Anyone have success (or failure) with a Wartabater?
October 25, 2012 12:00 AM   Subscribe

Has anyone used the Wartabater to remove warts with success?

i have a couple of warts under my toenails that are getting painful. The over the counter stuff has not worked well for me. I thought I would explore this thing, except that it is $90.

http://www.wartabater.com/
posted by alcahofa to Health & Fitness (9 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
from TFA:

The principle of operation of the device is as follows.
Each cell type in the body (as any physical item) has a natural resonant frequency.
If the cell is agitated at its natural resonant frequency, the resonance causes the cell to physically break apart, destroying itself.
The electronic circuit pulses 32v dc at the natural resonant frequency of a wart cell. Very little energy is needed to achieve this.
The results are virtually always 100% successful.

I think that the whole resonant frequency is complete hogwash, but if you put 32v DC current into a wart you will probably end up killing it anyways. You could probably build one of these yourself using a simple op amp and the same battery he uses and just have two wires and pass the current through the wart. (Note IANAmD)
posted by koolkat at 1:28 AM on October 25, 2012 [2 favorites]


Resonant frequency?

No.

Go to a doctor, I implore you.
posted by oceanjesse at 4:08 AM on October 25, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yeah, that looks like a scam I got rid of my plantars warts by eating copious amounts of vitamin C. You might try that first.
posted by dawkins_7 at 4:56 AM on October 25, 2012


Ok, so, that resonant frequency explanation is 100% bullshit.

...but I'm here to tell you that I have successfully used a lesion-making device (the same model held by the University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection, in fact), which I purchased from the University of Michigan's incredible property dispostion, to remove a wart. Stupid? Yes. But it's entirely possible that--bullshit aside--this Wartabater thing is a glorified DC power supply intended to "create lesions by destruction of living cells," which would absolutely remove a wart.

It's still not worth paying those assholes $90 for, though, and if the wart is deep under your toenail (and not just peeking from under the nail or on the ventral surface of your toe) the current probably won't reach it anyway, and you should try vitamin C or duct tape somewhere else on your body or whatever for a while and then see a doctor--you may need to have part or all of the nail removed.

Otherwise, if it's accessible, have you tried using salicylic acid or one of those compressed dimethyl ether/canned air products?

PROTIP: spray it on a cotton bud, not directly on the wart.
posted by pullayup at 5:43 AM on October 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, "virtually always 100% successful" is pretty much the weaseliest thing I'm going to read all day, and it isn't even 8 a.m. here yet. Assholes.
posted by pullayup at 5:51 AM on October 25, 2012


Response by poster: It's the absence of a satisfaction guaranteed policy that has me questioning the thing.
posted by alcahofa at 6:54 AM on October 25, 2012


I have had a number of warts over the years. They are stubborn fuckers. The only success I had with over-the-counter or alternative medicine treatments was to use salicylic acid IN CONJUNCTION with visits to my doctor for liquid nitrogen freezing.

I used salicylic acid for several days prior to my first visit to soften the wart up before the freezing. Then I used salicylic acid for many weeks afterwards in order to keep the wart from coming back. I usually was not consistent enough with this usage and I needed return trips. I needed three successive trips to the doctor over a period of six months or so. After all of that, one wart seems to be gone for 8 months now, and one wart reappeared after being gone for 3-4 months. I am letting it be because fuck it at this point. The one that seems to be gone is the one that was most visible.

The best salicylic acid for warts that I have found is the Dr. Scholl's Clear Away (pads & discs). If you buy generic, the sticky discs do not withstand hand washing. The real Clear Away discs stick well and last me all day and night.
posted by aabbbiee at 8:07 AM on October 25, 2012


I have successfully removed plantar warts on the balls of my feet by puncturing Vitamin E capsules and dripping the substance within onto them, and then covering with a bandage. I did it for a long time, like 3 weeks, I think.
posted by Lynsey at 10:01 AM on October 25, 2012


I used a nightly 20-minute soak in apple cider vinegar to get rid of a nest of warts awhile back. They were on the bottom of my foot, but I don't see why the same principle wouldn't work for something under a nail. Took a couple of months, but it was easy and basically painless. Plus, WAY cheaper than a $90 gadget...
posted by msbubbaclees at 9:07 AM on October 26, 2012


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