Cryotherapy and warts -- healing time?

[Shelly in VA]

My dd14 had a wart on her hand treated last Thursday with liquid nitrogen. The resulting blister is really large - an oval 1.5" long by 1" wide and 0.5" high. She is not able to participate in her extracurricular activities right now (karate), and I thought this would last just 2-3 days, but the blister shows no signs of decompressing. I called the doctor's office to ask if there was something they could do, thinking maybe they could open the blister with a sterile needle or blade, but they said no. Actually, they said call back Thursday if it still showed no signs of healing. Sigh...

 

So, my questions are 1] does anyone know how long it will take a blister that size to heal? and 2] what else can we do for future warts, because I can't see taking a several week break from extra curriculars over a wart!! We did try salicylic acid (seemed to make the hand worse) and duct tape (no effect). I've been told by a friend that calendula (oil? cream?) works wonders.

 

Any suggestions for how to make a 14yo girl not feel self conscious about the marble-sized bump on her hand? :D We do keep it covered with a large bandage.

 

Thanks!

 

Shelly

[KristenS]

No help, just hugs. I had this done to me in middle school, against my will I might add, and it was miserable to have this enormous blood blister on my finger for everyone to stare at. And, fwiw, I still have scarring in that location. (I will say, it seems to have scared my body into not producing any more major warts, which were always popping up in childhood!)

 

It seems like it took a while, and then it got bumped or something and started bleeding on its own, and we just treated it and it went away. I don't recall a time frame though (and that was, what, twenty years ago probably).

 

Hugs to her! (And I wish I'd gotten out of PE for it!)

[kewb]

We used duct tape, banana peel, and raw apple cider vinegar to get rid of our kids plantars warts. It took about a month but there was no scarring. The warts turned black and eventually fell out.

[hsmomof2boys]

I wondered how long it took for your dd's blister to heal? My son got liquid nitrogen applied to his hand, and now it's a marble-sized blister! The nurse practitioner applied the liquid nitrogen for too long. I don't think we'll use this method of wart removal again!

[Laura Corin]

It can take several days for the blisters to go down - I had repeated treatment for warts on my feet and it took that long. Very painful to walk on.

 

My boys have recently both had warts on their feet. My doctor suggested trying the banana cure, as - especially with children - it seemed to be more effective than freezing. After the shower you put a small piece of banana skin on the wart and cover it with a bandage. You leave it on for as long as possible, preferably until the next shower. Repeat until the wart pops out on the bandage or the skin around starts to look dead - then you can prise the wart out.

 

It worked very well for both my sons: Hobbes' wart came off after a few weeks. Calvin's were much worse - deeper on his sole and heel - but came out after a couple of months. There has been no recurrence. They also got a lot of potassium over the treatment period.

 

Laura

[keptwoman]

Oh I'm going to try that banana one Laura!

Having had many torturous liquid nitrogen treatments as a child, I would not ever have my child have it done. It really is incredibly painful for a long time afterward. In the end after all that agony not working my Mum got a referral to a dermatologist, who has the ability to do a number of things not available to more generalist doctors. I had some very strong paint on stuff, and also had some injected underneath which killed them.

[Perry]

My dd recently had about 10 molluscum treated on her legs. The blisters were huge, and they took at least a week, maybe 2, to pop on their own. My dh (family practice dr.) opened one, but the fluid reaccumulated right away, so I doubt that is going to help much.

 

I'll ask her if she remembers exactly how long it took when she gets home.

[Perry]

My dd recently had about 10 molluscum treated on her legs. The blisters were huge, and they took at least a week, maybe 2, to pop on their own. My dh (family practice dr.) opened one, but the fluid reaccumulated right away, so I doubt that is going to help much.

 

I'll ask her if she remembers exactly how long it took when she gets home.

Wanted to add-

The good news is, they are now completely gone, with no recurrence. She's had problems with molluscum for years and we are finally done with it! I hope.....

[Perry]

I'll ask her if she remembers exactly how long it took when she gets home.

She says 2 weeks. She remembers specifically because we did the treatment during a week she had off from dance, and she had to take another week off because the blisters on her knees prevented her from dancing.

[gingersmom]

My daughter had two warts blasted several times last summer and the doctor warned us of blisters but nothing really happened.

 

She also had a huge plantars wart on her foot that we were seeing the podiatrist for. After many visits (he would scrape it) and much at home care (rubbing with pumice stone and some seriously expensive medicine $100/tube), he decided to blast at them. One time, no blisters and 2 months later they are gone.

 

I was also concerned about healing times because my daughter is an ice skater.

[Pretty in Pink]

My dh had several warts treated on his hands a few years back. He got the big blood blisters, so severe that he had wrap his hands in bandages and it took a few weeks for them to heal completely. He was miserable and said he will never do that again.

 

I have had success with the freeze at home kits on both plantar and regular warts with the boys.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm not going to say how I learned this, but we used this for my dd when she was 7 and it worked great. She had several warts, a few or her hands that really bothered her, as well as her feet and legs. We gave her a heartburn medicine. It's Cimetidine (also known as Tagamet), you can get it anywhere OTC. It's in the section with the stomach/heartburn medicines. My dd took 1 or 2 a day for at least 6 weeks and then they all just disappeared. They started coming back a few months later and she started taking the meds again, within a week they went.

 

It doesn't work for everyone. It did not work for one of my sons, but it has worked for both of my dds. It will not work on planter warts.

 

I think you can search this on the web and find out about it too. It is a known off label use.

 

HTH

[hsmomof2boys]

Thank you everyone for letting me know about your experience with wart treatment. This is the last time that we will use liquid nitrogen! My son's blood blister from the treatment is 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Each day it is getting a bit larger (since Friday). I will expect that it will heal in 2 weeks. I hope the wart is gone by then! My son will be hospitalized next week to find out where his seizures are coming from, and that scares me (the open wound), after all I hear about infections in the hospital! We will keep it bandaged for sure.

 

If it comes back, we are trying the other treatments, lol!

[hsmomof2boys]

My son had to see the neurologist today (after getting blood work at his family doctor, 2 visits today). Anyway, the nurse checked his blood pressure with an automatic cuff, first on one arm and then quickly switched to the other arm--the arm that had blood taken out of it, plus the huge blood blister! My son said that it hurt and started throbbing and I asked her to take the cuff off because of his pain.

 

9 hours later it is still hurting. The neurologist didn't think there was a problem from it. Never get the blood pressure checked while there is a blood blister on your hand!