Duct tape does not work for Warts or VP's

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Reuters are reporting:
Duct tape no magical cure for warts, study findsMon Nov 6, 2006 5:12 PM ET

 

Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Placebo in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris (Warts) in Primary School Children
Marloes de Haen, MD; Marcus G. Spigt, PhD; Caro J. T. van Uden, PhD; Pierre van Neer, MD; Frans J. M. Feron, MD; André Knottnerus, PhD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:1121-1125.

 

I would be intersted to hear other pod's opinions on whether they have found duct tape as a reasonable therapy. In most cases I have not used it as a first line of treatment. I have however chosen it if the patient is not keen on using a more aggressive treatment (sal acid/liquid nitrogen etc) or in the younger patient who may not cope with the discomfort from liquid nitrogen. I have also used it when other treatment have failed.

I personally have only applied this treatment with 4 patients. The way we found it worked well was to apply duct tape in small squares over the verruca and then firmly fixing this to the skin with zinc oxide tape or similar for 3 days at a time, replacing this and reporting every 2 weeks for debridement. This seemed to have resolve within 2-3 months.

Would be interested in any comments onthe subject. Has anyone found some success? Tricks they use to help with the treatment?

 

Anecdotally I think duct tape works as I have used it on some patients and even myself(I had a wart on my finger and covered it up with duct tape.It was soon gone).

 

I had a lady tell me that her son had a 'huge' wart on his foot. They rubbed freshly cut garlic on it and then applied duct tape. Left it on for a few days, and repeated. Each time, some 'wart' came off with the tape. They showed it to me about 3 weeks later. I didn't see it before, but when I did see it, there was no sign of a wart. Not sure if it's due to something in the garlic, the occlusive nature of the duct tape, or the mechanical ripping off of HPV tissue with the tape. Could be a combination of all 3?
Beth.

 

I have used duct tape as a combination therapy for example after cryo when site has heald, Thuja pills recomended by homeopath/can be bought over counter or vit A and Zinc. Not sure of validation of any of these but results seem to justify the means. Alterativily I have had results with diabetic or patients or others who cannot or do not want to undergo treatment clear nail varnish has had good results. I think stopping the air getting to the skin is the main therory behind this.

Good to have lots of treatments up your sleeve.........

jude

 

Duct tape works,at least anecdotally.It is said to macerate the wart and hence shrink it.then again,on children,anything really works as most warts do respond to any/all treatment.

 

I took this from the "deep web" (www.turbo10.com)....

Much cut....
"Yet, there are too many studies which have found objective improvements in health from placebos to support the notion that the placebo effect is entirely psychological.

Doctors in one study successfully eliminated warts by painting them with a brightly colored, inert dye and promising patients the warts would be gone when the color wore off. In a study of asthmatics, researchers found that they could produce dilation of the airways by simply telling people they were inhaling a bronchiodilator, even when they weren't. Patients suffering pain after wisdom-tooth extraction got just as much relief from a fake application of ultrasound as from a real one, so long as both patient and therapist thought the machine was on. Fifty-two percent of the colitis patients treated with placebo in 11 different trials reported feeling better -- and 50 percent of the inflamed intestines actually looked better when assessed with a sigmoidoscope ("The Placebo Prescription" by Margaret Talbot, New York Times Magazine, January 9, 2000).*"


Don't underestimate that placebo effect!


Regards,
david

 

Absolutely David and John

The studies above also illustrate the necessity for many more Randomly Controlled Trials. I, for one, did not realise that the Focht team did not examine their patients during follow-up, and this study is widely quoted!

All the best

Bill Liggins

 

Bugger...would love the research to have said otherwise. I find it works just as well as my "Wart Wand", which actually is quite well. Though do find the younger the better with that approach though.

Seriously though, I think warts are the most misunderstood things and we will never know the real 100% proven cure.

Over the years have had sucess with the wart wand, wart fairy, duct tape, Thuja tbs, banana peel, morning spit, nail polish, Duofilm, cryotherapy, posofilin......the list is endless. The mind is a powerful thing and I still think that until a healthy child/adult 100% believes you can fix them, you will have no chance.

Cheers
Cylie

 

hi

i was recommended this tecknique by one of the leading podiatric dermatologists in the UK and have been treating vps for the last 2 years with this theory. What i have found is fochts research time frame is unrealistic and success rates maybe not be quite as high as stated, but i would like to say i have a good success rate (70-75%) which is higher than most other treatments available. Whether its placebo or not my main concern is within 1-2 weeks a painful vp no longer hurts and normally the vp has gone within 2-4 months. At the end of the day normally the patient has tried every other treatment available over the counter and gps etc without success.

sb

 

I have never heard of the wart fairy.

