Clinical reference

Viral warts (verruca vulgaris & plantar warts)

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources2 sources

BAD Guidelines for Cutaneous Warts 2014 · Salactol Collodion (salicylic acid 16.7% + lactic acid 16.7%) SmPC sections 4.2-4.3 (eMC product 3766)

Verified against1 document

Salactol Collodion (salicylic acid 16.7% + lactic acid 16.7%) SmPC sections 4.2-4.3 (eMC product 3766)

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Symptoms — what the patient reports (4)

Most warts cause no symptoms at all, though they are unsightly
A few cause pain in the spot itself
Plantar warts hurt from pressure and friction, and can bleed
A big plantar wart can interfere with walking and with wearing shoes

Signs — what you find (9)

The common wart is a raised growth with an irregular outline and surface
Size runs from 1 mm up to several centimetres
Most common warts sit on the arms and legs
Round the lips and eyelids they may be thin and elongated
On the sole they can be mistaken for a callus, but run deep and hurt on pressing
Flat warts are fleshy, 1-7 mm across, and can number in the hundreds
Butcher warts occur in people handling raw meat, and are large with a cauliflower surface
In the mouth they appear as small whitish papules of 1-5 mm, arranged in clusters [papules]
Cystic warts sit on weight-bearing surfaces such as the sole and look smooth

Tests (7)

Diagnosis is normally clinical, from the examination and the appearance
Immunohistochemistry for HPV proteins confirms virus but has poor sensitivity
Southern blot for viral DNA is more sensitive, and specific for the HPV type
PCR amplifies the viral DNA for testing
HPV turns up in younger lesions but is not always present in older ones
Biopsy if the diagnosis is in doubt
Paring a wart reveals tiny black dots, which are clotted capillaries

If not this — what else fits (3)

Molluscum contagiosum is the first alternative to weigh
Seborrhoeic keratosis and lichen planus can look much the same
Squamous cell cancer and keratoacanthoma are the ones not to miss

SourceStatPearls "Wart" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

SALICYLIC ACID

1st line

Formtopical

Adult dose and duration

Apply the salicylic acid 16.7% with lactic acid 16.7% collodion to the wart once daily, usually at night, after soaking in warm water and paring the surface x up to 12 weeks

Paediatric dose

Dose by age
Children >2 years:	apply daily under adult supervision; protect healthy skin

Dose source

Salactol Collodion SmPC sections 4.1-4.3 (eMC product 3766): "Salicylic acid 16.7% w/w Lactic acid 16.7% w/w", "For the topical treatment of warts, verrucas, corns and calluses" and "Salactol should be applied once daily usually at night. It can take up to twelve (12) weeks for resistant lesions to disappear". The strength shown is that single product; no disease-level article for viral warts is held in this corpus, so no percentage range is quoted.

Why

Keratolytic that softens and dissolves the thickened keratin of a viral wart, allowing the infected tissue to be pared away and exposing it to the host immune response; a first-line topical treatment for verruca vulgaris and plantar warts.

Cautions

Protect surrounding normal skin with petroleum jelly.
Do NOT apply to facial warts, anogenital warts, or broken skin.
Soak wart in warm water and file surface before application.
Not for a diabetic foot, and not where circulation to the foot is poor. The label rules both out flatly. A keratolytic on skin that heals badly is how a wart becomes an ulcer.
Not on moles, birthmarks or hairy warts.
Collodion is flammable - no smoking or naked flame until it has dried.

Egyptian brands

Egyptian brand	Manufacturer	Indicative price
SALICYLIC ACID COLLODION 12% PAINT B.P.2001? different route - not topical	UNIPHARMA CO. > UNIPHARMA	3.00 EGP
SALICYLIC ACID SOAP (WEISER) 45 GM? different route - not topical	WEISER	15.00 EGP

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.