Q: Can duct tape really cure warts?

A: There are numerous household remedies that claim to cure almost any ailment -- but removing warts with duct tape?

According to a study published in the October 2002 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescents, duct tape is an effective remover of warts, but the process can take months.

In the study, a strip of duct tape was placed over the warts of 26 patients for six days, then removed and washed with a pumice stone or emery board. The practice was then repeated for about two months.

At the same time, 25 patients had warts treated with liquid nitrogen, which freezes the growth.

The results indicated that 85 percent of the patients treated with duct tape had their warts removed, while only 60 percent of freezing treatment cases were successful.

So how does duct tape remove warts? It's not the tape, but the natural functions of the body that do the trick. The duct tape irritates the wart, causing the immune system to recognize the disturbance and fight the virus that causes the wart.

The body can naturally remove warts without any treatment, but that may take years.

The duct tape speeds up the process.

Other wart removal treatments are electrosurgery, also known as burning, laser treatment and chemical applications placed on the wart.

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