There are a variety of over the counter preparations for treating warts which work with varying degrees of success. But warts usually disappear eventually on their own anyway, though that might take several years. They can come back again though -- in short, warts are unpredictable. It's difficult to know just how to get rid of warts. For generations people have used their own remedies and ideas. These may not be medically approved, but they have been used. Here are a few...

1. One popular method of treating warts is to rub the wart twice a day with the soft inside of a banana skin. Many people have claimed this works, though there seems to be no good reason why.

2. Another similar method is to rub the wart with the inside part of a cut onion, which has had salt sprinkled on it. Do this several times a day for a week or so.

3. My father was a great believer in swabbing a wart with castor oil twice a day. When I was three or four I had several warts on my hands. They vanished in less than a week through this method. Could it have been my faith and trust in my father? Who knows...

4. Rub the juice from an orange or lemon onto the wart, then cover it with a band aid. The acidic nature of the citrus juice is believed to irritate the wart enough to make it go away.

5. Cover the wart in adhesive tape. Use several layers to really cover it up and leave it like that for maybe five days. Then remove the tape for half a day before covering it up again. The wart should go after a week or two.

OK, these treatments may not be very scientific, or approved by the medical authorities, but some people believe in them. And what's more, they often work. Good results can perhaps be put down to the power of suggestion, but for anyone who ever pondered on the best way of how to get rid of warts, surely that in itself is a working solution! My opinion is simply that if it works, it works. It doesn't really matter why, does it?