Anyone who’s had a wart knows they’re kind of awful. Caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), warts can appear everywhere on the body and while they’re often (but not always) painless, they can be pretty unsightly. If you’ve ever had a wart that you were looking to get rid of, you’ve probably heard of the duct tape remedy. Oh, the ubiquitous duct tape on warts home remedy — it’s everywhere, right? Could this be the one that is unequivocally true? After all, it seems that everyone knows someone who’s known someone who had success with this one, right? Well, if you’re a home remedy lover, you’re in luck. This one might just have some merit after all.
What Science Has To Say About Duct Tape + Warts
As it turns out, quite a few studies support the use of duct tape to get rid of warts on certain parts of the body, like hands and feet. In one study, patients were randomly selected to either undergo cryotherapy (or freezing off) for warts or use duct tape to occlude the wart to treat verruca vulgaris, aka the common wart. Researchers found that “duct tape occlusion therapy was significantly more effective than cryotherapy for treatment of the common wart” (JAMA Pediatrics).
In another study on 103 children, duct tape had a “modest, but nonsignificant effect” on improving warts (JAMA Pediatrics).This therapy hasn’t been compared to salicylic acid, which has a good reputation, but as researchers point out, it’s one of the easiest therapy for young children. Other forms of therapy can be unpleasant or must be left on for an extended time period (with limited movement), so duct tape is a good alternative for children. Typically, the side effects of this treatment include irritation, erythema, eczema, and wounds, and occured in 15% of children.
Yet another study — this one on 90 adults — compared duct tape to moleskin. Researchers found that there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between the duct tape and the moleskin (JAMA Dermatology). But this is one of the first studies to demonstrate that it might not be duct tape’s special powers so much as the occlusion of the wart.
So, How Does It Work?
I’m not sure who the first person to say, “Try covering that thing with duct tape,” was, but they were definitely on to something. There are a few theories as to why duct tape works to clear warts, but we’re not totally sure why. The first theory is that the tackiness of the duct tape removes the infected tissue in layers until the wart is gone. The other theory, which, given the moleskin study, seems slightly more plausible, is that the occlusion of the duct tape results in depriving the area of oxygen, thus, “suffocating” the virus. There’s the idea that the duct tape or occlusion has a stimulatory response on the immune system, causing a reaction that winds up taking care of the virus and wart (Vanderbuilt). Finally, some think the duct tape results in a psychological response that might work better in children than adults.
Verdict: Treat
This might not work as well as some wart treatments — salicylic acid has done well in studies but hasn’t been compared to duct tape — but it’s definitely got something to it. Studies have shown that it can help improve, and sometimes even totally clear, the appearance of a wart. If you’re going to try this, remember that it takes time, and it doesn’t work for everyone or every wart. Like everything, this is best done under the care of a doctor who can guide you about how to do it safely and effectively.