Talk:Wart
Viruses can't be aerobic
Viruses can't be aerobic or non-aerobic themselves- they aren't living things. Is the article implying that the wart itself (cells infected with virus) needs oxygen to grow, and absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere?
Yes. Please some clarification on this. You can't "asphyxiate" a virus!!!!
- I've removed the sentence that read: This treatment is effective because the virus that causes warts is aerobic (oxygen-breathing), and duct tape is impermeable to air molecules--thus asphyxiating the viral colony and curing the wart. The study the paragraph refers to does indicate that the duct-table method works, however it does not provide any explanation as to why it works. The aerobic virus theory seems unlikely at best. --PJF (talk) 10:04, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
That Picture
Good god, aside from how disgustingly huge that is, that's not an accurate representation of a 'normal' wart like one sees commonly. I realize it says 'very large' but I think most of us would prefer to see the most common sort of wart.
- Remove Yeah, it's gross. Can't even read the article normally with that thing staring at me ;)
- Remove -- That's just going for shock effect, not instruction. MShonle 15:19, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
- Remove Nasty nasty. The picture has been in my head since I saw the article yesterday, so I'm going to go ahead and remove it. Dreamyshade 03:06, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
Home Remedies
Although a disclaimer is offered for treatments, I think removal of the mentioned treatments (lighter/air-duster) should be given discussion. These are hardly factual and are against any recommendation a board certified physician would make. In my opinion, this is not what Wikipedia stands for.
- Remove I think the efficacy and description of various treatments as explored by the medical community is indeed relevant, although I do not think this is what you are talking about. I believe the suggestion of unstudied treatments, especially with instructions, is not reasonable material for wikipedia. It is not testable or verifiable without a medical study, and wikipedia cannot provide such. Further, the suggested methods if strictly followed might not be notably harmful, but recommending self-burning and freezing tactics is sure to lead to a trial of errors. As such I believe it is conventionally not appropriate for Wikipedia for having no source, being nonfactual, but as a seperate case completely irresponsible to allow this material to be published in this fashion. JoshuaRodman 21:41, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
- Remove A sentence or two along the lines of "Some people try to remove warts at home using lighters or aerosol propellant, but there home remedies are potentially dangerous and not recommended by doctors." would be okay, but the current form should go. Icarus 20:37, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
- Remove I agree with Icarus. I don't have much of a medical background, but those "home remedies" sound like misguided attempts at a substitute for professional treatment to me. --Dirk Gently 03:03:59, 2005-07-30 (UTC)
Experts?
Another treatment for warts is to simply cut them off, or dig them out of the skin (for instance, if a wart appears under a finger or toe nail). Anyone want to phrase this in a medical manner? Hyacinth 03:08, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)
- My _completely_ inexpert understanding of warts is that cutting them can lead to the spread of the infected cells and thus the infection to other areas of the body, and that moreover, the removal would have to be reapplied a number of times for any reasonable chance of success. In any event, advising people to cut out parts of their bodies without medical supervision is not, I believe the role of an encyclopedia, nor safe, nor reasonable. Readers, please do not do this! JoshuaRodman 21:34, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
- This was not intended as discussion of home remedies. Any wart removal method may need to be applied a number of times. Hyacinth 21:56, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
- I apologise, I misunderstood the context of your comment. To me, it sounded like a suggestion. If we can find a reference that lists this as a commonly used practice, inclusion makes sense to me, but I would prefer it if it included the medical community view of such a practice. As for multiple times, I wasn't suggesting this is specific to this action, but that the recommendation of causl readers to cut out parts of their bodies mutiple times was perhaps a bad idea. JoshuaRodman 06:06, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
- This was not intended as discussion of home remedies. Any wart removal method may need to be applied a number of times. Hyacinth 21:56, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
More questions
- How does warts spread?
- How long can a wart "live" outside the body (e.g. on a floor)?
Recent Developments paragraph
I agree with Dirk Gently that unless there's a source for this information to back it up, it should be removed from the article. Icarus 05:27, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
Corn/callus
What is the difference between corn and wart? Meursault2004 15:40, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
- A callus is a thick hardened patch of dead skin. It's caused by long-term repeated rubbing and is the body's way of creating a protective layer. Anyone can get calluses, and they are not contagious. A wart is a growth caused by the Human Papilloma Virus, and it has no beneficial qualities. You can only get a wart if you have the virus (though most people do get it at some time in their life). Warts can go away on their own (though persistant ones that cause problems sometimes need to be removed), but calluses do not go away on their own (though, like warts, they don't always cause problems that require them to be removed). --Icarus 23:30, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
Cryosurgery Over-the-counter
I'm not an expert, but from what medical students I know have said, the over-the-counter "freeze sticks" do not work in a cryosurgery manner. They work by stimulating an immune response, not by freezing and killing the affected cells (which would be little different from burning them with a hot knife). This makes me a little dubious about the cryosurgery being used at all, or being used in the way described on the cryosurgery page. I suspect the idea of "freezing off" a wart is one encouraged by the freeze stick manufacturers, as the idea of making a wart just fall off is quite appealing. Anyone who knows a bit more the subject around?
Wart in the brain
May a wart occur in the brain? --213.138.128.13 05:58, 28 October 2005 (UTC)