Does your child have warts, and you wonder how to treat these ugly skin lesions without using conventional methods? Frankly, there are many at-home ways to eliminate warts.
Let’s discuss the common health problems kids and their parents face, how to treat them, and where you can go for wart treatment in Tuckahoe, NY.
Warts and How to Treat Them
Warts are highly contagious, noncancerous skin lesions common among both children and adults. However, kids more easily develop these rough, brown/gray bumps on their hands, feet, faces, and other areas simply because their immune systems are underdeveloped, and children contact the causative viruses at swimming pools, from each other, and on just about any hard surfaces.
Many parents ask pediatricians about the best ways to resolve warts and do we have to remove them with chemicals, cutting, or freezing/burning. The answer is no; if warts (and they tend to grow in groups) are not particularly painful, infected, or otherwise bothersome, there’s no harm in letting them resolve over time (this may take weeks to months) or in using some clever at-home ways to remove them. Here are five methods of naturally treating kids’ warts.
1. Cover a Wart with Duct Tape
Yes, simply placing a small duct tape patch over the wart and consistently covering it for some days to week shrinks the rough bump and helps it gradually peel and fall off. Be sure to cleanse the wart with warm soap and water before applying the tape, and you may want to abrade it gently with an emery board between duct tape applications. Watch for redness, drainage, and other signs of infection, which could require the services of your pediatrician. In general, common warts treated with duct tape reduce in size and fall off within a month to six weeks.
2. Apply Lemon Oil
Available through health food, naturopathic stores, and online, lemon oil may be applied to common warts with a cotton swab or Q-tip twice daily. This essential oil works over several weeks to shrink warts and allow them to slough off. You may also want to cover the site with a band-aid to help your child avoid picking, rubbing, or itching the wart.
3. Apply Cider Vinegar
This is a prevalent wart remedy. Just like lemon oil, apply the vinegar with a swab or cotton ball twice a day, and cover the wart. Because vinegar is an acid, watch for signs of skin irritation; otherwise, persist in using this remedy as it takes many weeks to work.
4. Supplement Your Child’s Diet with Vitamin D
This versatile vitamin boosts the immune system, so when added to your child’s daily diet through supplementation or foods, such as dairy products, the body can fight off the causative human papillomavirus. The wart may decrease in size gradually and fall off. Ask your pediatrician about how much vitamin D your child should take.
5. Supplement Your Child’s Diet with Zinc
Zinc supplementation also boosts the immune system, so the body combats viruses, bacteria, and other invaders. Dietary sources include red meats, fish, and pumpkin seeds. For the right vitamin or supplement dosage, ask your provider at Village Pediatric Group.
Advice on Warts from Village Pediatric Group
Our board-certified pediatricians, Drs. McGowan, Bellevue, Hughes, and Kamasresan frequently use in-office treatments to combat the most stubborn and irritating of warts and provide parents with user-friendly information on the prevention of skin infections of all kinds.
If you have a question about warts or other aspects of your child’s skin health, call us today at (914) 771-7070, or make an appointment for an in-office consultation. You may also request a visit with one of our doctors by filling in an appointment request form.
