Appalachian Wart Removal

I've never had a wart before (I feel like I should say "knock on wood")-but I did have some hideous growth on the inside of my thumb when I was pregnant with the girls. I had many complications during the pregnancy-but the weird growth was the most annoying and embarrassing. I don't remember the name of the condition-but the doc who removed it explained it like this: I had injured my thumb in some small minor way-maybe I got a splinter or pricked it on a straight pen. My pregnant body-went into over drive-sending way too many resources to fix my thumb-the result-a growth full of blood that bled all over the place at the slightest touch. A plastic surgeon-took it off for me-he said it might come back-but thank goodness it didn't.

All my life I've heard of folks who could remove warts-most often by rubbing them or by buying them. I have 2 such stories to share with you today.

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Garland Davis shared the following story with me:

I had numerous warts on my hands. Everyone told me that they were caused by playing with toads and letting them piss on your hands. I remember thinking that wasn't right. I knew that I hadn't touched any toads. I remember trying to keep my hands in my pockets so that people wouldn't see my warts. My parents tried any number of homemade potions to no avail. Some things from the drugstore were tried, but again no remedy for my warts. I remember going to the doctor and him telling them that I was too young to have them "burned' off.

We carried my 'Granny' Salmons to Yadkin County one Sunday afternoon to visit some friends. I remember that it was late in the day and Daddy was ready to leave. She told them to wait that she was going to take me to get my warts "witched". She led me for a long distance (probably not that far, but to a little boy, quite a distance) down a path through the woods. We eventually came to a log house. An old (again, old is relative to my age) woman came out and talked with my grandmother.

Granny gave her a sack that she had brought. The old lady sat me down on the stoop to the cabin door and started touching the warts on my hands. She then took a piece of cord and tied a number of knots in it (I later realized that she was counting the warts and tied a knot for each one.) She then hung the cord around my neck and led me by the hand around the yard. She then took the cord and went into the woods. She returned and told me that my warts would leave me to look for the cord. She said if I ever tried to find the cord all my warts would return. We left and went back home. Within a few days, all my warts, except one, disappeared. I still have that one wart on the knuckle of my ring finger and have had it my whole life. I always figured that she missed counting it.

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Miss Cindy shared this story with me:

When I was around 10 years old I had a wart on my left thumb. It was on the side of my thumb at the knuckle. The wart measured about 3/8 inch across. That's fairly large on a 10 year old hand.

My folks took me to the doctor for removal. The doctor burned it off. It wasn't long till it came back, so it was back to the doctor. This time he cut it off but again, it came back.

My cousin, Zoolie also had a wart. Hers was on the thumb also but it was on the side growing partially into the nail. It was about the same size wart as mine. Her folks took her to a dermatologist. They were really concerned because of the way it grew into the fingernail. The dermatologist removed it several times, several different ways. Each time it grew back.

My dad finally said "enough, get in the car, both of you". He took us to an old man in Henson Cove above Canton, not too far from my grandmothers house. I think the man's name was Mr. Hall. He looked at both warts, rubbed them and sent us on our way.

I looked down a couple of weeks later and it was gone, I called Zoolie and her wart was gone as well.

I don't know what to tell you happened.....the warts were gone and never returned.

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When The Deer Hunter and I first met, he had 2 or 3 warts on his hand. After several months of dating-I was so head over heels for him-that I didn't even notice the warts were gone until he showed me. He said he'd grown up hearing about folks getting their warts rubbed by someone with special powers-so every time he thought about it he rubbed his. In a few weeks they were gone. I still tease him about having magical wart removing powers.

Ever had a wart conjured, rubbed, or bought?

Tipper

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Comments

[chuk]

hello my grandfather origonaly from louisiana moved to mississippi could do this also.
we are french and english and part blackfoot from way back is this talent assosiate with a race religion or any other common denominater and is it a inheritedm talent we could do ourselves if we tryed anyone with any insights pls send me you input
Chukcox@yahoo.com

[Julie at Elisharose]

I've never had a wart myself, but my dad has told me he can rub warts away. I have never had the opportunity to take him at his word, but I remember as a kid thinking he was kind of creepy every time he brought it up.

[Becky]

Never heard of conjured or rubbed, but I have heard of them being bought before.

[Garland Davis]

Tipper, Thanks for using my story. I had forgotten writing that one. It seems there a myriad of cures for warts. I am tempted to try the on the one I have left. No, I'll probably keep it. It has been with me for a long time.

Garland

[Lanny]

Dear Hunter did have special powers, he was in love with you! He most likely still does have those special powers. One of my girls had warts, we used duct tape.

[Gary Powell]

My wife tells of the cure that they used. They would prick the wart to make it bleed, then rub grains of corn in the blood. The corn was wrapped in a rag then buried at a fork in a path. The next person to pass would get the warts.

[Ethelene Jones]

My Grandma had the ability to remove warts. She would never tell us the secret of how she could look at them, count them, rub them, and then after a few days they would be gone! Wish she had passed her knowledge on to me!

[brenda s 'okie in colorado']

Tipper, Like you, I had a tiny seed wart just above my upper lip when I was pregnant with my daughter. I didn't do anything about it and it went away immediately after delivering my daughter. Then, 4 years later, I became pregnant with my son. Same thing happened again. As soon as I delivered him, it immediately went away. Those are the only two times I ever had a wart. I'm 60 years old. Very strange.

[tea4too0]

When I was little, I had a wart on my right hand first finger. My daddy took me out to the chicken coop, gave me 3 kernels of dried corn. He told me to rub the wart with one kernel at a time then throw them back behind me. I could not turn around til he told me to, because the chickens had to eat the corn first. Guess what?
No more warts. Thanks for the reminder,
Terry

[Uncle Al]

My Daddy and Grand-daddy both used to say they could make'em go away by repeating some Choctaw Indian phrases. I can't say as I ever saw any proof, but who knows.

