FOOT WAR(t)! plz help me destroy this thing.

so i've had this tight, painful cluster of plantar warts under the pad of my left big toe for a couple years now.

i've been to the podiatrist twice to have it blistered off with cantharidin, i've spent at least $50.00 on OTC medications (salicylic acid pads, compound w, foot files, pumice stones), i've walked around on banana peels, smothered it in duct tape, dipped my foot in apple cider vinegar, and yelled at the damn thing to leave. it gave me the finger (toe?) and shat out another wart-baby.

i'm trying the salicylic acid pads again since i don't think i was diligent enough the first time around. in the meantime i've been scouring the internet for stories, but most internet wart people are touting bizarre home remedies (like rubbing their wedding ring on it or something).

has anyone here vanquished a plantar wart (especially a mosaic wart)? please tell me your secret. please.

 

I've had occasional problems with plantar warts since I was little.. I don't really have any advice. The liquid salicylic acid stuff you brush on seems like it works, but I don't actually know if it contributes to the problem ending... anyway most of the reason I hate them is because they freak me the fuck out, psychologically. they're not supposed to be there!!! they're not supposed to be *in* there!!!

..... *excuses self from thread bc it's stressing her out, lmao*

 

The plantar wart I got rid of took repeated (like 3-4 weekly visits) trips to the dr to get it blistered off, plus a salicylic acid pad after every time, plus smothering it as long as possible (no getting my foot wet until at least the night after a treatment), plus exfoliating my foot as much as possible before my dr's apps.

It was quite the process: you basically have to be even more persistent than they are.

 

I can't help; the only thing I remember about my wart is that it wouldn't go away so they froze it off and it hurt a lot.

 

yeah, i'm beginning to get the idea that persistence is key here. a little worried that by scraping at it and making it bleed i'm sewing the seeds for future warts (since the virus spreads through new abrasions in the skin), but i guess that's even more of a risk if i don't try at all?

 

Well if it's bleeding you're exfoliating too much, imo. It's more that you want to remove any callus so that the salicylic acid/liquid nitro can work as efficiently as possible.

 

i also had one and had it frozen off after months of stubbornly trying literally everything else :00 fwiw the pain level def depends on your own tolerance, i remember it reminded me of how when you put your hand under really hot water it feels cold

 

(comes back into thread against better judgement) (stresses self out) (slowly shakes head @ self)

 

@blue [FROWNY FACE] [POINTS AT DOOR]

 

@rats [WAS METAPHORICALLY HEADING FOR DOOR WHEN YOUR MENTION REACHED OUT AND SNAGGED ME LIKE ONE OF THOSE HOOK-HEADED VAUDEVILLE CANES] [WRIGGLES FREE AND ESCAPES]

 

what concerns me is that the salicylic acid (liquid and patch form) just seems to make the skin harder. it also makes everything white, which means that i no longer know where precisely the warts are (there's a whole tiny field of them. it's not like i have one identifiable plantar wart like most people do, that would be too easy).

 

I have sympathy, but unfortunately no advice. The one I had when I was a kid was so big and goddamn persistent that the doctor ended up having to cut it out.

 

I once had a wart on my finger. I used salicyclic acid etc to no avail for YEARS. How'd I cure it? I sliced off a chunk of finger which included the whole of the visible wart plus some area around it using a dinner knife (sterelized on the fire in the stove). I kept pouring salicyclic acid in there as I did it because it numbed the pain. And also stopping to take deep breaths, and also, I'm relatively resistent to pain. THEN I dumped salicyclic acid on the bloody wound I made on myself, THEN I bandaged my finger. And every day for a week or two I'd pour more acid on the cut and redo the bandages. I'm sure there's more scientific and less gory ways to solve the issue, but at least it worked! Also believe it or not this left no visible scars.

... However, in less than two years a new wart sprung up on the finger NEXT to the one I mangled, except this one's placed so that if I try this again I'll effectively cut off one of my fingerprints. So I'm planning on going to a dermatologist to get it looked at... eventually *has been procrastinating on this for a good 4 years now*

 

This probably doesn't help, but the plantar warts I had on my feet just went away over time. But it probably helps that I wear socks a lot of the time. If they don't get air/sunlights (something like this? I would need to google again) they just go away because they can't survive.