Crazy person removing a wart with a soldering iron - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 05:21:49 pm
content: Ouch.

author: Iwanushka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 05:36:11 pm
content: That's just plain stupid, liquid nitrogen is used for that....

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 05:47:23 pm
content: Wart removal for real men. Wire cutters just don't work, tried it once, ouch. When I was a kid had a few of them on my fingers and so did a few class mates, none of thought anything of it, it's normal for kids, or it used to be back then. Got it treated with cotton buds dipped in liquid nitrogen, just one treatment and a follow up visit to the hospital a week or two later just to check.It's a fungal infection, and it seems you can freeze fungus to death with liquid nitrogen. Cool

author: continuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 05:49:09 pm
content: Wrong tip choice for the job, a fat hoof would be more efficient...Sorry, I can't watch this, the preview picture is scary enough...

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 06:08:07 pm
content: Posted by: IwanushkaQuoteSorry man posted at the same time, it worked for me and my class mates:- I had mine removed mid 60's I think, 50 years ago nearly.

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 06:23:54 pm
content: Quote from: chris_leyson on April 12, 2016, 05:47:23 pmIt's a virus actually, one of many strains of HPV, Human papillomavirus. I think the treatment is a combination of damage to the virus, damage to its little protective environment that it creates for itself, and just enough damage to healthy tissue to stimulate the immune system into action in the area. Burning by heat, cold, electrocautery, or acid is usually the way. I had my childhood warts removed with the electrocautery method. Much less damage to surrounding tissue than this guy did... I think he underestimated the risk of burns merely from proximity to the hot iron for so long.

author: BobsURuncle
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 06:25:02 pm
content: Thank God he didn't post his DIY hemorrhoid treatment!

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 06:41:07 pm
content: Warts are a viral infection in most cases, not fungal. You can remove them easily using a sticky plaster and a plain aspirin tablet, sticking a small piece of tablet directly on top of the wart. The salicylic acid in the tablet dissolves into the wart and softens it, so it can easily be cut out after a day or two. Can be painful, but works for those that do not respond well to cryofreeze either because they are too deep or too large.For large ones you will generally need to have a local anaesthetic injection ( hurts going in, but that is because most doctors do not know how to inject painlessly, Paediatricians learn this very fast. Tip is to first spray a little out the needle onto the skin to numb it, then wait 30 seconds, then slightly into the dermis and a small amount, then 30 seconds or spray the other side, then deeper each time into the desensitised area. Learned that from a combat RN, who also showed how to drop you with an injection as well, but who also dealt with children a lot. She had a few stories to tell) and then cut it out totally and stitch up the resulting hole.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 09:19:57 pm
content: I had a large wart on the top of my thumb when I was maybe 10 or 12. It ate 5-6 of the OP's warts for breakfast. It looked like an extra knuckle. The doc used liquid nitrogen on it. The top of it died and fell off, but it just grew back bigger than before.Well, one day I was putting my books in my school locker, and while turning away I somehow managed to catch the wart on the edge of the sheet metal frame, just right. The whole thing ripped out.It hurt like hell, but it didn't bleed too bad. Where once was the wart was a huge, well-formed, pretty deep hole. The healthy tissue didn't peel like an orange. I didn't have flaps of bloody skin hanging off that I had to bandage back. It was just a perfect excision. I didn't even see the nurse. The wart never came back. And IIRC, it only took a week or two to heal.

author: klunkerbus
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 10:21:16 pm
content: For a somewhat more palatable approach, the February 2005 issue of Nuts&Volts included a wart remover circuit that could be used to inject a wart with a low voltage signal of a particular frequency for a few minutes to kill it. I used it on a couple of small warts - seemed to do the job. I think I had just one that came back and required a repeat treatment.

author: MrSlack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 10:31:23 pm
content: Duct tape worked for me. Took about a month but worked.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2016, 10:49:04 pm
content: I feel really left out, I've never had a wart...

author: Davecltl
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 13, 2016, 01:38:13 am
content: I have this open in the background while writing this post, hes certainly making some interesting noises.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2016, 03:58:08 pm
content: Yep, crazy. I have a couple of warts but I've only had one professionally removed because it was on my right eyelid. In this case liquid nitrogen was used and they were damn careful.

author: MiataMuc
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2016, 07:50:01 pm
content: Had some as a child unter my food, which then grew inwards (because of the constant pressure). They were removed by applying some acid-containing emulsion on them for weeks.

author: mmagin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2016, 11:22:20 pm
content: Quote from: macboy on April 12, 2016, 06:23:54 pmYep, this fits with my experience and what I've heard from doctors. I've had some frozen off my foot when I was younger.Though this method will work, liquid nitrogen is a lot less painful overall.Even an upside-down can (to dispense the liquid) of the hydrofluorocarbon 'dust-off' spray seems to be moderately effective.Usual disclaimer: Don't listen to me, I am not a doctor.

