Essential Oils for Warts: Let’s find a DIY wart removal using essential oils to seep into the skin for an effective treatment to kill the viral infections. We’ll use a combination of tea tree, oregano, apple cider vinegar and more to get it off!
Note: While I am an RN and I’ve seen a LOT of in-office wart remedies fail, I can’t recommend this until you talk with your provider. It may or may not work for you! There are no studies that this method will work (or not work). You may also experience some irritation from the method as well. So keep that in mind before you attempt it.
Warts. They are so nasty. And that’s coming from someone who’s seen a lot of nasties in her many years as a nurse. But, when my son came to me with a “big lump” on his toe I was totally grossed out.
Did he touch a frog, or did a witch kiss him? Either way I knew that it would be super pricey to go to the doctor and get common warts removed (we have a super high deductible). I started to mull over some natural wart home remedies. And by jove, I found one that did it!
Before we get started– Hi, I’m Hilary — the curly head behind Pulling Curls®. I’ve been a nurse since 1997 (many people know me as The Pregnancy Nurse®) and I’ve seen a LOT of failed wart removals. We also have a really high deductible (learn more about our Christian Healthshare here) and I really wanted to avoid a doctor’s visit so I thought we’d at least try some stuff at home — and that’s how I found this recipe.
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Note: Before trying anything you should talk with your provider about anything particular about you or your needs, I am just sharing what worked for me and my family.
Wart Removal with Essential Oils
What are warts?
Warts are an infection of the top layer of the skin by a virus from the HPV (human papillomavirus) family. It usually gets in through a small scratch.
HPV is everywhere, so it’s easy to come into contact with, and most people will get at least one common wart.
That means we need something with anti-viral, or antimicrobial properties in order to kill the virus.
Warts on your hands and feet are different types of warts than genital warts, but we don’t want to follow me down that wormhole.
BTW, if you’re looking to START with essential oils, I love this kit. It may seem pricey but it includes all the stuff you’re going to want to try out to start! The use of essential oils has been around for centuries and can treat a variety of conditions in natural ways, and have benefits for skin, hair, and more!
Back to the removal….
Natural Wart Remedy
So, in my searching on the internet, I found a few things that might help with treat warts. I used a combination, as it was on his foot (and totally grossing me out). As a note, this wart was on his TOE not the bottom of his foot (like a plantar wart) — but we’ll talk more about those too.
Keep in mind that these treatments (especially the oils) might burn a bit.
ALSO, these remedies should only be used on the hands and feet. Any more sensitive skin or part of the body and you could have skin irritation or a pretty serious reaction. Also, not meant for genital warts. Yes, I did just say that.
Be sure to take the medical advice of your doctor over any advice here at Pulling Curls. You take your own responsibility by using a tool, like essential oils and this remedy. Please contact a doctor if you feel like the wart treatment isn’t working or harming your skin.
Note: All warts are caused by the herpes simplex virus (as far as I can tell). Depending on where the warts are, the type of Herpes it is varies, so we’re using oils and treatments that are anti-viral.
Wondering what ELSE essential oils can help — check out these posts:
- Apple Cider Vinegar for Itchy Scalp: Also includes Essential Oils & More
- Top Essential Oils: Top 5 to keep on hand for families
- Essential Oils & Essential Oil Uses
- Sore Throat vs STREP throat: How to tell the difference
Essential Oils to Get Rid of Warts
I made a mixture of oils (I used an old oil bottle to put this all in):
BTW, I’m not a fan of having to buy essential oils through a MLM (looking at you Doterra) I have also seen many other essential oil companies just have shady business practices (and frankly, how on EARTH do we know what they’re actually putting in them)… so, I get my natural essential oils from Plant Therapy off Amazon most often.
- Oregano Oil (this is the one that would burn — it’s a hot oil!) 1 drop
- Tea Tree Oil (melaleuca oil) 5 drops
- Lavender Oil 5 drops
- Frankincense 1 drop because this oil is pricey!
Pro Tip: not in the mood to mix-up oils — you could try this mix that has good reviews.
Let’s talk about what each of those do for warts:
Essential Oils as Effective Treatment for Warts:
I used a combination of these oils to get rid of warts:
Oregano Essential Oil: Best Essential Oils for Warts
This is a HOT oil, and has a lot of antibacterial/antiviral/anti-all-things properties. I think it kills the virus that got you there in the first place. It’s an effective essential oil.
