Will Warts Return After Freezing (Cryotherapy)?
Some treatments are available for warts – though many cases of this skin problem can spontaneously resolve over time. One of these treatment options is cryotherapy, freezing the affected skin with liquid nitrogen (very cold substance). How about the prognosis after freezing, will the problem go away permanently or is there a chance for it to return?
In general, warts don’t require treatment!
Except for genital warts, many warts can improve spontaneously over time without treatment – though it can take a long time (in several months or even years). However, if they are painful or cause other discomfort symptoms, you may need to consider taking treatment.
Another reason to take the treatment is due to cosmetic purposes or if you want a quick treatment. Sometime treatment is also required when the problem gets worse or to reduce the risk of spreading to other parts of the body.
Some self-care treatments are available. One of them is with the use of topical over-the-counters that contain salicylic acid.
Especially for warts on the face, consult first with a dermatologist before taking any treatment! Genital warts are also should be treated carefully since they are more harmful and easier to spread to other people.
Cryotherapy (freezing, liquid nitrogen therapy)
Before you decide to take it, your doctor may recommend first taking salicylic acid treatment. However if you are looking for the fast improvement on your wart-affected skin, it can be one of common choices.
Cryotherapy is quick (the liquid-nitrogen application can take less than 60 seconds); even it can be done at home, commonly in a doctor’s office. However, there are also some drawbacks, these include:
- It can be painful, especially on the thicker areas of the skin such as soles and palms.
- The cost is expensive! Therefore it’s essential to ask your doctor whether there are some ways to reduce the costs before taking the treatment.
Though this treatment has lower risk of causing scar (particularly if it is done properly), but there are also some side-effects and risks from the treatment you need to concern!
For instance, more session of the treatment on the same site cause repeated freezing. This can be potential to destroy healthy nerves around the affected skin which may take a long time to recover.
Another possible risk is the infection, though it is very rare. The symptoms of infection may include high fever, pus-discharge, red streaks expanding on the affected skin, and increased levels of heat, tenderness, swelling, or pain!
Does the treatment work effectively?
In fact, again it has become a standard treatment for this skin problem. It can help shrink and damage the warts. According to an article published by Health Wise, it can help get rid of the problem about half of the time.
In cryotherapy, most warts are usually treated with 1 to 4 times. The interval between each session of treatment can take about 1-3 weeks.
Many times, it can help successfully treat warts with lower risk of leaving scaring. Your immune system usually has its own mechanism to fight against tiny bits of warts that may be left after treatment.
However, it doesn’t always work.
Sometime, the problem may return after treatment. This can suggest that it may need another session of cryotherapy or may require other treatment methods.
What are the causes of warts-returned after freezing? The answer may vary.
But it seems that new warts regrow as fast as old ones resolve. The reason may be due to the virus had spread to the surrounding areas of the affected skin before it was treated. In fact, many times new warts grow up around the original warts.
If this is the reason, treating the new warts as soon as possible can be so essential in order to make the problem has little time to shed virus into nearby areas of the affected skin.
