h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We are in the States at the moment, looking after our little grandson whilst his parents are away for a week. We have found he has what looks like a verruca but I have a feeling that the Americans use a different word.

According to Wiki, they are also called plantar warts. The German name is Dornwarze. So here is a question for those of the US persuasion: How do I tell my daughter-in-law what to say if she decides to consult a doctor or pharmacist about it when they get back?

I think we Americans are used to calling warts warts. Most of them are harmless. Are you sure the parents weren't already aware of the warts?

I had to look up images because the only Veruca I knew was a spoilt little girl, a bad egg indeed.

But yeah, in the States they're typically referred to as plantar warts. I only ever had warts on my hands as a kid (a new one has recently arisen and I'm trying to freeze it off myself with an OTC product but it doesn't seem to be working yet.

Go easy on toad-handling.

That bit of urban folklore (BS) kept me from playing with many toads as a kid. But it didn't stop me from getting dozens of embarrassing warts on both hands. Looking back with knowledge that warts are actually caused by the pamploma virus entering through small cuts I now suspect it was all the berry picking I did in the empty lot next to our home. Dewberries, specifically. All those tiny thorn pricks were perfect for infection.

My niece used the homeopathic thuja remedy to remove a couple of warts. It took just a few days and they never came back as they had with previous remedies.

My wife experienced a plantar wart once, in the 'heel' of a thumb. Doctor figured that fresh raw juices of chicken found an open wound.

That sort can grow a core that drives deep. The first time of flash freezing with nitrogen did not entirely get it and it returned. Second time was a charm, and left a heck of a hole for a while.

Thuja Occidentalis is a native American evergreen tree that is often used as a "living fence" because several forms of the tree grow very tall and very narrow. Planted close together, they provide privacy for your land.

Also known as Arborvitae. There's a huge one next to my driveway.

Thanks, Nick. My point is that they are not "just warts" and we have tried covering it with plasters to prevent infection (they are often picked up at swimming pools) but the plasters don't stick well to his soft little feet.

As far as I know, there aren't any warts on me. There's some kind of growth on my back, but I can't see it, so I don't worry about it.

Cover them up with duct tape. Daft as it sounds, it seems to draw the head out. The BBC did a programme looking at home remedies and investigating the ones which seemed to have the best anecdotal evidence, and it did seem to have some merit.

I used it to treat one and it did go away within about a month. Could've been coincidence but it might be worth googling and giving it a go.

Deb

The physiological method by which duct tape works, could be as simple as the tape creates an irritation that causes the body's immune system to kick in locally, and with that locally elevated immune response, over time, the HPV cells are removed.


If this one on my finger doesn't go away soon after three freezes, I'll be using the duct tape.

HPV-infected cells

Virii are not cellular

Pshaw... You know what I meant.

Biology pedant.

Duck tape is sometimes prescribed by quacks.