Tea Tree Oil to Remove Warts
This one also has a lot of antibacterial and antiviral properties. It’s a great one for lots of different things (we’ve also used it with lice and ringworm at our house…. which is apparently full of disgusting children). This oil is not AS hot as Oregano, but I still encourage you to be careful with it!
Lavender Oil to Calm Your Skin
This is an anti-inflammatory. As the HPV gets into the skin it is causing an inflammatory reaction in the affected area. Also, as you kill the wart it can cause inflammation. Lavender’s anti-inflammatory properties help quell all of that. 🙂
Frankincense Oil to make Warts Disappear
As far as I have read, Frankincense just often makes all other oils work better. So, it just heightens all the regular properties it has. We’ve used this one for a lot of things, including scorpion stings (see #4 on my about me page).
Essential Oil Wart Remover Recipe
I would 100% recommend you talk with your provider about doing this, and test a small amount of skin with a small amount of what you plan to use before using a lot. some people are more sensitive to this than others, but this is what I did:
I put these into a dropper bottle (you could probably do a roller ball too, but I didn’t like the idea of it touching the wart, so I preferred the dropper bottle):
- Oregano Oil (this is the one that would burn — it’s a hot oil!) 1 drop
- Tea Tree Oil (melaleuca oil) 5 drops
- Lavender Oil 5 drops
- Frankincense 1 drop because this oil is pricey!
- 1 T of Coconut Oil
FYI, coconut oil is a carrier oil –it’s an oil that dilutes the essential oils) and shook them up (you would not want to put straight Oregano on your skin, it would BURN!).
Take a cotton swab and get a few drops of the blend and smear it all over the wart.
After that, take about 1/4 of a cotton ball and soak it in apple cider vinegar, tape a bandaid over that and leave it on overnight.
In the morning take the cotton ball off, smear more oil on it and leave open to the air.
Now, I pretty much just left my teenage son to work on this on his own. For best results, I asked him to do the oils morning and night and be sure to do the apple cider vinegar at night. By 10 days the skin growth fell off and his skin looked like healthy skin, good as new (before that it turned brown and looked extra gross). He said he did it daily (but I doubt it).
Frankly, no one was as surprised as me that it worked. Honestly, I was shocked that this actually was a wart remover.
Since then, we’ve tried this method on a couple weird spots my husband had (they looked sort of wart-ish) and when he sticks with it, it helps a lot!
I can send you this recipe right to your inbox:
Duct Tape for Warts
I’ve seen a lot of people recommending duct tape for warts. I think it’s just a way to get the vinegar and essential oils to stay on the warts (rather than coming off). Almost like a very sticky band aid!
Why don’t people use essential oils for warts?
I think a lot of people are afraid to try natural wart remedies because of a few reasons:
- It hurts — in fact, it also hurts at the doctor’s office — they either burn the wart off, cut it off or freeze it off. They don’t have magic (the might put some Emla cream on it initially, but it’s not fun afterward either — I think, in general, this one hurts a LOT less).
- It might not work — in fact, it often doesn’t work in the doctor’s office. People would have to come back a few times to get warts frozen.
- They don’t want to do it on their own — and say put your big girl panties on and give natural options a try.
Essential Oils for Warts FAQ’s
Many people think that the methods in the doctors office (freezing or burning them off) kills them quickly, but often they re-grow, so while they “look dead” they really are still thriving under the dead part.
In general it’s antiviral things that will be the most effective to get rid of your warts.
I believe you’ll want combination of things like I used above
As far as I know, this would be just as effective on plantar warts as other warts — but again, test a small patch of skin before going all-out on it.
I used this in combination with essential oils (essential oils during the day with apple cider vinegar at night) and I think the due of the two really worked!
Essential oils can be SO useful! I would totally recommend getting a set. I have a whole post about the other essential oils that I love (and don’t love).
Be sure to grab my favorite essential oil recipe that fixes a lot of skin issues (itchy scalp, etc):
summer says
I’d like to try some essential oils myself. I;m planning to for insect/tick repellant
Hilary Erickson says
I use a doterra blend for that. I find it works pretty well.
