A while back in my usual browse for weird and obscure research papers, I found a few papers talking about the use of duct tape in the treatment of warts. Although studies are unclear on this, there seems to be something of interest amid the controversy.
I'd like to discuss some possible modes of action, although studies are very unclear, there seems to be a reduction in lesion size but recurrence upon cessation of treatment, so.....
Are the nascent viruses budding on the surface of the lesion adhering to the duct tape rendering them inert thus reducing the insult for secondary local infection resulting in reduction in size but still allowing for recurrence?
Are there any known compounds in the product that could illicit suppression of the virus? could the variance in efficacy depicted in study reviews be due to variations in compounds used between product manufacturers?
Or is this but one of the many incredulous uses humanity has conjured up for duct tape?
There is nothing special about duct tape except that it is occlusive and the action of removing it irritates the wart and encourages exfoliation of the wart improving the clinical response. There are several different brands of duct tape and the "gorilla" brand seem to stick to the skin the best and works best in my opinion. My bias is that irritation of the wart encourages clinical resolution but as far as I know there is no data to support a mechanism of action for duct tape in the treatment of warts.
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