.

Wart Removal

For a complete guide to Wart Removal, all of the options are listed for over the counter, doctor recommended and natural remedies here: https://warts.org/wart-removal.