Wart

The virus is relatively hardy and immune to many common disinfectants. Exposure to 90% ethanol for at least 1 minute, 2% glutaraldehyde, 30% Chlorhexidine, and/or 1% sodium hypochlorite can disinfect the pathogen.^[21]

The virus is resistant to drying and heat, but killed by 100 °C (212 °F) temperature and ultraviolet radiation.^[21]

• Salicylic acid can be prescribed by a dermatologist in a higher concentration than that found in over-the-counter products. Several over-the-counter products are readily available at pharmacies and supermarkets of roughly two types: adhesive pads treated with salicylic acid, and bottled concentrated salicylic acid and lactic acid solution.
• Fluorouracil — Fluorouracil cream, a chemotherapy agent sometimes used to treat skin cancer, can be used on particularly resistant warts, by blocking viralDNA and RNA production and repair.^[24]
• Imiquimod is a topical cream that helps the body's immune system fight the wart virus by encouraging interferon production. It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for genital warts.^[25]
• Cantharidin, found naturally in the bodies of many members of the beetle family Meloidae, causes dermal blistering. It is used either by itself or compounded with podophyllin. Not FDA approved, but available through Canada or select UScompounding pharmacies.
• Bleomycin — A more potent chemotherapy drug, can be injected into deep warts, destroying the viral DNA or RNA. Bleomycin is notably not US FDA approved for this purpose. Possible side effects include necrosis of the digits, nail loss, and Raynaud syndrome. The usual treatment is one or two injections.^[26][27]
• Dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), like salicylic acid, is applied directly to the wart. Studies show this method is effective with a cure rate of 80%. But DNCB must be used much more cautiously than salicylic acid; the chemical is known to cause genetic mutations, so it must be administered by a physician. This drug induces an allergic immune response, resulting in inflammation that wards off the wart-causing virus.^[28]
• Cidofovir is an antiviral drug which is injected into HPV lesions within the larynx (laryngeal papillomatosis) as an experimental treatment.^[29]
• Verrutop verruca treatment is a topical solution made from a combination of organic acids, inorganic acids, and metal ions. This solution causes the production of nitrites, which act to denature viral proteins and mummify the wart tissue. The difference between Verrutop and other acid treatments is that it does not damage the surrounding skin.
• Another product available over-the-counter that can aid in wart removal is silver nitrate in the form of a caustic pencil, which is also available at drug stores. In a placebo-controlled study of 70 patients, silver nitrate given over nine days resulted in clearance of all warts in 43% and improvement in warts in 26% one month after treatment, compared to 11% and 14%, respectively, in the placebo group.^[30] The instructions must be followed to minimize staining of skin and clothing. Occasionally, pigmented scars may develop.
• Trichloroacetic acid can be used to treat warts if salicylic acid or cryotherapy fail or are not available. It requires repeat treatments every week or so. Side effects are burning and stinging.^[31]

• 
  Two viral warts on a middle finger, being treated with a mixture of acids (like salicylic acid) to remove them. A white precipitate forms on the area where the product was applied.
• 
  Throat warts before and after carbon dioxide laser treatment.

• Keratolysis, of dead surface skin cells usually using salicylic acid, blistering agents, immune system modifiers ("immunomodulators"), or formaldehyde, often with mechanical paring of the wart with a pumice stone, blade etc.^[32]
• Electrodesiccation^[33]
• Microwave treatment^{[34][35][36][37][38][39]}
• Cryosurgery or cryotherapy, which involves freezing the wart (generally with liquid nitrogen),^[40] creating a blister between the wart and epidermal layer after which the wart and the surrounding dead skin fall off. An average of three to four treatments is required for warts on thin skin. Warts on calloused skin, like plantar warts, might take dozens or more treatments.^[41]
• Surgical curettage of the wart
• Laser treatment – often with a pulse dye laser or carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser. Pulse dye lasers (wavelength 582 nm) work by selective absorption by blood cells (specifically hemoglobin). CO₂ lasers work by selective absorption by water molecules. Pulse dye lasers are less destructive and more likely to heal without scarring. CO₂ laser works by vaporizing and destroying tissue and skin. Laser treatments can be painful, expensive (though covered by many insurance plans), and not extensively scarring when used appropriately. CO₂ lasers will require local anaesthetic. Pulse dye laser treatment does not need conscious sedation or local anesthesia. It takes 2 to 4 treatments, but can be many more for extreme cases. Typically, 10–14 days are required between treatments. Preventive measures are important.^[41]
• Infrared coagulator – an intense source of infrared light in a small beam like a laser. This works essentially on the same principle as laser treatment. It is less expensive. Like the laser, it can cause blistering, pain, and scarring.^[42]
• Intralesional immunotherapy with purified candida, MMR, and tuberculin (PPD) protein appears safe and effective.^[43][44]
• Duct tape occlusion therapy involves placing a piece of duct tape over the wart. The mechanism of action of this technique still remains unknown. Despite several trials, evidence for the efficacy of duct tape therapy is inconclusive.^[45][46] Despite the mixed evidence for efficacy, the simplicity of the method and its limited side-effects lead some researchers to be reluctant to dismiss it.^[47]
• No intervention. Spontaneous resolution within a few years can be recommended.^[48]

Daily application of the acrid yellow latex of Chelidonium majus (greater celandine) is a traditional treatment.^[49][50]

A variety of traditional folk remedies and rituals claim to be able to remove warts. According to English folk belief, touching toads causes warts; according to a German folk belief, touching a toad under a full moon cures warts.^[51] The most common Northern Hemisphere toads have glands that protrude from their skin that superficially resemble warts. Warts are caused by a virus, and toads do not harbor it.^[52]

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain has his characters discuss a variety of such remedies. Tom Sawyer proposes "spunk-water" (or "stump-water", the water collecting in the hollow of a tree stump) as a remedy for warts on the hand. In his version, one puts one's hand into the water at midnight and says:

Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts, Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts

One would then "walk away quick, eleven steps, with your eyes shut, and then turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody. Because if you speak the charm's busted." This is given as an example of Huckleberry Finn's planned remedy, which involves throwing a dead cat into a graveyard as a devil or devils comes to collect a recently buried wicked person. Another remedy involved splitting a bean, drawing blood from the wart and putting one of the bean halves against the wart, and burying that half at a crossroads at midnight. The theory of operation is that the blood on the buried bean will draw away the wart.^[53] Twain is recognized as an early collector and recorder of genuine American folklore.^[54]

Similar practices are recorded elsewhere. In Louisiana, one remedy for warts involves rubbing the wart with a potato, which is then buried; when the "buried potato dries up, the wart will be cured".^[55] Another remedy similar to Twain's is reported from Northern Ireland, where water from a specific well on Rathlin Island is credited with the power to cure warts.^[56]