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Cryosurgery

Whats Involved?

Cryosurgery has been used for decades to treat skin lesions such as skin tags and verrucae. The procedure is straight-forward and does not require any local anaesthetic. A probe is applied to the skin which is cooled to very low temperatures by a passing a gas into the probe.

How Successful is the treatment?

There is no 100% cure for verrucae but cryosurgery when applied with sufficient intensity does prove successful for over 70% of patients with verrucae. It is less effective for mosaic lesions. Your FHP will advise you on the best treatment in your particular situation.

Other Info

As there are many types of skin lesions which can be easily confused with one another, it is best to seek professional advice from your FHP.

Questions

How does cryosurgery work?
It is believed that cryosurgery works by freezing cells infected with the verruca virus (papilloma virus). When the cells freeze the fluid inside them expands and this causes the infected cells to burst. When they burst the contents, including the virus is released allowing the natural immune cells to become more active against the virus.

Is Cryosurgery safe
Cryosurgery is very safe when applied correctly. It does not require any anaesthetic and you are normally able to go about your day to day activities immediately after treatment.

Is Cryosurgery painful?
Most patients will describe the treatment as being moderately painful whilst the freezing liquid is applied. Your Foot Health Practitioner will ensure this is kept to a minimum during the treatment.

How many treatments will I need?
Most patients require three treatments to cure a verruca. Sometimes more than three treatments are required especially where a verruca has been present for a long time or there are multiple lesions. The goof news is that with this treatment, it is not always necessary to treat all of the lesions. Once one lesion begins to regress after treatment, it is common for others to then resolve.

Does this treatment always work?
Unfortunately, no treatment is 100% effective but cryosurgery is amongst the more effective and safest treatments available. It requires no local anaesthetic and therefore is well tolerated in adults and children.

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