Home Treatment
Pick up an at-home cryotherapy kit. Over-the-counter wart freezing kits use a mixture of dimethyl ether and propane, which can be an effective way to freeze your warts. Pick up a kit from your local pharmacy or department store. You can also order them online. A few popular at-home wart freezing products include Dr. Scholl’s Freeze Away, Histofreezer, and Zim’s Max Freeze Gel. It’s not safe to apply liquid nitrogen products meant for electronics on your warts. These products aren’t designed for medical use and you could really hurt yourself. Doctors use medical-grade liquid nitrogen and have the right skills and equipment to apply it safely.
Soak the foam applicator and apply it to your wart. Follow the directions on the packaging to safely saturate the special applicator with the cryotherapy solution. Rub the solution directly onto your wart to apply a thin layer that will freeze it. You may need to treat the wart multiple times in order to get rid of it. Every home cryotherapy kit is a little different, so make sure you follow the directions carefully to prevent potential burns or scarring.
Try a peeling wart treatment for young children. Cryotherapy can include side effects such as irritation, soreness, and swelling. For children, you may want to choose an alternative at-home treatment, such as a peeling medication made with salicylic acid or trichloroacetic acid, which may be a little less painful. Buy peeling treatments at your local pharmacy or order them online. Some doctors may refuse to treat young children with cryotherapy.
Doctor’s Office
Ask your doctor to freeze off your wart with liquid nitrogen. Call and schedule an appointment to have your doctor perform the procedure safely with the right equipment. Your doctor may need to remove the top layer of your wart so the liquid nitrogen can penetrate effectively. While you won’t feel the wart itself, you’ll feel a cold sensation followed by mild pain around your wart when your doctor applies the liquid nitrogen.
Clean the area with soap and water if the blister breaks. It’s common for a blister to form after cryotherapy. If the blister breaks, the virus in the wart can spread and potentially cause other warts to form. If this happens to you, gently clean the area with soap and water so you don't spread the HPV virus. All warts are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). If you spread the virus around, it can cause additional warts.
Repeat the treatment 2-4 times until the wart is gone. Usually, 1 treatment isn’t enough to fully knock out a wart, especially on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, where the skin is thicker. Every 1 to 3 weeks, see your doctor for additional treatments to take care of it. Usually, your doctor will wait until your skin has healed up from the last treatment before applying another one.
Talk to your doctor about alternatives if cryotherapy doesn't work. Burning, cutting, and laser removal are viable alternatives for a wart that doesn't respond to cryotherapy. If freezing doesn’t work to remove your wart, ask your doctor about other treatment options that may be a good option for you. They may be able to treat you in their office or refer you to a specialist who can. With some treatment options, such as burning or cutting, scarring is a possibility, so be sure to talk to your doctor if you’re concerned about it.
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