Warts in children
My two-year-old daughter has had childhood warts over her stomach for the last year or so and while most were starting to disappear, some are now beginning to come up on her back. I remember using the juice from dandelion stems as a child. Would this work?
More commonly used internally as a diuretic and liver cleanser, there is still a lot of folklore surrounding dandelion, thanks to its use as a medicinal plant in Europe for 500 years or more - and I can remember, as a child, making potions with the juice of the stem to get rid of my sister’s freckles and being shocked when it worked!
One traditional use was as a blood purifier and since we know now it is high in both vitamins A and C, it can help boost the immune system, which would normally resist the infection that is causing your daughter’s wart infections. That said, a better remedy to use topically on these warts would be oregano oil (wild marjoram), which is widely on sale in good independent health stores and has a more specific antiviral action. This is the remedy I used successfully on a small wart on my daughter’s wrist which has not, in the two years since we first treated it, recurred.
You may want to think about building your daughter’s immunity too. The new Kiwiherb range includes an organic children’s strength Echinacea tincture from New Zealand, which you can use in an age-appropriate dosage (see the bottle). If this is not on sale locally, mail order from the Nutri Centre (0800-587 2290).