 

The wart fairy is a close cousin to the tooth fairy. She visits each night while you are sleeping and makes your wart smaller and smaller. When the wart is gone, she will leave a present as she is then very grateful that she doesn't have to visit any more as making warts smaller is very hard work.

On last sighting she was very ugly with purple wings and had a very large lump on her nose which may or may not have been a wart......yes I know, I work with waaaay too many young children with great imaginations but trust me, that fairy does good work.

 

Duct-tape fans stick with remedy despite wart study

FortWayne.com are reporting:
Duct-tape fans stick with remedy despite wart study

 

Netizens

Many years ago I lived in a city divided by sectarianism. As as podiatry student I working in a clinic for school kids where verrucae were common. My tutor ran a pilot study where he compared clinical outcomes. Bare in mind there was no need for ethical approval at the time.

He took three matched groups. The control were given Formaldehyde solution (6% ?) to paint daily on their plantar wart, the second group made up of Catholic children were presented with a bottle of tap water and told it was blessed Holy water and to apply daily as a paint. The third group were of the Protestant faith and they too were told to apply the Holy water to their warts.
The controlk were made up of the kids who refused to be treated with holy water and represented a conglomerate of faith.

The clear up rates were compared and from memory the Catholic children had a more favourable outcome than the copntrol; and the Protestants a much less successful outcome compared to the control.

I took from this experience there was a psycho-social component to treating warts. In more recent years I have made a fairly extensive study of superstition and old remedies for treating warts. Use of the onion family as a dressing is pretty common and I also believe in the wart fairy.

For decades now I have preferred a herbal approach and used the leaf of kalanchoe blosfidiana as a wart treatment. Like duct tape one of the action of the kalanchoe dressing is hydration of the epidermis. I believe kalanchoe is a natural salicylate and causes water to be trapped in the side salt linkages of the keratin molecule, whereas an occlusive dressing such as duct tape would increase local hydration though reduction of evaporation from the covcered skin surface. Increased hydrate encourages desquimation which may influence the virus site or the increased bulk may form an epidermal blister displacing the infected component. Either way the approach may give a credible alternative to wart treatment.

In any event I will be very interested to see if the availability of antiviral innoculation as a prevention for cervical cancer will influence the incidence of plantar warts. As a further precaution I would think greater awareness of treating verruce in adolescent males may be worth while too.

What say you?

Cameron

 

It's interesting to hear about all the treatment modalities used to eradicate verrucae. I have used all of the above mentioned and many, many more besides, but still struggle with the blighters, despite treating an average of 10 a day over the past 35 years.

I still question why we, as a profession, don't do more to try and prevent them from occurring in the first place?

Regards

Anne

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Hi All

This is my first posting - I have chosen to examine the literature on Duct tape occlusion therapy for my 3rd year literature review. I am struggling to find any research other that that by Focht et al, DeHaen et al and Wenner. If anyone can direct me to any more research of this nature, including general tape or occlusion for the treatment of plantar warts, I would be most grateful! It is interesting that despite the lack of credible evidence to support the use of this tape so far, there are still many anecdotal success stories!

Many thanks

Julie

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Hi

you might want to contact ivan bristow at southampton university as he is the leading podiatric dermatologist in the uk and he was the person who recommended this to me.

chris

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Oh dear John,

Your parents didn't like you very much did they. :empathy:

All good children know the wart fairy is sent from heaven to 'tect all the nice lil kiddies as they slumber.

You see they (th)wart all bogey men n fings while we slumber.

Thought everyone knew that.... Doh! :wacko:

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Have used monochloroethanoic acid crystals in 70% sal acid ointment in the past with much success. Now find it difficult to see patients within 2-3 days for review so no longer used - don't really want any unecessary appearances in court!
Russ.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

I too have used this tx with great success if they can handle the pain that it can cause with some people. My experience is that 40 year old bikies covered in tatoos can not handle the pain aswell as the little 6 year old girls who come in.

Nail polish, anything that occludes the area have all worked with varying success for me in the past.

But I strongly believe that immune function plays a more pivotal role than our tx (don't tell my pt though).