[RB]

I remember hearing all this, but I can't recall anyone receiving any care that helped them back then.

My brother once had huge ones that spread all over both hands and between his fingers. It was awful. Someone told him it was caused by a virus, so he started scrubbing those hands with a hard brush and then he'd pour Clorox over them which stung like crazy, but they did go away.

Recently a nurse friend of mine told me to remove warts, just keep washing them with anti-bacterial soap and putting anti-bacterial medicated ointment on them, and they'd go away.

That makes total sense because warts are caused by viruses - now viruses cannot eat nor mate, they procreate by attaching to bacteria that eat and mate, multiplying the virus as they do so, so anti-bacteria soaps and ointments makes total sense.

God bless.

RB
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[Nicole @ Rare Bird]

Like other Appalachian gals, I was taken by my sweet granny to a man in her church who rubbed it, prayed over it and asked me if I had faith it was going to be gone. My eight year old self nodded and now, decades later, I still rub that wart-free spot on my palm and remember the kindness in his eyes.

Great to read the stories from others as well1

[Charlotte]

My grandma used to say, "Steal a dishrag and bury it; the wart will go away." A doctor just finally burned mine off and they haven't come back.

[PinnacleCreek]

I had mentioned on a previous post that an old man bought my warts, and they disappeared never to return. I did not remember much about it, but when I mentioned to my sister she had the same experience, but remembered more details. She said they were bought for a penny, and he requested a dish rag. He rubbed them with this rag, and buried the rag later. Her warts also disappeared. I do remember I had mine for quite a long time before he witched them.

[Sam Ensley]

I read in an Edgar Cacey book that a mixture of baking soda and olive oil on warts will make them go away, but I have never tried it.

[Ken]

Tipper,
When I was in grammer school I had
two seed warts on the side of my
longest finger, where you hold a
pencil. Those things hurt when I
had to do my lessons, but that
winter I took that ole bad flu and
soon as I got better, the warts had gone. They've never returned.
...Ken

[Janet Smart]

When we were kids we took bean leaves and rubbed over the warts and then put the leaf under a rock, when the leaf rotted the wart would be gone. I recently used a salve I made from plantain leaves to rub on a large, dark growth I had (it wasn't a wart, but something like one) and it took a couple of months, but it came off. I've also heard of rubbing them with old dish rags.

[Miss Cindy]

Well, Tipper, sounds to me like you've got your very own magical wart remover. He's a good looking fella too. You better hang on to him!

[B. Ruth]

Tipper,
I forgot to mention, after reading your story, Garlands and Cindys..my mind quickly went into memory mode thinking of my times with the wart battle...
I loved your story, Garlands and Cindys...and have heard of folks being able to take away warts by buying them or doing chants, burying things or rubbing them..
I love all the stories from the commentors as well so interesting..
Thanks Tipper,

[B. Ruth]

Tipper,
I had a wart after I was an adult..I was occasionally nicking my hands with the exacto knife I used in the art department...so I think the virus got in there from a nick in the skin...Since I had not held a toad in years. Yes I'd carried many a toad around and tormented my granny to death with her screaming, "When it pees on you, you'll have a handful of warts by Monday!" lol (Devil made me do it! Since they thought a girl should not like any nature except flowers!)
Before my Dad died he saw the wart on the top of my knuckle on my working hand...and said "When you get home go to the woods and get some stump water and wash it."
I couldn't remember where there was a stump in our woods holding water so I opted for the freeze stuff at the drugstore...That stuff hurt and it looked awlful..so after a few weeks I went to the doctor and he has the curse somewhere in his office 'cause it had never come back...LOL
Thanks Tipper,...I hope someone will remember the chant kids used to do to get rid of warts...I remember helping a little girlfriend try it for her wart..but can't remember the rhyme!

[Wanda Devers]

Find a small stone for each wart. Rub a stone on each wart. Put them in a tobacco sack. At the first crossroad you come to, throw out the sack of stones. Whoever picks up the sack will get your warts!!

[Bill Dotson]

I had a wart on one of my hands and I had heard that fellow that lived down the road in the little town of Sardis Ky was supposed to be able to remove warts so the next time I saw him at the restaurant in town I asked him if he could remove it but he denied it. Later we were sitting at the counter shooting the bull, he rubbed it, I did not notice him doing because he kept my attention so I would not know he did it but later I kind of remembered him rubbing it and the next time I thought about it which was several days it was gone and has not returned.

[Sheryl Paul]

My sister was plagued with warts when she was very little. Our neighbor was visited by her Granny Trecee. She told us to bring her to Granny and she would buy them all for a penny. She did and they were gone real soon.

[Tim Mclemore]

When I was younger I had a wart on my hand, I was continuously knocking it off and it would bleed and come back, my parents bought all kinds of medicine to remove warts it would come back every time, then one day my aunt ask me if I'd like for her to remove that wart, of course I said, she went into the back yard and cut a persimmon limb and took the juice and rubbed it and in a few days it was gone never to return. I don't know if it was her or the juice from the limb or combination, hadn't had anymore to try it on but all I know is I was glad to get rid of the thing that had plegged me for years.

[John Dilbeck]

I used to have several large warts on my left hand. I tried burning them off with the over-the-counter wart removing acid (can't think of the name). It was painful and didn't work.

So, later, after I had learned self-hypnosis, I used it on them. I gave myself the suggestion that every time I touched or rubbed the warts little miniature miners would use their picks and shovels to dig away the warts, from the inside.

So, for a few days, every time I noticed the warts, I would rub them and imagine those miners busily at work.

One morning, I woke up and looked and the warts were gone. All of them. They never returned.