My Wart Journey

by Emily

North Carolina, USA
October 3,2010

Believe me when I say that this ACV treatment works! Keep reading.

I had my first wart when I was 16. As soon as I realized what it was I immediately asked my mom to make me an appointment with the dermatologist.  At the appointment, the Dr. cut and burned the wart off of my index finger.  This process was generally pain free (except for the initial injection to numb the area), and viola, the wart was gone. I was quite pleased, and that was the end of the story.  Fast forward 2 years

I noticed another wart on my finger. So, like the previous time, I went back to the dermatologist and received the same treatment.  However, this time, after the treated area had healed, the wart came right back.  Frustrated, I went back again and received another round of the "cut and burn" treatment, but again, the wart came right back.

At this point I was getting really frustrated. I felt like everybody I met noticed the nasty little wart on my finger and it was embarrassing.  I went back a 3rd time to have the wart cut and burned, and thankfully this time the wart did not come back. 

However, a few weeks later I realized I had a plantar wart.

I won't bore you with the details of how many times I went to have this sucker treated, but in short, I went so many times I lost count.  For a solid year I had it cut and burned, and re-cut and re-burned. I was on crutches for 2 or 3 days at a time after each treatment, and it seemed like every time the wart came back bigger. 

Besides being extremely painful, this process was also extremely expensive (between $300 and $400) each visit.

Completely frustrated and depressed that I couldn't get rid of the wart on the bottom of my foot, I set on in search of answers on the internet.

Around this time I developed another wart on my finger, as well as small warts around my fingernails.  So, I was essentially covered in warts.
 
Then I came across ACV treatment.  For 98 cents I figured it couldn't hurt to try. So, I went home and applied it first to the wart on my finger.  A week later I was wart free.

I promise you that this WILL work, and with very little pain. 
I began to use the ACV on the plantar wart; however my main concern at this point were the warts around the fingernails. 

At first, I did not even realize that these were actually warts, because they did not look anything like the plantar wart or the regular round warts I had treated on my fingers. 
The area around my fingernails was very swollen and painful, and I honestly though it was a fungus. But, when I went to the Dr. and he confirmed that they were indeed warts, and they were called periungual warts.  They were hideous. My fingers looked like club fingers (I had them on about 4 of my fingers). I was totally embarrassed and they looked so gross. I would have gladly kept the small regular baby warts on my fingers if it meant I didn't have to deal with periungual warts. 

For these new kind of warts, my Dr. prescribed me a medicine called Aldara, which is a white cream that looks and feels just like lotion,  completely painless.  Fast forward a few weeks.

I did not see much of a change in either of the warts (the plantar, which I was treating with ACV, or the periunguals, which I was treating with Aldara). I decided to switch from the prescription Aldara on my fingers to using ACV. The treatment started to work, but failed on both the plantar and the periunguals.  Here is why.

After much research on my part (and of course, dealing with it first hand), I found out that although a wart is a wart is a wart, all caused by the same virus, they can manifest in different ways.  Not each form will respond to the same treatment.  The plantar wart, as well as the periungual wart grows inside the skin instead of protruding out. This makes it more difficult to treat with any method, including the ACV method.

I never fully got rid of the plantar wart using the ACV because I could not stand the pain.  I DID see marked improvement, and I believe that had I continued using the ACV the plantar wart would be completely gone. Keep in mind that because the wart grows inside, the treatment goes much deeper, which causes more pain. I was not willing to deal with this so I stopped treatment. It is now much smaller and no longer painful (thanks to ACV). I most definitely have faith in the ACV treatment for plantar warts if you are able to withstand the pain. If my wart ever becomes large or painful again, I will not hesitate to use the ACV, because I know it works. For me, right now, it's not worth it because it can't be seen.

Moving on to the periungual warts, these babies are a pain.  In my experience, the ACV does NOT work on them. After a lot of pain (and infection) from using the ACV on these warts, I went back to the Aldara.  Although it did take time, the Aldara worked and all of my fingers are completely clear (which is a miracle in my eyes, because these were so unsightly it was depressing). If you have these warts, please save yourself the trouble. Don't have them cut or frozen, use the Aldara and be patient. I swear by it (but, it only works on periunguals).

Now, I am wart free (except the plantar wart that I am no longer treating) thanks to the ACV and Aldara.  If you have a wart, a plantar wart, or periungual warts then look no further for treatment. Here is how to apply each of the treatments:

For regular warts:

1) At bedtime pull the cotton off the end of a QTip. Soak in ACV. Secure to wart with Band-Aid (you may need to use more than one Band-Aid).

2) In the morning remove and let air dry all day. The first day the wart will be white and puffy. DON‚T PICK THE SKIN. I have heard people say that using clear nail polish over the wart during the day time is important, however, in my opinion it doesn't make any difference.  I have tried both ways and it works just fine with no nail polish.

3) Continue this treatment until the wart turns black.  Once it is completely black, do one more night of treatment. (You don't want to continue to put the ACV over the black scab because it will just make it soggy and the scab will fall off prematurely)

4) I usually wait about a week after the wart turns black to peel the scab away. If you do this too early it will bleed, and then you have to wait until it heals to resume treatment.  You will know when it's ready to come off.  After it comes off, use the ACV about 2 more times on the hole. This is to ensure the wart is really gone.  This will be the most painful part of the whole treatment because you are applying ACV to broken skin. It is important you do this though, or you risk having to do the treatment all over again.

5) Once you've done the broken skin treatment, begin applying Neosporin and keep the hole covered with a Band-Aid to keep it from getting infected. This will also cut down on scarring.

The most important thing is that you don't pick at the wart or skin during any point of the treatment. BE PATIENT. I promise you that this is the best treatment available. Very cost effective and painless. There is no point in continuing to go to the Dr. and spending money (your insurance may or may not cover the visits/treatment), when this really does work.  This treatment is also the same for plantar warts.

For periungual warts, all you do is apply the Aldara to the wart. You have to use a Band-Aid over it though, just like you would with Neosporin, or else it will rub off and be ineffective.  I am not sure of how expensive this medicine is. I know that it is not available in a generic form. It comes in a box of about 24 packets, and each packet can be used about twice. I do know that it's worth it because it works, and it will definitely be cheaper than any other treatment you could try.  Also keep in mind that the Aldara only works on the periungual warts.

Appologies that this is so long, but I felt like sharing my experience because I KNOW how frustrating warts are.  I have spent years trying to get rid of them and I finally figured out how, and now I want to tell everyone else!

Goodluck!

Emily in NC :)

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