After a full investigation, we have come to discover that Meredith has about 15 outbreaks of Human Papillomavirus on her skin. There used to be much less, but due to her incessant scratching, they have spread and are popping up in the bends of her knee, her feet, on her side, and various other places – though primarily on her legs. And from the reading I’ve done this evening, there is absolutely no method for prevention, short of being a good hand washer.
“What is human papillomavirus?” you ask.
Well, they are commonly known as warts.
Yep, warts.
I had no idea that warts were a virus. Not that I spend evenings contemplating things of this matter, but a simple Google search made for quick education. I remember having one on my hand as a child, but a little Compound W took care of it in no time. Meredith, however, has a LOT of these stinkers, and we figured before she scratched herself into one big wart, we had better treat them.
While we were at the beach the kids saw a commercial for some Dr. Scholl product that freezes off warts with one application; Jeff had heard a similar ad on the radio too. So, before dinner this evening we went to Walgreens and purchased the Compound W Freeze-Off to try out on Meredith’s growing wart farm.
Okay, so it isn’t a ‘farm’, but it most certainly is a crop.
Doesn’t she look thrilled out of her mind?
Actually, she was nervous. When I first applied the regular Compound W last week, I accidentally put too much on the brush and it dripped on the skin around the wart – burning it. And well, I realize that makes me a bad mommy, but it was not intentional and I paid for it IN FULL because the girl screamed for a 1/2 hour no matter what I did.
And then, I promised her I would never touch her with the stuff again – and if you’ll note in the photos, I have not gone back on that promise.
Never again will I burn a child with Compound W – that stuff is LETHAL I tell ya.
With blankie at hand, Meredith allowed Jeff to inspect the warts and select the 3 he would treat tonight.
Jeff read the directions carefully, both in English and Spanish – for good measure, and then did the whole pump action thing, pulling out the applicator and pressing it against the wart for 10 seconds while we listened to the “Tssszzzzzzz”. The package said, “Place on wart up to 20 seconds.”, but Meredith barely made it 10 seconds before swatting at Jeff and screaming, so we didn’t push it.
At first it must have been a cool feeling, but it quickly turned to a cold burn.
Altogether Mer was a real trooper – she wants to get rid of these little ‘cauliflower mounds’ before she spreads them further. After the pain died-down to a manageable level, Band Aids were applied to keep her hands of them.
The package says they should dry up and fall off in 10 to 14 days.
We shall see.
I sure hope so.
35 Comments
Josh
Hmmmm. Medical literature says that the old duct tape remedy works just as efficaciously as sprays and treatments. Hurts a lot less too! It’s thought to stimulate some immune response in the skin. Did you try that at all?
Josh
cc
This is going to sound weird, but when you administer the next dose make sure you take a emery board to it first. It removes the already dead stuff and allows it to work on the new.
We did this with Rapunzel, and still do. Every few years she seems to have a breakout.
Once she had a rash, from using my deodorant, when she was about 5, the Dr. gave her an antibiotic to treat it Apparently it killed the rash causing virus and the warts too. Though the Dr. swears that it’s not possible.
Tell Meredith to hang in there, as much as it hurts now, she’ll be glad when they’re all gone.
bethany actually
Aw, poor Mer. I had a wart on my finger once, but I treated it with regular old Compound W (I don’t remember that hurting at all) and it went away in about a week. Never came back again. I hope all goes well with the treatment!
Shannon
My daughter had the exact same thing happen a few years ago. It was crazy and I too did not know that warts were a virus. Rather than going through the Compound W process which takes a sweet forever and isn’t so very pretty- Maddie’s dr. gave her an oral medicine (sorry I don’t remember the name) that cleared it right up. Much easier and sooo much quicker. Just a thought for you to try if the CW doesn’t do wonders!
Mom24
You might want to check out Molluscum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluscum_contagiosum My daughter had that a couple of years ago. It usually starts in the folds of the skin, and is spread by itching. It’s highly contagious, not a big deal, and according to our dermatologist (a big wig with Children’s Hospital Columbus, OH), not effectively/(worth it) treatable. She recommended leaving it alone and letting it run it’s course. She also told me all three of her kids have had it. Unfortunately, running it’s course can take as long as two years. In my daughter’s case it did not. Also, even though it is so contagious, her brother whom she bathes with, and her older sister who uses the same washcloth often, did not catch it. They said Julianna may have caught it easier since she is prone to excema. Good luck.
