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It can hold a flashlight together or seal a leaky hose. You name it and people use duct tape to do it. It's a must-have in the home repair tool kit, but could duct tape have a place in the field of medicine? According to some medical researchers, you can add wart remover to the list.
Dr. Don Walters of Brookwood Dermatology said, "We treat many cases of warts here on a weekly basis at Brookwood Dermatology.”
Warts are a persistent viral infection of the outer layers of the skin. They come back and keep coming back. But fortunately for wart sufferers, there are several treatment options.
The National Institute of Health published the results of a 2002 study involving 61 people which found covering warts with duct tape for an extended period of time was more effective at getting rid of them than cryotherapy, which freezes the wart off.
Dr. Walters says the results were interesting, but impractical for most people.
“There were some students about the efficacy of duct tape where the patient wrapped the duct tape around the affected area but they left the duct tape on for seven weeks. And generally when it fell off they re-applied it immediately," said Walters.
And it doesn't always work. Most people don't have seven weeks worth of patience.
"I've seen many patients who've come into us who had applied duct tape to the wart and it had not resolved. However, they generally did not apply for the recommended length of time. The traditional treatment, if you come to a dermatologist, is that we will freeze them off with liquid nitrogen," said Walters.
Dr. Walters says the over the counter freeze spray wart treatment is also not strong enough to be effective on warts. Best bet is to go to a doctor.
One last note, as good as duct tape is at everything else a recent study found that it was not that effective at sealing ventilation ducts.
