Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are common viruses that cause warts. Usually HPVs are harmless, although there are about 30 of the more than 100 types that can put you at risk for cancer and other problems. These particular viruses are often sexually transmitted and can cause genital warts.
Apple cider vinegar is an often-mentioned home remedy for getting rid of the warts.
Vinegar to Get Rid of Warts?
According to most accounts, this home remedy works. Most accounts say that soaking a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar and pressing it against the wart and taping it down with a Band-Aid overnight usually makes the wart turn dark in one day and disappear in two to three days. While the warts go away, the topical treatment of the warts will not destroy the underlying cause, which is the virus itself. Warts could return, and other complications from the virus could remain depending on the type you have. Also wart removal does not prevent the spreading of the virus sexually, although it has been known to make it more difficult to spread to other people.
How It Works
Apple cider vinegar removes warts because it contains malic and acetic acid. These acids fight and kill bacteria, fungus and viruses and work with the acids naturally occurring in the body to fight and kill the warts, according to the treatment for genital warts website Treatmentforgenitalwarts.info.
Vinegar in the Doctor's Office
The story gets passed around a lot that if you put apple cider vinegar on what you suspect to be genital warts and they turn white in about five minutes, then you have HPV. Doctors sometimes use this method to get a better look at existing warts when diagnosing or treating the disease, but it is not always a reliable source of diagnosis itself.
The acetic acid in the vinegar causes warts and other abnormal growths to turn white when washed.
A Pap test is used to determine if abnormal cells, which may develop into cancer, are present. Abnormal or cancerous areas can often be removed with a simple procedure using a cauterizing loop. HPV infection is the primary cause of cervical cancer, however most infections in young females have limited long-term significance and all but 10 percent of the infections are usually gone in two years.
Tags: cider vinegar, genital warts, acetic acid, fight kill, home remedy