My 6-year-old granddaughter has warts. The doctor said to leave them alone, as they will go away in a year or two.

The problem is they spread, maybe because they blister and scab. Is there anything we can use to rid her of these ugly, itchy warts?

The doctor is right that warts often go away on their own, especially in children. Most people don't want to wait a couple of years, though.

Here are some of our favorite wart remedies:

Cut a piece of banana peel the size of the wart and tape it over the wart, with the fleshy inner side of the peel on the skin. Change it daily.

Apply a few drops of castor oil to the wart, cover with a bandage and reapply daily.

Cover the warts with duct tape cut to size. Replace the duct tape after several days.

Rub the warts with lemon juice or vinegar several times a day.

If all else fails, ask the doctor if it would be OK to use cimetidine (Tagamet). One mother reported that her 7-year-old son suffered with more than 20 warts for over two years. Nothing worked. Then she gave him Tagamet twice a day. Within a month, most of the warts were gone.

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Here's a random and weird home remedy for migraine hangover (which is a horrid feeling after a bad migraine): Try ice-cold Coke and chocolate. I watched my mom do this after her migraines, and now I do it after mine.

Migraine hangover has a technical name: postdrome. It is the last phase of a severe migraine.

The usual recommendations are rest and hydration. Many people also indulge in comfort food. We guess the combination of caffeine and sugar from your Coke and chocolate provide the pick-me-up you describe. Some migraineurs find, however, that chocolate triggers migraines.

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I cannot understand why health professionals refuse to consider home remedies. It's all about chemistry, be it developed in the lab or in the form of a home remedy.

Mustard is made up of chemicals, as is a pill from Pfizer. Does it matter whether the chemical comes from the pill or the condiment?

I guess our medical schools are the problem. They teach doctors how to practice medicine, and vitamins, herbs and home remedies are not part of the curriculum.

One thought: Be careful about encouraging doctors to accept home remedies. If they did, the price of prescription mustard might go up to $100 a bottle.

Doctors and other health professionals like scientific explanation for why a remedy would work. They also prefer placebo-controlled trials. Since drug companies rarely profit from home remedies, they have no incentive to conduct research.

That said, there often are plausible explanations for home remedies. Once in a while, there are even studies. We have collected hundreds of home remedies, along with such evidence we could find to back them up, in our book “The People's Pharmacy Quick and Handy Home Remedies.” Anyone who would like a copy may send a check for $21 to: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, Dept. Q&H, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, N.C. 27717-2027. It is available online at www.peoplespharmacy.com.

An example is the use of tart cherries to ease the pain and inflammation of gout. One study showed tart cherries lower levels of uric acid, which contributes to a gout attack.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Send questions to them via www.peoplespharmacy.com.