A study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital showed that common duct tape is significantly more effective in curing common warts than the standard treatment of liquid nitrogen.
Most dermatologists treat warts by applying liquid nitrogen until the warts turn white and then a painful blister forms raising the wart to the top of the blister. The authors of this study treated half their wart patients by applying liquid nitrogen to each wart for 10 seconds every 2-3 weeks for a maximum of 6 treatments. The other half were treated by applying duct tape directly to the wart for a maximum of two months. The cure rate for the duct tape was 85 percent, while the cure rate for liquid nitrogen was 60 percent. The duct tape, or any other non-porous tape, appears to macerate the wart so that blood vessels grow into it, allowing the body’s immune system to kill the wart. Children with multiple warts have a much lower cure rate with liquid nitrogen.
1)The efficacy of duct tape vs cryotherapy in the treatment of Verruca vulgaris (The Common Wart). Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2002, Vol 156, Iss 10, pp 971-974. DR Focht, C Spicer, MP Fairchok. Focht DR, Childrens Hosp, Med Ctr, Dept Pediat Gastroenterol & Nutr, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati,OH 45229 USA.
2) Is duct tape occlusion therapy as effective as cryotherapy for the treatment of the common wart? Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2002, Vol 156, Iss 10, pp 975-977. S Ringold, JA Mendoza, BA Tarini, C Sox.
Checked 8/18/23
