The successful treatment of flat warts with auricular acupuncture

Systemic immunotherapy for the treatment of warts: A literature review

BACKGROUND

Immunotherapy has emerged as a critical therapeutic tool for the treatment of warts. Immunotherapy for warts is currently restricted to recalcitrant lesions. A small number of regimens appear to be extremely effective. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of evidence-based research.

OBJECTIVE

Furthermore, in the majority of cases, their safety and effectiveness have not been evaluated in double-blind, controlled clinical trials, making the reproducibility of many of the listed treatments difficult to analyze and a possible placebo effect difficult to rule out.

METHODS

Analyzing and discussing different types of systemic immunotherapy. The different types of immunotherapy for warts are mentioned in this report.

RESULTS

Systemic immunotherapeutic modalities commonly used in the treatment Echinacea, propolis, oral retinoids, glycyrrhizinic acid, levamisole, cimetidine, and zinc sulfate have all been reported as effective treatment modalities for different types of warts.

CONCLUSION

Immunotherapy has emerged as one of the most important therapeutic modalities for warts. Such treatment is required not only for recalcitrant or multiple lesions, but also in the majority of treated cases.

A Retrospective Study of a Chinese Traditional Medicine YIKEER in the Treatment of Verruca Patients in Liaoning District

Background

There are many possible ways to treat verruca, but no one is the single perfect treatment. YIKEER is a kind of compound preparation of Chinese traditional medicine, which has been used in the treatment of verruca for several years.

Aim

To confirm the effects of YIKEER for verruca.

Method

Patients with verruca vulgaris, verruca plantaris, or verruca plana were instructed to apply YIKEER stock solution or diluent to the lesions once or twice daily for 5–7 days. Then, the YIKEER was ceased for 3–4 days, and sea buckthorn oil was used for wound repairing. The total procession was defined as one session.

Result

Respective 88.05% verruca vulgaris patients, 86.03% verruca plantaris patients, and 82.42% verruca plana patients achieved complete response. Most patients gained complete or partial responses after 4 treatment sessions. The percentage of patients who achieved at least 50% improvement was 90.34% for verruca vulgaris, 90.60% for verruca plantaris, and 80.91% for verruca plana after 4-session treatment. The efficacy of verruca vulgaris or verruca plantaris was better than that of verruca plana.

Conclusion

YIKEER is an effective, safe, and well-tolerated agent for treating verruca including verruca vulgaris, verruca plantaris, and verruca plana.

Dermatoses caused by cultural practices: Therapeutic cultural practices

With globalization and widespread immigration, physicians increasingly encounter patients from varying backgrounds and diverse customs. Although certain cultural practices are widely performed, there is limited medical literature describing their dermatologic and systemic effects and complications. Population diversity and sharing of traditions make it increasingly important for dermatologists to understand the role of cultural practices and recognize physiologic and pathologic sequelae. In addition, dermatologists are often adjured to assess skin findings that may be mistaken for abuse. Child abuse misdiagnosis can be traumatizing to all those involved, and immigrant families with limited English proficiency may have difficulty explaining their traditional practices. The first article of this 2-part continuing medical education series begins with a review of therapeutic cultural practices, including traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, and coining, and the clinically relevant complications that may occur. Therapeutic practices can cause a range of complications, including contact dermatitis, heavy metal toxicity, and severe cutaneous adverse reactions.

Immune Modulation and Treatment of Human Papilloma Virus-Related Warts with Energetics of Living Systems Acupuncture

Background: Cutaneous warts are small skin lesions formed as a result of infection by the human papilloma virus (HPV). In the lesion, viral manipulation creates a microenvironment that favors virus survival and reproduction. Most lesions eventually regress, probably as a result of a Th1-mediated immune response. However, some warts fail to regress and become persistent. Objective: The efficacy of treatment of persistent HPV-caused warts with Energetics of Living Systems acupuncture and monitored immune system involvement was tested. Methods: Eighteen patients with persistent warts were recruited for the study; 9 received acupuncture treatment and 9 received placebo. Each patient was treated 4 times. Results: Clinical success was defined as total clearance of all lesions with no recurrence for 3 months. In the treatment group, clinical success was 36.6% versus 0% in the placebo group. In the treatment group, the level of interleukin (IL)-10 decreased. In a comparison of patients with cleared warts and overall patients with nonresponding warts, different expression levels of IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and interferon-γ were found, although these differences were not always statistically significant. Trends of differences (not significant) were observed in leukocyte levels. Acupuncture eliminated persistent warts in some of the patients, along with inducing changes in immunologic parameters. Conclusions: Taking the clinical and immunologic outcomes together, clearance of persistent warts following acupuncture might be due to a shift toward a Th1 immune response, or an anti-inflammatory effect against the lesion-induced microenvironment.

Auricular acupuncture with laser

Auricular acupuncture is a method which has been successfully used in various fields of medicine especially in the treatment of pain relief. The introduction of lasers especially low-level lasers into medicine brought besides the already existing stimulation with needles and electricity an additional technique to auricular acupuncture. This literature research looks at the historical background, the development and the anatomical and neurological aspects of auricular acupuncture in general and auricular laser acupuncture in detail. Preliminary scientific findings on auricular acupuncture with laser have been described in detail and discussed critically in this review article. The results of the studies have shown evidence of the effect of auricular laser acupuncture. However, a comparison of these studies was impossible due to their different study designs. The most important technical as well as study parameters were described in detail in order to give more sufficient evidence and to improve the quality of future studies.