Warts are common in children, especially on the feet and hands, but can occur anywhere on your child's body where there is a break in the skin. Warts are caused by a strain of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which spreads through direct touch, or in some cases through touching infected objects. When your child develops a wart, there are several treatment options available, ranging from home remedies to medical intervention.
Step 1
Apply duct tape to the wart. Keep the duct tape on the wart for two to three days before taking it off. Once the tape is removed, soak the wart-affected area in water for 10 to 15 minutes. After drying the area, take a pumice stone or nail file and use it to gently remove the outer layer of softened skin. Reapply a new strip of duct tape and repeat the process until the wart is gone.
Step 2
Purchase an over-the-counter wart removal product from your local drug store with the active ingredient salcylic acid. When you apply the medicine to the wart, the salicylic acid softens the keratin protein in the wart tissue making it easier to remove, states the New Zealand Dermatological Society. Several applications will be needed before the wart will be gone from the skin.
Step 3
Use an over-the-counter wart freezing kit. Follow the direction carefully regarding touching the freeze applicator to the wart. Once frozen, the skin beneath the wart will develop a blister. As the dead blister tissue sloughs off, the wart should be removed with it.
Step 4
Talk to your doctor about cryotherapy for your child's wart. Like an over-the-counter freezing kit, cryotherapy freezes the wart tissue causing the formation of a blister. As the blister falls off, the wart is removed with it. Doctors use liquid nitrogen in this procedure, which is typically more effective than over-the-counter freezing products.
Step 5
Consider other medical options for multiple warts or warts in areas that are harder to treat, such as the face. Advances in technology have created several different options for wart removal. For example, lasers can be used to vaporize warts from the surface of your child's skin. Drugs can also be applied to or injected into the wart to kill the HPV, such as bleomycin or cantharidin.
Things You'll Need
- Duct tape
- Pumice stone or nail file
- Wart remover with salicylic acid
- Over-the-counter freeze kit
