Pulse Light Clinic Cosmetics
pulselightclinic.co.uk
Cold therapy treats various moles, warts and some benign cancers. Our experienced London-based surgeons use cryotherapy to eliminate skin lesions with same-day releases, housing a walk-in and walk-out format. If you are not clear on whether you have a skin lesion or need to identify one, book a simple consultation for an easy diagnosis.
Cryotherapy is a treatment which typically uses liquid nitrogen to remove skin lesions like cancer by freezing them. The dead lump of cells will then eventually detach from the rest of your body, leaving little to no damage to your skin.
Cryotherapy or cryosurgery is commonly used to treat relatively benign and low-grade forms of skin cancer. For example, simple forms of BCC and Bowen’s disease. Cryotherapy can also treat other Skin lesions like actinic keratoses, viral warts, seborrhoeic keratoses, etc.
Usually applied using a spray gun, liquid nitrogen is administered to your lesioned skin, freezing it. After one to two minutes, your affected skin should return from a pale white colour to its normal pigment as it thaws out. Your surgeon may repeat this process if the lesion is large enough.
In the next few days, a scab will form. This scab should take one to two weeks to fall off, leaving the treated area looking relatively normal. A full recovery is common after some time. However, some minor scarring or colour loss can appear. Depending on the nature of the lesion, more than one cryotherapy treatment may be necessary until the surgeon removes all the visible lesions from your skin.
Your doctor will provide advice on how to care for your wound while it is healing and may suggest using vaseline, patting the wound dry if it becomes wet and advising you to refrain from picking the scab, all to reduce the chances of any scarring.
Cryotherapy is an incision-free treatment. Not only does this result in little to no scarring, but many patients are more comfortable with this procedure as it is not invasive and does not require the patient to stay overnight.
Cryotherapy is not adept at treating very active skin cancers as they would typically spread to various locations much deeper into the body. In other words, cold therapy can only treat a localised site of skin lesions.
Cold therapy may also lead to undiagnosed cancers as doctors would not be able to find microscopic cancers using radiologic imaging. Radiologic imaging is a method of diagnosis using radiant energy, commonly paired with cryotherapy.
Despite cold therapy showing promising results in its use for bones, kidneys, liver, and lungs, data on its longer-term outcomes is still limited.
Cryotherapy is usually administered without anaesthetic, making you likely to feel pain during the procedure. Fortunately, the pain is quick and usually well-tolerated. However, if your pain persists post-treatment, you can choose to take painkillers such as paracetamol to relieve any discomfort. If you are worried about the pain, it is permissible to take painkillers around an hour before the treatment.
Following cryotherapy, swelling and redness are common and usually settle after two to three days. Similarly, blistering is also a common flaw of cold therapy and settles down after the first few days of recovery.
Though unlikely, infection is possible with any surgical procedure, resulting in increased pain and pus formation: this may require additional treatment such as a prescription of antibiotics.
Despite scarring being unlikely after cryotherapy, it can occur on rare occasions. In addition, a change in pigment surrounding the treated area may also appear in unlikely circumstances.
Finally, prolonged numbness is possible following cryotherapy. However, not only is this extremely rare and not feasible for the majority of cold therapy treatments, the normal feeling should return after a couple of months.
Liquid nitrogen is the most common product used for cold therapy. Argon gas can also be used for cold therapy but is much less abundant than liquid nitrogen, making it more costly.
Since cold therapy often uses liquid nitrogen, it would take only around thirty seconds to achieve a localised temperature of -25 to -50 degrees celsius. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point (when liquid nitrogen changes to its gaseous state) of -196 degrees celsius.
You do not need to shower before or after cold therapy treatments. You can, however, shower or bathe if you choose to. If you want to clean your wound, you can with plain soap and warm water, but you should remain gentle, pat the area dry after finishing, and apply vaseline.
Please refrain from using scented soaps and applying make-up or lotion to your wound.
Aftercare is included in your treatment package, meaning follow-up sessions are common to track your recovery. Our surgeons can treat any sudden issues with no extra charge. In other words, cryotherapy is simply the most reliable treatment if you are looking for a permanent solution.
Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic surgery
Over 22 years experience
Aesthetic Doctor
Over 12 years experience
The benefits of cold therapy for cosmetic treatment:
Non-invasive treatment
Minor downtime (swelling, blistering and scabbing)
Faster recovery time after treatment
Minimal or no scarring to the skin
Stitch free procedure
No overnight stay
No need for an anaesthetic for minor cases
More than 20 years experience in cosmetics
Doctor and Nurse Led Clinic
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