The treatment with the best evidence for warts and verrucas — and the one people abandon three weeks too early.
Explained by a GMC-registered GP, not a leaflet
Honest about what we can and cannot prescribe remotely
Side effects given the same weight as benefits
Your NHS records in the room, with your consent
Care led personally by Dr Khan
Attentive, unhurried care that listens properly
Five-star Google reviews from the people we have looked after
Registered with the Care Quality Commission
Salicylic acid is a keratolytic — it dissolves keratin, the tough protein that makes up the bulk of a wart. Applied daily, it gradually breaks the wart down layer by layer.
It also provokes a mild local immune response, and since warts are ultimately cleared by your own immune system recognising the virus, that probably contributes as much as the dissolving does.
It has the best evidence of any wart treatment, including cryotherapy — which surprises people, given how much more dramatic freezing looks.
It is not for molluscum contagiosum, which looks similar to some people but is a different virus and usually needs no treatment at all.
The routine matters more than the product, and it takes about ten minutes a day.
Daily, for up to 12 weeks. Most treatment failures are people stopping at three or four weeks because nothing seems to be happening.
Expect it to look worse before it looks better — white, soft and macerated skin is the treatment working, not a reaction.
Stop and take advice if the surrounding skin becomes very sore, blistered or infected, or if pain stops you walking on a treated verruca.
Salicylate toxicity is a theoretical risk only with very extensive use over large areas, and is not a practical concern for one or two warts.
Anything changing in size, shape or colour, bleeding, or growing quickly is not a wart until someone has looked at it.
No meaningful systemic interactions at the doses used topically for warts.
No monitoring required.
What needs review is the diagnosis if it has not responded after 12 weeks of genuinely consistent treatment — a persistent lesion that is not clearing may not be a wart.
Warts rarely need a doctor, and salicylic acid is available in every pharmacy for a few pounds. We would rather tell you that.
Most warts clear on their own within two years without any treatment at all — faster in children. Treating is a choice about speed, discomfort and spread rather than a necessity.
Where a consultation is genuinely worth it:
A prescription is never guaranteed. This page is information, not an offer to supply.
Salicylic acid wart paints and gels cost a few pounds over the counter, and own-brand versions are equivalent to Bazuka and Salatac at a lower price. One bottle lasts a full course.
Buy an emery board at the same time — the filing is genuinely part of the treatment, not an optional extra.
NHS prescriptions are free in Wales, and free for children in England.
Stop when the wart has gone — when normal skin lines run across where it was. That is the reliable sign. A verruca with black dots still visible is still there.
Stop earlier if the surrounding skin becomes very sore, and restart once it settles with better protection.
Twelve weeks of daily treatment with filing. Anything less is not a failed treatment, it is an incomplete one — and this is by far the commonest reason people conclude it does not work.
Up to 12 weeks of daily treatment. Most people stop at three or four weeks and conclude it failed. It did not — it was not finished.
Yes. Filing removes the dead layer so the acid reaches living wart tissue. Skipping it is why treatment stalls.
Sometimes. Warts are cleared by your immune system recognising the virus, and that can take time. Recurrence is not treatment failure.
Not without advice. Reduced sensation and slower healing mean a chemical burn on the foot can turn into a serious ulcer. This is the one situation where self-treating is genuinely unwise.
No — the evidence does not favour it. Cryotherapy is more painful and more expensive, with comparable results. Using both together may do slightly better than either alone.
Not necessarily. Most warts clear on their own within two years. Treat if it hurts, is spreading, or bothers you — not because it must be removed.
No. Never on the face or genitals. Those need assessing and treating differently.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
September 8, 2026
On this page
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Your NHS record in the room
Written treatment plan
Told when a test isn’t needed
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Same day, usually
20 minutes
Yes, with your consent
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Yes, and told why
£40 for 20 minutes
Varies by practice
Typically 10 minutes
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Same day
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Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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