How to freeze off a wart

You may be able to use an OTC product, such as Compound W Freeze Off or Freeze Away Easy Wart Remover, to treat smaller warts at home. These kits use a mixture of propane mixed in dimethyl ether. Typically, a foam applicator is soaked with this mixture. You apply the applicator directly to your wart.

About 24 hours after the procedure, a blister forms around the wart, and it resolves within 2 or 3 days. The entire recovery typically takes around a week, and it is important to keep the area clean, dry, and free from friction or pressure throughout this time.

You can also get cryotherapy products to remove warts at home. Over-the-counter kits use dimethyl ether propane instead of liquid nitrogen. They probably aren’t as effective as the treatment you will get from your doctor in their office. Never use home products to treat private parts warts, as they can cause severe damage.

Cryosurgery can be uncomfortable, but it usually isn’t too painful. The freezing is somewhat numbing. When your doctor places the instrument on your skin to freeze the wart, it will feel like an ice cube is stuck to your skin. Afterward, you may feel a burning sensation as your skin thaws out.

Wait until the irritation from the liquid nitrogen goes away before applying the medicine. Most warts will improve and disappear with liquid nitrogen treatment. For some patients it may not be as helpful. In very few patients, the wart may become bigger or a ring of smaller warts will develop around the treated wart.

But some people use wart–freezing devices too enthusiastically, which can damage skin even if there’s no fire, dermatologists say. Overuse can severely damage the surrounding skin, leading to redness, blisters or the death of tissue.

Peeling medicine (salicylic acid).

For common warts, look for a 17 percent salicylic acid solution. These products (Compound W, Dr. Scholl’s Clear Away Wart Remover, others) are usually used daily, often for a few weeks. For best results, soak your wart in warm water for a few minutes before applying the product.

One needs to keep going down until just below the level of the surrounding skin to eradicate a wart completely. Stop when the base of the wart looks exactly like normal skin (i.e. no black dots or ‘graininess). If they become sore or bleed a little just leave off the treatment and carry on the following night.

After a treatment, the skin will blister or get irritated and eventually slough off. That skin is deceased and so is the virus within it so it isn’t contagious anymore.

You can spread warts to yourself, too

Not only can you spread warts to other people, you can spread them to other parts of your body, too. If you have warts, avoid touching other areas of your body.

Weakened Defenses

Some people are at increased risk for warts due to weakened immune systems. Teenagers and people who have conditions that weaken their immune systems, like HIV, are at increased risk for warts.

Most warts will persist for one to two years if they are left untreated. Eventually, the body will recognize the virus and fight it off, causing the wart to disappear.

What causes warts? Warts are caused by an infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV). The virus causes an excess amount of keratin, a hard protein, to develop in the top skin layer (epidermis). The extra keratin produces the rough, hard texture of a wart.