Where to get warts removed?

Nov 26 17:22 UTC 1995

I'm interested in getting some warts removed.  I had some laser burned off
last fall, and a few remnants have since grown back a bit.  I've also got some
tiny ones that got missed.  Who in the Ann Arbor area does good cheap wart
removal?  I'd like to get them frozen off, which take a few visits to do the
job right.  I'm going to have to pay for this myself, since it is too low for
my deductible, so I'd like it to be cheap.  Freezing warts w/ liquid nitrogen
is pretty low-tech, too, so just about any doctor can handle it w/o a lot of
equipment.

Recommendations?

response 2 of 52:

Nov 26 19:32 UTC 1995

Have you tried the topical remedies, like Wart-Off (tm)? 

The Merck Manual says, in regard to treatment, "No treatment is entirely
satisfactory. Though warts can be removed, the virus often remains and and
the warts recur at the same or different sites. Though many patients insist
on treatment, it is sometimes better to leave single inconspicuous warts
alone". 

The Merck Manual also mentions psychotherapy, or "hexing"! They say: "In
young children, suggestion accompanied by impressive but meaningless
manipulations, such as painting the lesions or touching them with unusual
objects or exposing them to heat lamps, is often remarkably successful,
probably due to conincidental regression of the wart."

Well, being a no-nonsense, rational scientific person, I tried this on our
daughter's warts when she was younger and was getting them on her feet
(painful for walking). I explained to her that warts could be cured if a
*bright, shiny new penny* were applied to the wart for *exactly 60
seconds*. (I could not go so far as to invent some mumbo-jumbo to intone.)
My wife was astonished that I would even contenance such a treatment but,
having great faith in the Merck Manual, I tried it - and it worked! 

response 4 of 52:

Nov 26 22:29 UTC 1995

A friend of mine took his daughter in for a wart on the foot.  The nurse
"diagnosed" the condition, drew a circle around it with a red pen, and then
the doctor came in and painted it with a high price version of compound W.

Somewhat miffed, my friend asked if he could see the insurance bill.  The
doctor's fees were $360 and were listed as "chemo-surgery."  Of course the
office call fee was added to the $360.  The Doctor saw the patient for 5-10
minutes. 

This person complained to his firm's insurance representative, but was told
to not worry about it.

response 6 of 52:

Nov 27 21:46 UTC 1995

"Freeze mist", used by electronics types to find thermal problems in 
electronic circuits, will go down to about -70C.

response 8 of 52:

Nov 28 15:15 UTC 1995

A guy here at work swears by banana peels.  Just tape them to the wart
before you put on your socks.

response 10 of 52:

Nov 29 05:59 UTC 1995

Henley's Formulas (1927 - republished by Avenel Books 1979) gives
two wart treatment formulas. One might be hard to find ingredients
for, but the other is a mixture of sulfur, acetic acid (glacial,
presumably) and glycerine. Personally, I'd suggest trying Wart-Off,
or equivalent, at least to give it a try.

response 12 of 52:

Dec 2 14:02 UTC 1995

I don't know about cost, but my family's longtime dermatologist is
Dr cameron in Ann Arbor. I had warts removed as a child; I think he
was the doc who did it.

When I was in my twenties, I had warts on my a couple of my fingers,
which even altered my fingerprints. They went away by themselves, but
it took a few years.

response 14 of 52:

Dec 2 19:35 UTC 1995

katie, I have used Cameron also and he was very good, diagnosing a head itch
no one else could and then treating it.  I called him recently to set up an
appointment and heard he had retired.  I wonder if it's the same Cameron (on
Huron Parkway??)

response 16 of 52:

Dec 4 15:07 UTC 1995

Theoretically speaking, one could try topical wart-off stuff (salicylic
acid) combined with gentle shaving after a bath (softens the callus -->
scrape off as much as you can comfortably do).  You can use emory boards
or a pumice stone (should be available at the pharmacy).  I would not
recommend home use of liquid nitrogen, at least not without talking with
your doctor.  Self-application of liquid nitrogen is possible, but
requires a stern will and could lead to complications (or failure of
treatment) if used over- or under-zealously.  I definitely would not
recommend home "cooking" kinds of treatment.
 Most warts will disappear spontaneously in about two years.  The
immunology of warts is quite confusing.  The home remedies/witch doctor
approaches may work by stimulating immune responses (the biopsychosocial
model, er, the neuroimmunopharmacological model, er, you get the picture).

response 18 of 52:

Dec 9 23:32 UTC 1995

i had a seed wart on my finger and when I was a litle girl I remeber my aunt
telling me if I stole a persons old dish rag and rubbed it onthe wart and
burried it when the rag was buried for a while the wart goes away.  soooo I
snitched her dishrag..cause you have to sneak it....and rubbed real hard and
burried it in her yard..course I had grimy hands too...and  it went
away...sooooo the moral grimy hands feel lots better than a soldering iron
on a wart.....*smile*

response 20 of 52:

Dec 10 05:17 UTC 1995

re:18 I have heard of that..it is the power of belief once again.  I think
Stormy was teasing about the grimy hands being a dead give away for her aunt
to know she believedthe tale.  right?

response 22 of 52:

Dec 10 08:51 UTC 1995

Steve, I would not be inclined to believe it either, but the Merck
Manual says that psychotherapy is "often remarkably successful", and
I tried it out, and it worked. Didn't you believe me earlier in this
item? You have to use a *new* penny.

response 24 of 52:

Dec 11 01:44 UTC 1995

i actually cut a coupole of them out myself...nededless to say, i didn't
realize what i was doing at the time.....:)