How to Freeze a Wart

Nothing is worse than an embarrassing, annoying wart--unless it is the daunting task of wart removal. Common warts, caused by one type of the human papillomavirus (HPV), are stubborn to treat. One of the best ways is to use cyrotherapy--freezing with liquid nitrogen. This method is highly effective, requires little follow-up, and involves almost no infection risk. Try it at home or in a dermatology office.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Identify your skin lesion as a genuine wart. The appearance will be a raised, dryed, whitish bump with a cauliflower appearance and occasional black dots. See your dermatologist if you have doubts as to the diagnosis. Ignoring or mistreating other skin disorders can be dangerous.
2. Choose the best treatment venue for yourself--home or a dermatology office. Several over-the-counter wart freezing treatments can be purchased at your local pharmacy, ranging from $20 to $30. This may keep the cost down for treating very small warts conveniently at home, but these products are not nearly as cold or effective as the liquid nitrogen used by dermatologists. Your money may be better spent by visiting your local dermatologist or family physician for best results.
3. Do your homework about the cost of professional wart removal. Most medical insurance policies will cover dermatology procedures--check your policy. Know what your co-pay will be. Warts often require more than one office visit.
4. Prepare your wart before your doctor's visit. While this step is not mandatory, some believe that daily treatments with salicylic acid gel at home will produce more mileage out of the freezing treatments at the doctor's office. This may be especially true for larger warts. Every night for two weeks wash your wart in warm, soapy water, apply 17% salicylic gel and cover with an adhesive 40% salicylic pad--all of which is available in your pharmacy. This will make the wart white and soft. Your dermatologist may scrape away some of the top layer, which will allow the liquid nitrogen treatment to go deeper to the source of the wart.
5. Know what to expect during and following your doctor's visit. Your medical professional will apply one or two spray applications of liquid nitrogen to your wart while you are in the office. The immediate reaction of coldness and a mild burning sensation will disappear after a few minutes. Gradually, the wart will become white and later on may darken in appearance.
6. Exercise discipline in not picking at the wart. This is probably the most important step in the wart removal process. The freezing treatment will result in a blister that totally encases the wart area. If left alone, the wart will eventually dry up and fall off by itself. It is crucial not to disturb the development of the blister. When the wart blister disappears, it will leave behind perfectly healthy new skin underneath that is not contaminated by the virus.
7. Monitor the progress of your wart treatment. The wart should disappear within three weeks. If it does not, schedule another appointment for a follow-up treatment at the three-week mark. It is important to keep on top of wart treatment until you see success. Do not allow the wart to grow bigger before seeing the doctor again.

Tips & Warnings

• Warts are also highly contagious. Any picking or scraping of the top layers as the wart dies can spread the virus to other parts of your body and to other people.
• Plantar warts on the bottom of the feet may also be frozen, but can cause discomfort in walking. Check with your doctor about plantar wart treatment.