Cryotherapy Wart Removal
Warts are nothing if not
stubborn. Those that refuse to
budge after being covered by
over-the-counter medicines or
that do not go away without
treatment may need to be removed
by a doctor. One of the most
common surgical procedures is
cryotherapy for warts, which kills the
wart by freezing it.
Cryotherapy aims to destroy the
wart and the human papilloma
virus (HPV) that causes it.
Before the procedure commences
the doctor will clean the wart
and skin around it. Then a
cryogen (freezing agent) such as
liquid nitrogen will be
applied. It may sting a little
and on some occasions a local
anesthetic is applied as the
patient might experience some
pain. Within a few minutes the
wart turns white, a sign that
some of the cells are dying. A
blister forms and a bandage may
be applied to protect the
area. The treatment usually
lasts for 15-20 minutes and the
blister will usually flatten
after a couple of days to be
replaced by the growth of new
skin cells. The highest cure
rates have been observed when
treatment occurs every two to
three weeks (Bourke JF,
Berth-Jones J, Hutchinson PE.
Cryotherapy of common viral
warts at intervals of 1, 2, and
3 weeks. Br J Dermatol 1995;
132: 433-6).
Success Rates
Warts cryotherapy success rates depend
on the nature, number, and
location of warts, and the
treatment regime given. It can
be used on all kinds of warts
such as those on the face, feet,
hands, and genital area. One
study has shown that the best
results for common warts not
located on the palms or soles
are obtained by a single freeze
(Brodrell RT, Johnson SM.
Warts: diagnosis and management:
an evidence based approach. New
York: Martin Dunitz, 2003).
And for common warts that
appear on the face one study
recommends the surgical
procedure as a second-line
therapy (Sterling JC, Handfield-Jones
S, Hudson PM. Guidelines for
the Management of cutaneous
warts. Br J Dermatol 2001;
144:4-11).
How Cryosurgery Works
Cryosurgery is not an invasive
procedure and it works because
of the destructive power of the
cold temperatures on the body’s
cells. Water ice crystals form
inside cells and as they develop
they push through the cell walls
resulting in cell death. The
super-chilled liquid can be
applied by a swab, fine spray,
or through a tube.
Risks
As with all surgical procedures
there is some risk attached.
For wart cryotherapy these include
the possibility of some pain
during and after treatment,
there may be some scarring, and
an increased risk of infection.
Blood blisters may also form if
the freezing of skin cells
causes localized blood vessels
that feed to wart to rupture.
Wart cryotherapy usually
requires more than one treatment
to completely remove a wart.
At Home Cryotherapy for Warts
There are now over the counter
cryotherapy kits available for
use. While these are not
as strong as what you would
experience in a doctor's office,
they are quite useful for
treating common warts at a
relatively low cost.
Plantar wart cryotherapy and
genital wart cryotherapy are
best left to a doctor to
perform.
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