author: AlxDroidDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 12:05:26 am
content: As a child I had a few on my hands, elbows and knees. They were all treated with acid, with daily applications over a few weeks. One of them was more resistant to the acid, so I ended up cutting it off with a kind of xacto knife.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 12:20:31 am
content: Quote from: chris_leyson on April 12, 2016, 05:47:23 pmYou just did not do it the real man's way. In my childhood, I torn them out with a pliers, The downside was a bath of blood. Though when doctors needed to take some blood for a blood test, I didn't give a shit about looking how my blood is flowing. Only doctors were afraid when I was attentively watching it, like I if should loose consciousness

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 12:43:22 am
content: Had lots of warts as a teenager. Tried the over the counter liquid (Compound W here in the US). Didn't ever seem to work. Doctor used a Hifrenator (rf arc machine) on several which did the trick. I dug others out with a knife, and tore one off by accident on a sharp corner. I sure was glad when they stopped coming in when I approached 20. All the mechanical removals did hurt a lot, but it was less trouble and cheaper than running down to the doctor.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 12:33:05 pm
content: Quote from: Iwanushka on April 12, 2016, 05:36:11 pmPro tip: Go to very good doctor to do it. I had one on my palm! which was removed and I will have the mark of remains forever on my palm. Get a good doctor.

author: liquibyte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 01:52:41 pm
content: When I was a teenager I had one on the back of my hand that would always get caught on things, end up bleeding profusely and then grow back. Kind of like KL27x's experience but repeatedly and always growing back. Fed up with this after ripping the thing off again I took a pin with a metal head on it and clamped the pointy end in a pair of hemostats and heated up the head to glowing with a candle and slowly burned it off until there was no more. I have no scar and while it did hurt somewhat, it wasn't as bad as you'd think. I do have a high tolerance for pain though as evidenced by my ending up bleeding whenever I do anything requiring manual labor and not feeling it and only finding out later as I spot the wound bleeding.

author: Hypernova
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 04:32:05 pm
content: Quote from: Delta on April 12, 2016, 10:49:04 pmMe too brother

author: mmagin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 07:32:56 pm
content: Who wants to bet someone has read this thread and already tried to use RF burns to remove their wart?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2016, 07:35:24 pm
content: some warts have their humans removed as they can be very irritating ...

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2016, 08:18:49 am
content: When I was 15 I removed a wart with a soldering iron. I'd previously tried all of the salicylic acid treatment, both over the counter and prescription and neither worked. The soldering iron did the job. It hurt but the wart fell off within a week, never to return.

author: Iwanushka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2016, 04:58:04 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on April 14, 2016, 12:33:05 pmI did that, and my case was bad one, usally warts are bumps on the surface mine were under skin (under and near nails almost till the bone - the worst case stuff) it took around 10 sessions to get that crap removed)Note to myself (never use public transport without gloves if you got cuts on your fingers...

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2016, 03:15:37 am
content: Dave! Can we get a "Warts" sub forum?(Trying to think of a "warts story" / "war story" type joke......)

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2016, 03:21:52 am
content: when i went to the snow as a kid i let my hand get far too cold, and even banging it on the ground didnt register a response, so being a kid picked away at a wart with a pocket knife until it was removed, filled it with some creme and put a band aid over it, once my hand warmed up it bled more than i had hoped but the wart never came back,

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2016, 07:03:22 pm
content: Wow, I've just watched the video, as I was at work and couldn't watch it, when I commented last.He definitely used far too much heat, for too long. My wart was much bigger than that and I didn't cause as much tissue damage as he has. It did blister but it didn't swell up like that and it didn't leave a scar.

author: vze1lryy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2016, 09:48:48 pm
content: I had this issue on my toe as a teenager. Nothing worked to shrink it. I went to the doctor expecting to be in extreme pain, was shaking like a big wuss, and they froze it off. I felt nothing, it never grew back, there was no scar.Technology.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 04:31:33 am
content: With all these wart stories - maybe this should be a stickyI believe the ones on the bottom of the foot are called "planters" - had a couple of them

author: Karel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 07:16:27 am
content: I started to get warts when I was 12 years old, on both hands.Every year they grew bigger and some more appeared. I tried to remove them myself, it hurted like hell.I used a special product that contained some acid. It only removed the top. The warts always came back.I went to a specialized doctor who freezed them a couple of times. My hand was useless for a day(I had many big warts and she did tyhem all at once so my hand was a big blister).After many tries, some of them very painfull, I gave up.And you know what? When I was 17 years old, one day I noticed that all the warts started to shrink slowly.After one more month or so, they all disappeared and they never came back. I wasn't doing any treatmentat that time.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 11:26:41 am
content: 3 or 4 years ago I was at the doctor's for something (forget what) and asked if he could also remove a small bump I'd had on my right index finger for years. Not quite a wart, just a bump.He said sure, can burn it off but it will take a little while for the anesthetic. I said skip that bit, why wait, just do it now. He knows I'm nuts, so did it. Mainly I wanted to see if I could hold still.Yes, no problem.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 11:29:32 am
content: So is that where the alias comes from terrahertz, needed a proper description for what it felt like that day,

