Stories tagged duct tape
Unlikely cure: Not only does it look weird, but new research finds that duct tape is not the best way to get rid of warts. The new study found it effective only 21 percent of the time.I’m sorry to tell you this Red Green, but you might want to clean out that duct tape in your medicine cabinet.
New studies contradict the idea that duct tape is effective in curing warts. You might remember all the hubbub a few years ago that said the best way to get rid of warts was to put a piece of duct tape on the warty area and they would soon be dissolved away.
That study was done in 2002, but a new study done over a larger group of subjects showed that duct tape worked only 21 percent of the time in dissolving warts.
Warts are caused by a virus that hangs around in the outer layers of our skin. They’re in a place that’s hard for our bodies immune system to get its antibodies to attack the virus. The original theory behind the duct tape treatment concept was that rubber on the sticky side of the duct tape would irritate the skin enough to stimulate antibodies to go to the wart and kill it off.
But the new study found that duct tape was no more effective in treating warts than moleskin bandages, which are a cotton tape bandage similar to a Band-aid.
According to the experts in the field, the best way to treat warts is to use over-the-counter topical treatments that contain salicylic acid. Doctors will sometimes use laser therapy or liquid nitrogen to zap especially pesky warts. Without any treatment, most common warts will clear up on their own within two years.
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