can using a wart freeze treatment for a mole be harmful?
Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at
5:08 pm
Can I treat an itchy sorta irregular mole with a wart freeze product? what are the negative effects? I cant afford surgery…
Filed under: Wart Treatment
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Yes, it most certainly could be harmful and is not a good idea. Moles tend to extend through the full thickness of the skin, where a wart does not. A mole needs to be removed completely, and this can only be done in a minor surgical procedure. The advantage is that not as much surrounding skin gets damage, and it can be sent off to pathology afterwards to be certain there are no cancerous changes. It doesn’t require a plastic surgeon or even a dermatolgist, a GP should be more than capable of removing a typical mole if it’s needed. A wart doesn’t go the full skin thickness, and will be shed when you kill the cell containing the virus. You don’t have to freeze that deeply and are not likely to chemically burn yourself severely. The mole is actually your skin, with a cluster of melanoma cells clustered together, but full skin thickness- down to the underlying muscle. So you will be burning skin, just as if you took a match to yourself- and getting full thickness means the same as a third degree burn. The complications of that burn would be exactly the same as for any burn, and the scarring could be nasty. If it’s removed surgically, you get left with a nice neat line and peace of mind when the pathology report comes back. Don’t freeze your mole, please. Try to make arrangements with a GP to remove it properly.
Please don’t try this. A mole IS NOT a wart. Hence a wart treatment will not help it. It could burn your skin and make the mole hurt even more. Read the directions, there are warnings against using that stuff on things that aren’t warts.
Call around to dermatologists or other (walk-in, open-door) clinics in your area. Most places have a sliding scale for all their services, so things are more affordable for people with less income.
Edit: Hmm…actually having Googled it, it looks like doctors do freeze moles (who knew?). I still wouldn’t try to do it at home. A doctor would know best, and has real liquid nitrogen that’s much more effective than the OTC stuff. Plus, if it’s an irregular mole, you really should be tested for cancer (that’s what costs the most unfortunately).
Bottom line, at least call around to some dermatologists/clinics for advice and pricing info.
Good Luck.
Dude, it says For wart use, not mole. You should always follow label instructions. You could actually make the mole worse this way. Wait to you get the money and go the doctor.
Because you say its itchy and irregular should be a warning to you. Please have it checked. The Dr. will be able to tell by looking at it if it looks suspicious. DO NOT use the wart freeze on it!