If you've got kids it's highly likely you have come across warts on the hands and feet and the odd plantar verruca. As a kid I remember having several verrucas on my feet and having them frozen off which was painful and didn't make playing sports at the time very comfortable (or walking for that matter). Fast forward quite a few years and my daughter comes to me with a very deep verruca on the bottom of her right foot. Thinking back to my verruca and treatment of it when I was roughly the same age, I decided to search for a less painful more natural approach and found one that worked a treat!
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
The easy, pain free, safe and effective natural treatment I found was Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). ACV is simply fermented apple juice and has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and antiseptic properties. Taken internally, it is incredibly cleansing and can aid digestion, balance gut microbiota, enhance liver detoxification, and promote clear skin. It has a variety of health promoting substances including enzymes, minerals, amino acids, pectin, and natural malic and tartaric acids. Applied externally, it is powerful in removing warts, verrucas, moles, and skin tags, and can be applied to acne, fungal infections, dandruff, and insect bites when diluted in water. ACV only has these amazing health benefits if it is true raw unfiltered, unrefined, organic ACV that contains "the mother" (a brown cobwebby looking substance). Great brands that I have used include Braggs and Ceres Organics. Both can be purchased from your local supermarket or health food store.
So how do we use ACV to remove verrucas and warts? Each consecutive night follow the steps below until the verruca or wart turns black and falls off.
Step 1: Soak a cotton ball in ACV. In some cases you may need to half the cotton ball if it is too big. Do not dilute the ACV with water, use it concentrate.
Step 2: Place the ACV soaked cotton ball over the wart or verruca and hold in place.
Step 3: Put a plaster over the cotton ball, adhering it tightly.
Step 4: Put a sock over the foot (if you are treating the foot). This helps to keep the plaster in place during the night.
Step 5: Take the plaster and cotton ball off during the day and air the area.
Step 6: Repeat consecutively. This is important for treatment to be effective. If your child experiences stinging of the skin around the treatment area you can take a night off applying or make the cotton ball smaller so it is primarily only touching the verruca or wart.
In most cases warts tend to die off quicker than the verrucas, typically within 1 week, due to the roots that the verrucas lay deep down into the skin, and verrucas within 2 weeks; if ACV is used mostly consecutively. The first indication that the ACV is working is that you will notice the verruca or wart starts to separate and turns a brownish and then black colour. When you see the change in colouration do not stop treatment, keep applying the ACV until the verruca or wart has fallen off. Another positive benefit of using ACV to treat these skin extrusions, aside from it being natural and pain free, is that it reduces the scarring typically experienced using other methods such as freezing or burning them off.
How neat is it that we can treat these everyday childhood ailments ourselves from our own home using natural and effective remedies such as ACV! If you have used ACV to treat verrucas or warts before, or you plan to, leave a comment below and tell us how you got on.