Wart Remover - Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid is an inexpensive over-the-counter wart remover.  The preparations can be found in most drugstores and some supermarkets and there are typically two kinds of products; adhesive pads that are treated with salicylic acid or bottles of concentrated salicylic acid.  Typically over-the-counter preparations are less concentrated (about 17% salicylic acid) than those prescribed by doctors (approximately 70% salicylic acid).

These at home warts removal treatments are usually effective for the least severe cases, where there may only by a single wart or small collections of these benign growths.   Before application the area of skin containing the wart must be thoroughly cleansed and salicylic acid must only be applied to the wart and not to the skin that surrounds it.  This is because as an acid it may irritate or burn unaffected areas.  At all times follow the instructions that come with the preparation.

Daily Application Required

The disadvantage of using salicylic acid is that daily application is required and it may take some time before a response is noticed, and the wart diminishes.     For faster results it is advised that the area containing the wart is kept clean, and as it dries it can be filed with a pumice stone or emery board.  This sloughs off dead skin and encourages the growth of new skin.  Salicylic acid belongs to a group of medicines known as keratolytics  and are believed to work in a number of ways;  by softening keratin, the protein in the skin, and encouraging the outer layer of skin to loosen and fall off.  

Front-line Treatment

One set of medical guidelines considers salicylic acid to be the most effective first-line treatment for plantar warts, flat and common warts on the hand, and flat warts on the face (Sterling JC, Handfield-Jones S, Hudson PM.  Guidelines for the management of cutaneous warts.  Br J Dermatol 2001; 144: 4-11).

Effective Treatment

Although no single treatment has yet proved to be effective in obtaining complete remission in all patients, a 2004 comprehensive review stated that there is no evidence to suggest that other treatments have any advantage over salicylic acid wart removal in terms of remission of warts or fewer adverse effects (Gibbs S, Harvey I, Sterling JC, Stark R.  Local treatments for cutaneous warts.  Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004; (4): CD001781).