The Beginning - Is Apple Vinegar Really Effective On Warts?

So one day I'm massaging my feet while watching TV and feel a rough area. I look and I see what looks like a plantar wart. I've had one of these before, about 15 years ago, and I had used a weak concentration of salicylic acid to get rid of it. I went on-line to see if the times had changed. A college roommate of mine had his removed by freezing, and this was nearly 10 years ago, so technology in the wart removal area seemed to be progressing.

I figured something new must have come by.

Lots of new methods, no guarantees

There are several methods for getting rid of plantar warts.

• Burning with lasers
• Freezing (usually liquid nitrogen)
• Salicylic acid (liquid)
  
• Salicylic acid pads (solid)
• Excision (cutting them out)

However, it turns out that there are no guarantees that the warts won't return. Lots of people had gone through the painful processes (lasers and freezing) only to find that their warts had come back, and with a vengeance.

Lots of people claim apple cider vinegar works on warts

Here and here, for example. I also found plenty of people claiming that home remedies were the only solution for them. (Granted, these forums would attract those whom orthodox treatment failed them, so there must be quite a bit of bias.) They had tried the medical solutions with no avail. Some of the offered remedies:

• Duct tape
• Apple cider vinegar
• Just vinegar
• Banana peels
• Aloe
• Onions
• Potatoes

Of them all, it looked like the apple cider vinegar seemed most popular and effective. However, I couldn't find any images to see anticipate what would happen. Most who undertook the vinegar treatment talked how the wart would initially turn white, then black in the center, and then kind of fall off.

I opted for this one to see what would happen. I figured, hey, salicylic acid is a weak acid, vinegar is a weak acid...they should work on the same principle of, essentially, melting the wart away.

And, more importantly, I figured I would document the process to see what would happen with trusty Pentax Optio WPi which happens to have a kick-ass macro mode (read: great close ups)