Sheila
If you do leave them alone (rather than treating them), your body eventually fights the virus and then you don’t get anymore breakouts. I used to get a few on my feet that I treated as they came for 12 years. Then my husband convinced me to leave them alone. It did take several months, but they turned black, fell off, and I haven’t had one in the many years since. But I suppose having so many on her legs, its a little different. I don’t envy her, that Compound W freeze off stuff HURTS!
Leanne
My daughter just had an outbreak of these, and the freeze off stuff made them ooze which caused it to spread, and she immediately got 4 more within 2 inches of the first one.
Our family doc said to cover them with duct tape. Leave the tape on until it falls off. Hers came off in just over a week, and we’re wishing we had tried that first.
Jersey Girl
My kids have gone through this too. I found that duct tape made them worse, I would remove the tape and they would be bigger than before! I went to a dr and he gave me a cream to use that got rid of them.
Bryssy
Poor thing!! I agree, use the emery board. CW works so much better if you do! Hang in there, Mer!!
MidlifeSlices™
Wow, seems you’ve got a lot of conflicting advice here which means things work diffently on each individual. I wish you success and know this heat probably isn’t helping the problem or the itching.
SparklieSunShine
I remember having a lot of these on my knees one summer when I was younger. Getting them off was not fun. Good luck, I hope it goes well.
Jill - GlossyVeneer
Poor Meredith, I hope they go away quickly. I think it’s interesting how girls will let their daddies get away with inflicting the pain more than they allow Mom. I know I was that same way as a kid.
Atomic Bombshell
Poor kid. Dealing with that stuff can be fairly miserable. Hope you get it all cleared up soon.
mommyknows
Poor Meredith. Sam ‘had’ several on his hands. We did the duct tape method on the one that showed up first. It disappeared and the rest followed shortly after with no treatment.
ashpags
I agree with Josh. I used to get warts on the cuticles of my fingernails. I think probably what happened was that I got one, and then (because I was in middle school and manicures were alltherage) they spread to many fingers. The little ones got frozen off at the dermatologist no problem (this was before the at home freezing treatment was available, and yes, it does burn like heck), but for most of the stubborn ones, duct tape was the only solution. Basically, you completely cover the wart with a strip of duct tape (which I then always covered with a cute bandaid, natch) and keep it from getting light or moisture. If it does get wet (like in the shower), pull off the duct tape, dry the skin thoroughly but quickly, and put on a new strip. I used to wear a disposable glove in the shower to keep it from getting wet, but that’s not as feasible with legs. Check it in a week, and if it’s still there, keep going. If they stick around after a few weeks, a dermatologist has some more serious options, like cutting them out and bleomycin injections. The injections are the big guns (bleomycin is a chemo drug), but for one particularly nasty guy on my thumb, it was all that worked. Good luck to Meredith!!! =)
Mim
We tried the CW freezing stuff. We had would have had to apply again but G would not hear of it. LOL So, we are still trying to get rid of one.
LizP
We used duct tape for a wart my stepson had on the bottom of his foot and it worked like a charm! I don’t think it would be very attractive for a girl’s leg though!
I had a wart on my finger and the directions of the stuff I used (Compound W?) said to put vaseline around the wart before you applied the stuff. This will help prevent burning on your skin.
Angela Tippets
I was wondering how that stuff worked. My daugther has a couple as well, one inbetween her toes. AWW, poor baby. Merideth looks M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E!! Let us know in a follow up how it all went.
Lisa
I have fought these things on and off for my whole life..not fun. I’ve gone online to search for natural remedies to get rid of them. There are different homeopathic remedies that help get rid of them. Tea tree oil helps too. I just recently dealt with a huge outbreak on my hands. It seemed like every day I was discovering two or more new ones. I took one homeopathic remedy for one week and another for the next, etc. They seem to be going away! I’m so thankful because it was beginning to feel like I shouldn’t cook or be awake without gloves on my hands.
Hoping that Mer gets relief soon!
Mom2Six
I’m glad to read this and see all the advice. My son has been battling warts on his fingers.
I hope Meredith’s go away soon!
Stefani
Aw, poor girlie!
I had one of those on my finger when I was in first grade. I remember it felt like it was 3 feet tall and that it would never ever go away so long as I lived.
I thought I would die.
I hope it works for her!