Rossana Vilos says
I have warts in my neck,,, what is the best medicine for this?
Hilary Erickson says
I do not know — my son used this one on his feet…
lesa says
just acv alone works very , very well.
I have lots of oils cuz I make a lot of soap.. so may add some to the mix But hubby & I have tried JUST ACV & it works great.. some are gone even after just a few days.
Hilary Erickson says
Yeah, I can’t ever be sure what worked. 🙂
MK says
What is ACV?
TagBand says
Essential oils are brilliant for many skin problems and infections. These oils work wonderfully to treat wart because of the many active ingredients present in it. I had about 5 warts on my hands that I had various medications but nothing worked. Then I started applying tea tree oil on my warts and the results was wonderful. They were gone in a couple of days.
Hilary Erickson says
I love that! so much better than what they do at the doctor’s!
Shellie says
All three of my sons have gotten the warts on their feet. They are the hardest to get rid of. We tried the doctor first and they froze it twice. it was extremely painful and still did not take care of it. I was desperate and started looking for other remedies! We used just straight vinegar, putting it on a small piece of cotton ball and taping it on over night. It got fairly painful, but all of them went away. You just gave to make sure you keep doing it until completely gone. You have to get all of the little roots.
Hilary Erickson says
SO often people couldn’t get them gone with freezing them off at the doctor’s office. I think it works JUST as well!
Victor says
Can it work on genitals? I have wart on my scrotum
Hilary Erickson says
That’s contagious. Talk to a provider.
Sybil says
What is avc?
Hilary Erickson says
I think it’s ACV — apple cider vinegar….
Cynthia says
I wanna give this a try please send me the recipe with the brands you use. Do you know if it’s painful? Will I be able to walk daily and exercise? Also, do u think I can apply this oil mix on “soft corns”? Thank you -Cynthia
Hilary Erickson says
I sent you an email — it means 1-5 drops in the recipe. 🙂
Sylina says
Did you use liquid or solid coconut oil? You said you (or he) smeared it which makes me think liquid, but I want to be sure. Thank you!
Hilary Erickson says
I use the liquid, you could use solid (if it’s melted) but then it re-solidifies in the winter, I find).
Carly says
What type of bandage did you use to cover at night? Was it waterproof or just a general breathable bandage?
Hilary Erickson says
I just used the bandaids I had on hand.
Kimbriel Arnold says
I have tried the wart bandaid, freeze treatment…NO SUCCESS!! I did just the ACV every night for the past week…yall MY 2 WARTS ARE GONE!! I’m so thrilled!! I now have holes where they were, I will take that any day over the warts on my thumb and finger. 😊😊🤗
They both started to turn black within 2 days, I just kept at it for the entire week, I wanted those suckers GONE!!
Tah dah it worked
I’m so happy I found this post!!
Hilary Erickson says
Oh my gosh! I’m so happy! I have to say I saw kids coming back and back when I worked for the pediatrician. I’d much rather treat it at home!
Carrie says
My son’s warts are on his knees and elbows, do you think these areas will be too sensitive for this treatment?
Hilary Erickson says
I would doubt it, but check with your provider
Patti says
I have one on my chin, would you say its ok to use it there?
Hilary Erickson says
I probably wouldn’t use this on my face, or at least talk to my provider first.
Omira says
I have used it on my face! Just a drop of the tea tree oil and I was miserable for 4 days!
But, after that the wart was almost completely gone and my cheek went back to normal.
Pulling Curls says
Oh no! I’m glad everything worked out.
Shannon says
When you say, “leave open to the air”, how long is that for? Can I put socks on my son after applying this in the morning or should I put another bandaid on in the morning?
Hilary Erickson says
socks should be fine, I’d think.
Julie says
Looking at Doterra oils… they actually are brave enough to put oil supplement info on their bottles for internal use. Just saying I’m only using Doterra! They are a very honest company and pure oils!
Megan says
THANK YOU for sharing this! Out nearly $200 from trips to pediatrician, plus cost of OTC junk I bought and still the warts on my daughter’s feet were alive & well. Started her on your recommendations and 3 weeks later (the one wart was a beast) she’s wart free! I love EOs and not sure why I didn’t think to try them first. Thank you!!!
Pulling Curls says
I am SO glad it worked for you! Thanks for sharing 🙂