Tag: home remedies

Professional Treatments for Warts

Warts cause embarrassment and discomfort. Home remedies and over-the-counter preparations work for some people. However, there are times when it becomes advantageous to call in a professional to treat your warts.

Retinoid cream is prescribed by doctors as an experimental treatment to get rid of warts. It is composed of a substance that comes from Vitamin A, called tretinoin. It has been shown, in research studies, to work well. Eighty-five percent of children who used it had positive results.

Retinoid cream shouldn’t be used on pregnant women’s warts because it’s been associated with birth defects. It can also cause changes in the skin of those who do use it. Skin can become dry, sensitive, swollen, crusted, or blistered. It can become red or have other color changes. If you use it, your skin can become sensitive to the sun.

Rather than slow down skin cell growth, which is what retinoid cream does, contact sensitizers work with the immune system instead. The first thing the doctor will do is to apply a contact synthesizer to your arm or back. This will start a reaction in your immune system.

The next time the contact sensitizer is applied, an allergic reaction will ensue. After that, the substance will be put directly on the warts and it will destroy it by summoning your immune system. Eighty percent of people in one study were helped with this treatment.

A doctor might put Cantharidin on your warts and keep it there with a bandage. After awhile, the wart will have a blister around it. Then, the doctor can lift the warts off and remove it.

Warts can also be frozen off. This is called cryotherapy. There is actually at least one over-the-counter kit for this. If a doctor does it, he will apply liquid nitrogen to the wart. After a blister has formed, you have to wait for about a week. At this time, the wart will fall off.

Cryosurgery uses basically the same ingredients, but the deep freezing gets rid of the warts sooner. Or, the base of the warts can be destroyed by applying an electric needle to it. These are miner surgeries.

Laser surgery can be done to remove warts. It is usually reserved for special cases. A pregnant woman may have no other way to have warts removed. A person may have a great number of warts and they may be very large.

The laser is basically just a beam of light that is highly focused. It can burn off warts and leave surrounding tissue unharmed if done right. It may be done with local anesthesia. Or, if the warts cover a large area general anesthesia is called for.

Once the warts have been removed, there will be a wound. This will be painful for a few days, but it should feel better after that. If you have undergone this treatment, you should watch out for excessive pain that persists. Tell your doctor if you notice pus or run a fever. This method has been shown to be successful on warts sixty-six percent of the time.

How To Get Rid Of Warts

There are many methods by which you can attempt to get rid of warts. There are home remedies, over-the-counter treatments, and medical treatments. Some may be more effective than others; but you may wish to consider some of the many possibilities.

The minor surgical procedure called curettage is one method that may be helpful. In this procedure, a surgical instrument called a curette is used to scrape away the tissue which makes up the wart. Curettage is a safe procedure when done by a medical professional in a manner which will lessen the risk of infection. Sterility of the surgical environment and of the wound itself is essential.

In cryosurgery, the wart is frozen to facilitate its removal. Most physicians will use liquid nitrogen for this procedure. The way it works is that the freezing kills the cells of the wart. This is often a preferred method of wart removal, as it is not invasive surgery. However, care must be taken to insure that the surrounding healthy skin cells are not damaged.

Laser surgery is one of the more recent treatments for warts. In addition to the risk of infection, and its effects on the immune system, this method is generally not recommended because it requires anesthesia. Laser surgery is usually only a suitable course of action if other methods have failed, and if removing the wart is absolutely necessary.

Injections of either cantharidin or candida are also used in wart removal. While their effectiveness varies, the warts often return after the skin has healed.

Imiquimod is a topical cream which aids in wart removal by helping in the production of interferon. This in turn assists the immune system in destroying the virus which caused the wart. It will also help in preventing the virus from spreading.

There are a number of over-the-counter methods being sold for the purpose of wart removal. Their effectiveness varies, but the primary concern is the possibility of destroying the healthy skin cells around the wart. Most over-the-counter methods use salicylic acid. There are many of these products available; they contain either adhesive pads or salicylic acid in small bottles or tubes.

Another over-the-counter method is a caustic pencil of silver nitrate. This method works by burning the wart. Cryosurgery kits are also sold over-the-counter. These kits are considerably more expensive than the other over-the-counter methods.

Although numerous studies have debated its effectiveness, a home-remedy treatment using standard duct tape has been shown to be helpful in some cases. In a process which takes up to two months, duct tape occlusion therapy simply consists of keeping clean duct tape on the wart for six days, carefully scraping the wart with a pumice stone, and continuing this cycle until the wart is gone. Although as of yet inconclusive, the theory of how this method works is that the specific type of rubber adhesive in the duct tape stimulates one’s immune system.

