Cryotherapy at Leeds Hospital

What is cryotherapy?

Cryotherapy is a treatment that uses extreme cold, usually liquid nitrogen, to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue. It's commonly used to remove skin lesions and can also treat some tumours inside the body.

What conditions does cryotherapy treat?

Cryotherapy is most often used on the skin, to treat conditions such as:

• skin tags
• warts and verrucas
• sun spots (solar lentigines) and freckles
• actinic keratoses, a precancerous, sun-damaged patch of skin
• seborrhoeic keratosis
• moles.

Are there different types of cryotherapy?

Cryotherapy can be external or internal. External cryotherapy treats tissue on the surface of the skin, using a spraying device or cotton swab to apply the cold. Internal cryotherapy treats tissue inside the body, such as a tumour, using a thin instrument called a cryoprobe, inserted through a small incision.

Providers can use different substances to create the cold needed for cryotherapy, including liquid nitrogen, liquid nitrous oxide, or argon gas. Internal cryotherapy is also used to treat some cancers, including prostate, liver and cervical cancer, and to treat tumours blocking the airway in the lungs.

What are the benefits of cryotherapy?

Cryotherapy is minimally invasive and usually doesn't involve open surgery. Most people recover quickly and with little pain, and it has minimal downtime, with many people returning to normal activities straight away.

Compared with traditional surgery, cryotherapy usually causes less pain and bleeding, and a lower risk of damaging healthy tissue near the treated area.

What happens before cryotherapy?

For skin treatment, you usually don't need to do anything special to prepare, although your specialist will want to know your medical history, current medications and any skin sensitivities beforehand, and it's worth wearing loose, comfortable clothing.

For treatment inside the body, your provider will give you specific instructions, which may include stopping medications such as aspirin or blood thinners a few days beforehand, limiting what you eat or drink before the procedure, and arranging for someone to drive you home afterwards.

What happens during cryotherapy?

1. Your specialist applies a freezing agent, usually liquid nitrogen, directly to the lesion using a spray device or cotton swab.
2. This may cause a brief stinging or tingling sensation.
3. The freezing causes the cells in the lesion to rupture and die.
4. The whole procedure usually takes just a few minutes.

What does recovery look like?

The treated area usually turns red and may blister, but any mild pain should ease within about three days. A scab forms and typically heals over one to three weeks, after which new skin grows in its place.

There is minimal downtime and most people return to normal activities straight away. Sometimes more than one treatment session is needed to fully clear a lesion.

What are the risks and complications?

The risks of cryotherapy are small, but can include:

• bleeding, cramping or pain
• swelling, scarring or skin infection
• nerve damage, resulting in loss of feeling
• bone fractures (for cryotherapy near bone).