Multi vitamins, balanced diet with lots of broccoli, regular exercise, a good sleeping pattern, and a relaxing glass of red wine after work:drinks for all those adults seem to vastly improve my tx outcomes.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Ivan recommended this to us also....varying degrees of success and i have tried monochloracetic acid xystals in sal acid too but this is painful as it causes the tissues to breakdown and ulcerate so you then treating an ulcer. Doesnt take long to heal but it is an effective way to get rid of the VP.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

haha thats a cute picture

 

how effective is duct tape as a treatment for vps?

hi all,

i just wondered if anyone had any success stories when treating vps with duct tape? i am looking into other t/t methods as i have only limited success with t/s such as cryo/salicylic acid. ive been trying out thuja as an alternative t/t but have not had very good results from this. i read on another post that clear nail varnish has been used as a t/t? has anyone had any success with this or duct tape? any advice would be much appreciated, thanks :santa2:

 

Re: how effective is duct tape as a treatment for vps?

http://archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/143/3/309
http://archpedi.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/11/1121
http://archpedi.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/156/10/971

 

Re: how effective is duct tape as a treatment for vps?

Very, if you put it over their mouth to stop them moaning...

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

I didn't know about the wart fairy either. My mum made a point of discussing, (within my hearing) how if you ask a wart very very politely, to go away, it will do. I did it that day and the wart was gone within the week. I was about seven at the time.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

I have found garlic clove successful on myself and other patients! this was recommended to me by a lecturer at university! I have heard some people say duct tape worked for them but i'm not convinced.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

I think it works , one of my patients had a very resistant mosaic vps which did not resolve with chemical therapy . I advised her on the use of duct tape which she used religiously at home . The next time about a month I saw her they were 90% gone . She used it for a bit longer and they all went . I tend to advise patients use it in addition to the chemical therapy I apply and I seem to get good results

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

I have read some military research on treating an adolescent population.

How often did she keep the duct tape on for? The entire month or did she replace it weekly? When you advise patients on using duct tape, is that to cover the chemical therapy? What solutions/pastes do you use?

Gareth

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

As far as I can recall the patient applied it continuously day and night , she removed it for bathing and then put some more on afterwards . After about a month they were almost all resolved . I was very pleased with the result as I had used every sort of chemical treatment available to me and cryo with no success. I have found that with other patients if I apply chemical treatments e.g nitric acid or salicylic and then the patient applies duct tape in conjunction with this at home the verrucas seem to shift faster

regards yasmin

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

YDR - this was most likely coincidence.

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Yep; think placebo

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Beware of the advice you give if you decide to encourage the use of duct tape.
I had a client who presented witha very sore macerated foot on much of the plantar surface having been advised by another 'chiropodist' due to an allergic reaction to the application of the tape. The tape was applied over most of the plantar surface and the skin was in a seriously poor state.
She came to me quite desperate and I had to dress the wounds with lyofoam for several weeks before she could walk properly.
Made me sit up and think!

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Duct tape, good for holding the universe together someone once said.

Don Scott

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Most interesting spectrum of treatments! My own experience supports the idea that any material which occludes the vp from LIGHT as well as AIR seems effective in weakening the virus - so I have used duct tape over the lesion, but secured it with hapla, or similar tape, because it stays on more securely than duct tape. In marigold therapy the occlusion is also present, but added to it is the hydration effect which also seems to weaken the virus. But no one has mentioned silver nitrate sticks! A senior colleague recently advised that AgNO3 75% as a styptic, would cause contraction of the blood vessels and a superficial closing of blood supply. This, along with regular debridement, was an effective treatment - though not advised for long-term application, being caustic. Would anyone in this debate be able to comment on their assessment of silver nitrate as a wart treatment?

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Hi John,

I agree that occlusion of a VP can, sometimes, be an effective treatment for VP. However, I believe it is the subsequent maceration and destruction of tissue which initiates an immune response. No evidence to back that up, just my own thoughts!

With regard to silver nitrate, although this is often classified as a caustic (because it is caustic when applied to mucous membrane) it`s really a strong astringent as it is a protein precipitant. As such it is pretty self limiting in its effect.

I find it useful for it`s placebo effect in children or sometimes to aid reduction of macerated epidermal tissue as the eschar it forms toughens up the skin so scalpel work on the return visit is a little easier.

Cheers,
Bel

 

Re: Duct tape does not work for VP's

Sussex Chick makes a valid point here (as do all Sussex gals ). It never ceases to amaze me that a patient will wholeheartedly undertake a `natural` regime - "cos there aint no chemicals like acid or anaesthetic used, right?", yet fail to recognise that the tape, fruit, spit, excrement of a toad, etc can induce a `natural` dermatitis!! Go figure.

Cheers,
Bel