Jan
Here is some utterly unproven, unscientific advice, along with a dose of sympathy. Poor Meredith!
When my kid was about her age and had a bad round of warts, his doctor said that children are more susceptible to warts because their bodies aren’t as good at recognizing the virus as such. She suggested visualization techniques, for my son to imagine his body beating up the warts and getting rid of them. I don’t know if that helped at all, but it made him feel more involved!
She also suggested he take Tagamet daily for a couple of months. She said there was no scientific proof, just anecdotal evidence that taking stomach medication would encourage the body’s immune system to kick in.
He did also have some treated in the doctor’s office with liquid nitrogin.
At some point, they did all go away. Best of luck to you!
mamalang
PB had a wart on her foot and it was not fun treating it. The dr finally had to cut it out, as she wouldn’t let us treat it at home. Now she has another, and as soon as she is home from camp, I’m trying the duct tape therapy.
Hope Mer’s heal quickly. She was very brave!
Julie
What about consulting a physician?
Suebob
Oh poor girl. I am so sorry all of you have to go through this – I know it is hard on parents, too.
Stephanie
Okay, we fought the warts with my daughter and I would skip directly ahead to the Candida/Tagamet therapy — you can google it. The dermatologist treated one wart on each hand and all the warts– over 30 on her hands, plus a few on the knees and toes — were gone within a month. It was the least painful of all the things we tried.
Mrs. Wilson
Poor kid. I know how it is. I had (and have again) those ugly things. You know what got rid of my worst ginormous one? Duct tape. Seriously. I guess it probably wouldn’t stick that well on legs, but it works great on fingers and toes.
I hope the treatment worked!!
Bonnie
this has been very interesting I thought HPV caused cancer so I googled too; and it does who knew these are in the same family WOW! Ciara had some when she was little but hers were seed warts [small hard ball under the skin] we went to the Dr. they burned one off and that in its self was traumatic[sp]. She did get hers from a friend, his mom said she just broke the skin over the wart with a needle and it would pop out with a little squeeze.She didn’t want me to do it so I payed her a dollar for everyone she could reach and two for the ones i had to reach this took us about a week and she was soooo brave! They never came back.Now she has a cauliflower one on her palm we are going to try the duct tape thanks for any one who loves bananas put a small piece of peel on the wart every night any way this takes longer than she wants to wait.
Angie Garza
My son had two warts, one on his thumb and one on the bottom of his foot. The dermatologist took the thumb one off, but told us to use the CW pads for the foot one. It worked, but my sone kept messing with the foot one. Haven’t had another outbreak since. I’m amazed at the duct tape responses. I wonder what makes it work so well. ang
Mr. OMSH
Why did you Photoshop the pics with me in them? You made my forehead grow and hair recede…
Shannon
Poor baby! I feel for her! LOL at Mr. OMSH!
Elaine
I got one on my foot when pregnant with Anya and had heard I could just leave it alone. Well, Anya is 3 and they have multiplied so I now have a whole colony down there. Never had any luck with topical stuff at all. Have heard really good things about hypnosis, actually, and am hoping to give that a go. Here’s hoping hers fall off right quick!
Diana
My daughter had warts on her foot. We used duct tape, just kept putting new pieces on when they fell off. It works, took a little while. Can’t even tell she had them. It is amazing. Good luck.
gingermog
I had one on my foot, I let it grow huge before doing anything about it. I used a conventional brand which made it smaller but it didn’t dissapear until I went to Venezuela on holiday and it magically disapeared :0
Erin G.
Both my brother and I took Karate for years and, as a result, had dozen of plantar warts on our feet (which would then spread to hands and arms and legs). We tried having the dermatologist burn them off, but they were so deep that they required several trips. There were so many that we tried the paint on compound W. That helped somewhat, but never got rid of them. We tried the at home stuff as well as the compound W, and that just hurt like the dickens. Finally, we put duct tape on them.
First they got bigger. I have been told that phenomenon is the wart coming to the surface in an attempt to not suffocate. That very well could be hogwash, though. After about 3 weeks, I went to change the strip on my toe, and the whole wart pulled out of my foot–leaving a huge crater where it had been– never to come back. I continued with the duct tape and eventually they all went away. I’ve never had an issue with warts since.
Ultimately, all of these suggestions work on someone, or people wouldn’t suggest them. I’d try one route for a while and see if it works, and if it doesn’t, try the other means suggested. Best of luck!