Natural Health

Archive for the ‘Cryotherapy’ Category

Mole removal procedures vary from the simple to the highly technical.  Before you take the step of having a mole removed, you should know, first of all, what exactly a mole is, and how they are commonly removed.

Moles are incredibly common, and usually are not a threat to your health in any way.  Unlike warts or other skin blemishes, moles are actually a natural part of the skin.  They are simply dark, localized patches of pigment, and may vary in size from a small pinprick dot to a large colored patch.

Moles come in two types.

First, there are the moles you are born with, and then there are the ones which appear later in life.

Moles we are born with are often regarded as beauty marks, and may even be highly coveted.  In fact, some women are known to create “artificial moles” with the judicious use of makeup in strategic places on the face.

For most of us, a birth mole is just an unexceptional part of our lives.  We accept it as part of how we look, and these pose no harm to us.  Occasionally we may decide to get rid of a birth mole for cosmetic reasons.

However, moles which appear later in life may require more attention from us.  Unlike birth moles, these late appearing moles may change in size, shape or color, and are even known to bleed in some cases.

This second category of mole can be the harbinger of skin disease, and as such merits prompt medical attention.

The people who should be most on the lookout for this second category are those who are fair skinned, perhaps of European descent, who live in sunny climates or who work outdoors a lot.  If you fall into that category, be sure to notice the state of your skin.  A mole appearing where you had none before may be an early sign of a skin disorder, even skin cancer.

If you decide to get rid of a mole, whether for cosmetic or medical reasons, your doctor will help you decide on the best method of treatment.  The most common medical treatments at the moment are cryotherapy, laser treatment, and surgical excision.

Please note that if you are having treatment for a mole for cosmetic purposes, check with your health insurer.  Depending on your policy, you may not have coverage for elective, cosmetic procedures, so have an eye towards the costs you may incur.

Cryotherapy is the use of very low temperatures to freeze the mole and a small amount of surrounding tissue.  The freezing takes only a few moments, and requires the application of liquid nitrogen or some other very low temperature substance directly to the affected skin.  There can be a small amount of pain, but not much.  The dead frozen tissue is then removed with a sharp tool, and then the lesion is bandaged.  It will heal quickly, and there is normally no undue scarring.

Laser treatment is the opposite of the above method-extreme heat is used to burn away the offending tissue.  The dead tissue is allowed to fall away of itself after a period of a few days.

Laser treatment does not recommend itself to very deep, large moles as the type of laser used in this procedure is designed to produce only very localized heat.  Repeated treatments would be necessary to rid you of large moles; your specialist will advise you as to the applicability of lasers to your situation.

Finally, surgical excision is only necessary as a treatment of last resort.  Your surgeon removes the mole and a small amount of tissue; the lesion is bandaged and allowed to heal normally.

While there are a number of natural products on the market to get rid of moles, you should ONLY try these for purely cosmetic reasons.  This is not to say that natural remedies never work-far from it!  However, if your mole is of the late appearing variety and has been diagnosed as pointing to a more serious underlying problem, please use common sense and seek proper medical treatment rather than increase your health risk.

If warts must be treated in pregnancy, cryotherapy appears to be the best choice. Cryotherapy involves application of nitrous oxide or liquid nitrogen (-196°C) to genital warts, inducing dermal and vascular damage and edema, and leading to both epidermal and dermal cellular necrosis.

Liquid nitrogen can be poured into a container with a applicator (cryoprobe) to form a cryostat unit. Liquid nitrogen is then sprayed onto wart until it turns white, indicating that it is frozen; the subsequent thaw produces cell lysis. Two freeze/thaw cycles are usually undertaken, but trials have not established the optimal number of applications.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you have genital warts, medications and treatments are really not necessary, unless you are pregnant. You can also consider treatments if you have extremely big and widespread warts that feel and look irritating. Otherwise, you may opt to wait until your warts go away even without medication and treatment.

However, if you ever opt for a surgical operation, you have many choices. One of the most recent procedures offered as a treatment for genital warts is cryotherapy. Below are some facts about it.

Read the rest of this entry »

The simple application of duct tape was more effective than cryotherapy in the treatment of the common wart. Cutaneous warts are a common diagnosis in the pediatric population, and many therapies exist for the treatment of these warts. Anecdotal reports have suggested the effectiveness of tape occlusion therapy.

The warts that ultimately responded to tape therapy typically showed at least partial resolution after 2 to 3 weeks of treatment. Warts that were unchanged in appearance by the 3-week mark were unlikely to respond. Several potential benefits exist for using duct tape over cryotherapy. Duct tape is more practical for parents and patients to use, especially when compared with the multiple clinic visits required for freezing of a wart.

In today’s busy society, it can be difficult for parents to keep follow-up appointments every 2 weeks for cryotherapy of their children’s warts. The lower success rate of the cryotherapy arm is likely partially attributable to longer-than-optimal intervals between treatments in some patients. There was better compliance with the prescribed treatment regimen within the duct tape group, primarily due to the ease of administration.

Read the rest of this entry »