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 12:03:02 pm
content: Quote from: Rerouter on April 17, 2016, 11:29:32 amNo, actually I was surprised how easy it was. The pain is intense but small... and you know it's not a real injury. So 'deciding to ignore it' isn't hard at all.Compared to sharing a property for years with a PTSD-crazy passive-aggressive ex, it didn't even move the needle on the dial.

author: ZeTeX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 05:25:50 pm
content: Surprised that the floor didnt break, those balls must weight a ton.

author: peteb2
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 06:23:59 pm
content: Warts... bain of my life. I remember at school, really early days, some kids had large obvious ones on their fingers, elbows, knees etc and when the knocked them the things would bleed like crazy. I never had any until i became a teenager and overnight there they were aggressive as hell, appearing everywhere. The big 1/2" diameter obvious tough-topped one on my knee was clobbered off totally one afternoon in a scateboarding crash... The bleeding session that ensued called for 'skateboarder's cred' then to just let the 'claret' drip down my leg, keep skating and cleanup later. Months passed and i discovered that where that blood had been there were now what must have been hundreds of new warts all starting to appear, all down my leg. Within another month they were established and very obvious including some terrible things on my elbows and a couple of meanies on my fingers... Part of me believed it was from touching that blood at the time but i dunno how true that is....Then one came (inward) on the heal of my foot that hurt like hell, and my then GP called it a verruca. I recall to this day the shocking pain of him burning the thing out. My questions to him about what to do with the other warts were virtually glossed over and it became a sort of dis-interesting problem in the moment.Then one random day as i was by now 3/4s of my way through Teens-hood, i suddenly noticed every wart was going soft and shrinking and within a month the entire cluster down my leg to the nasty things on my elbows to the things on my fingers were GONE.... They all simply vanished.Sadly though the story doesn't end. Now i'm in my mid-life (with the usual mid-life crisis a bloke has like which next brandnew Aussy V8 ute or car am i gonna buy) i notice there are a few warts sneaking back. Small little things that itch or keep being clobbered off the fingers or feet. I sort of understand why the OP took to his with a soldering iron. (I have been known to use my best SMD sidecutters on the annoying buggers). I wonder if blasting them with a bit of RF plasma or HV corona (anyone seen an electronics build project wart zapper anywhere?) would sort them or just make them grow out bigger. My biggest worry are the tiny ones i noticed recently starting up near my eyes (where the blood vessels are) and on my eyelids and just what options my GP will offer or will they all suddenly go away again.... (my eyesight is the most important sense next to hearing and then my fingers on my hands so i can make an income from electronics) The 'ole human body can be a weird thing.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 08:20:33 pm
content: From another crazy person.In my early 20's I had problems with planters warts (bottom of feet) and athlete's feet. Tried everything including doctor visits. Out of desperation I soaked my feet in full strength chlorine (for clothes) until I could not stand the pain any longer. Then I went through shock of watching my feet turn black and all my skin peel away. To this day (40 years) I have not had any problems with either one.But I wonder what I did to my body and DNA. I would not do this again. Did I get crazy because of this or did I do this because I was crazy? Like the chicken and egg question.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 09:51:44 pm
content: Where I used to work once, the storeman was IMO a slightly crazy and occasionally fairly abusive guy. We didn't alway get along... One day he came into the workshop and asked me to use my soldering iron on a wart on his elbow. I was grinning from ear to ear while he was yodelling his head off. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2016, 11:46:58 pm
content: christ, i wonder if he smoked a dust blunt before doing that LOL

author: gnif
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 12, 2017, 06:06:14 am
content: I have had both general warts and plantar warts, in all cases I removed them myself and with side cutters. I found the trick was to nip around the outer circumference of the wart, which is painful but quickly the pain stops (like in the video) and then pull the wart out with the cutters, using them like players, this way the entire root of the wart comes out with it. Bleeds for a bit, but none ever returned.

author: hendorog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2017, 06:15:05 am
content: I'm currently trying to remove one with freezer spray from a compressed air can turned upside down. Used a bit of heat shrink that was the same size as the wart to stop it spreading. It stings a little bit, but I wouldn't call it painful.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2017, 08:22:28 am
content: Warts resolve when enough of the cells are destroyed to expose the human papilloma virus antigens to the body's immune system so it can mount an effective response.You don't need to "burn it off" or "pull out its roots" ( they're not plants!).Freezing with liquid N2 is the standard doctor's office treatment, but treating with salicylic acid or the tip of a Metcal at 600 degrees can be just as effective if enough viral antigen is exposed. Even Duct tape and a pumice stone has been shown to be effective!

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2017, 08:35:34 am
content: I did the same to a wart in my finger in my teens using the preheated metal part of a lighter. It made a blister underneath and didn't come back.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2017, 09:35:12 am
content: I wonder if you could kill a wart with ultrasonic waves.Those ultrasonic mist/fog machines hurt like hell if you put you finger on the transducer. Must be causing all sorts of damage.