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How to Remove Hand Warts

A wart on your hand is not only unsightly, it can be painful as well. Warts are caused by variations of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Because it is a virus, there is no medicine that directly attacks the virus to get rid of it. Instead, you have to find ways to get it to leave your skin. Unfortunately, warts are notoriously difficult to get rid of. In some cases, it can take several months–or even years–to get rid of the wart on your hand. Two popular remedies are the duct tape method and using over-the-counter (OTC) medication.

Duct Tape Method

Step 1

Cover the wart with a piece of duct tape. Make sure you completely cover the wart, but use as little duct tape as possible to avoid irritating other areas of your skin. Leave the duct tape on all the time. Remove it only when you are actually soaking and filing.

Step 2

Soak the wart in water. This helps make the skin softer.

Step 3

File the wart with a pumice stone or an emery board. Only use this on the wart, not on other parts of your body.

Step 4

Dry the wart thoroughly before reapplying duct tape. If you trap moisture in, you can make the problem worse.

Step 5

Repeat until the wart is gone. This could take as little as a week or a few months.

OTC Medicine Method

Step 1

Purchase an OTC wart removal medication. An effective one will include salicylic acid to burn away the wart or another chemical that will freeze the wart.

Step 2

Apply the medication directly to the wart. Avoid the surrounding skin.

Step 3

Cover the wart with the included bandage. The advantage of using an OTC wart remover is that the bandages are skin color or invisible and small, which would be less distracting than duct tape.

Step 4

File the wart with pumice or an emery board to get rid of dead skin.

Step 5

Repeat until the wart is gone. This could take several weeks.

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