Although warts are caused by a virus, the theory that warts are also a sign of potassium deficiency has led many who prefer home-remedies to attempt wart removal by the use of banana peels. Some say it is often quite effective. As bananas are one of the most potassium-rich foods, keeping a fresh banana peel on the wart may cause the potassium to directly enter it. If one uses a fresh peel at least twice a day, the wart is supposed to shrink and fall off within a few days to a few weeks. Many people insist that this method does indeed work.

How to Treat Common Warts at Home

Common warts plague many people. If what they have is truly a common wart, then it probably is not anything dangerous at all. However, it can be a big nuisance. It can make them feel self conscious and it may be uncomfortable. Fortunately, common warts can often be treated at home.

The standard treatments for common warts are mainly different salicylic acid products. These preparations come in liquid, ointment, gel, and or specially coated adhesive pads. Some examples are Compound W ointment and Mediplast pads. Dr. Scholl’s also makes a liquid.

You should never use salicylic acid products if you have diabetes or a problem with your immune system. If you don’t have any such conditions, and you do use them, do so with caution. Follow the directions carefully.

If you leave the acid on healthy tissue, the acid will eat into it. The preparation that stays on the common warts will dissolve away the warts. You can eventually rub it off with a pumice stone.

Besides this, there are home remedies you can try. Using about 25,000 i.u. of Vitamin A from fish oil capsules can help. Open the capsules and spread it on the wart. Rub it in once a day. The advantage of this method and most other home remedies is that good tissue around the common warts is not damaged.

Other oils and juices can be used in a similar way for common warts. Vitamin E oil, castor oil, and clove oil are said to help with common warts. Aloe vera juice, milkweed juice, and the milky juice of unripe figs have been known to have a positive effect. Even dandelion sap has been used.

Some people rub their common warts with chalk. Some use a raw potato to rub it. A poultice of flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, and raw honey can be put on warts. The poultice should be changed every day.

Tea tree oil, when rubbed on the common wart, is said to melt the wart away in a little over a week. You can soak the wart in water for twenty minutes. Then dry it and apply vinegar. After this dries, wash and dry your foot again. Doing this regularly is said to remove common warts.

Some people advocate the use of garlic for removing common warts. Some would have you crush the garlic. Then hold it in place on the wart with a bandage. Some simply recommend taking garlic supplements.

Applying fresh cut pineapple to the common warts is supposed to get rid of them in just two or three days. The problem with this method is that you have to constantly cut into fresh pineapples. You will have more of the fruit than you know what to do with.

Perhaps, in the end, the best treatment for common warts is no treatment at all. These warts often go away with no treatment at all. About half of all warts will disappear with no help within two years. So, if you have common warts, you might try doing nothing at all.

Acne Scars Treatments-Good News

Good news! There is no reason to continue suffering from acne scars. It doesn’t matter if you have deep, pitted scars, or relatively minor ones, there are acne scars treatments available that can help you. These treatments cover everything to inexpensive home remedies to fairly pricey procedures that can only be performed by a medical professional.

Which option you choose will depend on several factors:
– How many scars you currently have
– How severe the scarring is
– The amount of time you are able to take to get rid of the acne scars
– How much money you have and what acne scars treatments your health insurance will cover
– Whether past treatments have worked

In most cases it is best to wait until you are done with your acne outbreaks before getting treatment for any scarring you may have. After all, you wouldn’t want to pay to have scars removed only to have a new outbreak cause more scars.

You should always check with your doctor or a dermatologist before trying any of the several acne scars treatments that are available. With that word of caution in mind, here are some options you may want to try:

1. Home remedy acne scars treatments. There isn’t a lot of medical evidence to back up claims about the effectiveness of home remedies, but many people use them and swear they work. Gently applying vitamin E or olive oil seems to moisturize the skin and reduce scarring, especially if you catch it early. Some people like to use lemon juice, but others find it to be too acidic, so be sure to test it on a small area of the skin first.

2. Medication for acne scars. You can go to the store and find several products that will help with acne which can minimize future scarring. There are also products that are made to reduce scarring, so you may want to give those a try. Another option is to talk to your doctor about prescription medications that you can use.

3. Acne scar procedures. There are also a few good options that require a visit to a doctor or an aesthetician. Lasers basically burn away old skin cells and promote the growth of healthier new cells. IPL (Intense Pulse Light) does the same basic thing, but does not require a medical license (in most jurisdictions) to be used. Dermabrasion is another of the acne scars treatments that removes old skin so new skin can take its place. Chemical peels are another option that removes skin, but many people are sensitive to this procedure; however, if your dermatologist believes you can tolerate it, then it’s worth a shot.

As you can see, there are several acne scars treatments that are available to you. However, none of them will do you any good if you just read about them. Instead you need to take action. See, you don’t have to live with unsightly scars from acne, so go ahead and take the first step now toward looking your best.