What is Cryosurgery and how does it work? Cryosurgery is a highly effective treatment for a number of skin issues. It involves the use of extremely cold temperatures to destroy certain skin tissues, readying them for removal.
Most often we use liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide, to freeze on abnormal growth along the skin’s surface. The growth is cooled down to extremely cold temperatures, and instantly freezes. Generally, the temperatures are anywhere from -350 degrees Fahrenheit to -320 degrees Fahrenheit, destroying the tissue immediately upon contact.
Once the tissue(s) are frozen, they will be absorbed into the body and released as waste. If not, the frozen growth can easily be removed using a scalpel or surgical knife. In some instances, laser skin resurfacing or other methods of resurfacing is done to smooth the skin out after the growth’s removal.
What does cryosurgery treat? Cryosurgery is used to destroy any problem tissue or abnormal growths on the skin. In the most severe of these cases, the abnormal growth is cancerous and it must be removed to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the body.
Cryosurgery is also performed for cosmetic reasons, on moles, and other growths (non-cancerous) that may appear on the skin’s surface.