damage from cryo, please help me!!

[concernedguy]

hi doctor, I have posted to you twice before and I did an extremely stupid thing, I really need your help!... my dermatologist said the bumps I had were cysts, but I was obsessed and I went to a walk-in clinic instead of my derm. and the guy said he could freeze them off with liquid nitrogen... I asked about scarring and he said there wouldn't be... stupidly I believed him... I am so, so scared right now... he got the nitrogen and put it into a cup with a large q-tip and really sloppily applied it with force just under the tip of my penis in a large area, so large that is encompassed all 3 bumps, to form a v like shape under the head of my penis...  stupidly I trusted him, and he made a mess of the whole area... instead of just applying to the bumps he pressed it in hard all over the area under the head of my penis... I got home that evening and everything looked normal, but the bumps looked bigger... then the next day I woke up and there is a large dark red scarred area under the head of my penis! I am so scared and I need your help... is this scar going to be there for the rest of my life? what can I do to minimize it at this point? am I doomed to have a horrible large scar on my penis now for the rest of my life?... I can't understand for the life of me why I did this, and why he was so sloppy with a large q-tip intead of pinpointing the cysts, he went after the whole area... what can I do? will I suffer nerve damage to my penis and thus impotence from this in a very sensitive area of the male penis?.... I know the skin there is quite thin and this doctor at the clinic pressed too hard and I think damaged the upper layers of skin... he was very young and I think inexperienced in dealing with liquid nitro, very sloppy with it... I don't know what to do at this point and feel like my life is over if I lose sexual function and suffer nerve damage as a result of this doctor's incompetence... and the scar fear is real... any advice you can give me would be most helpful now in my time of crisis... I know I did a very stupid thing, and will be consulting with my derm this week to see if the damage is beyond repair... also the pain in my whole lower abdomen and groin from this has become very difficult and I am on tylenol every few hours to keep it at bay... should I see a different specialist now instead of a dermatologist... a urologist perhaps... this is definitely not all in my head, the scar is real as is the pain...  thanks so much for being there on the Internet, I only wish I could find a doctor in real life like you who knows how to deal with these things properly...

scared

[Ncwarts]

I have had many cryo treatments for warts on my penis and pubic region...I now have raised bumps and some are rough that appear to be scar tissue and not warts...Im very worried...I also have permanent discoloration of my skin..esp when flaccid, there are brownish rings around the scars and bumps now.  IS there any way to treat this?  I have also had sloppy cryo at clinics but I dont have insurance and cant see my derm.  HELP!

[Ncwarts]

I have had many cryo treatments for warts on my penis and pubic region...I now have raised bumps and some are rough that appear to be scar tissue and not warts...Im very worried...I also have permanent discoloration of my skin..esp when flaccid, there are brownish rings around the scars and bumps now.  IS there any way to treat this?  I have also had sloppy cryo at clinics but I dont have insurance and cant see my derm.  HELP!

[jubilee]

about 2+ months ago, i went to my MD who "burned" off some suspicious spots from my arm and both legs above the ankles. He also pressed very hard, and i still have deep "wounds" in those areas. the scabs are still intact, the tissue surrounding them remains inflammed. he told me to use bactroban. he wanted to put me on keflex, but since i had a bout of C-Diff only a few weeks prior, i told him i didnt want to go that route. i should also tell you i had surgery almost 2 years ago for malignant melanoma that was 1.4mm deep,at the cusp of stage 4, so i try to be vigilant on skin checks. I am a nurse. I have had other spots removed before this MD did them, and they never took this long to heal, and never had the inflammation or pain I am experiencing now. Now I dont want to go to the MD to have anything checked out. A few weeks ago, one of the scabs caught on my bed sheet and was lifted. underneath was almost like a pustule attached to the scab, and there was a crater in my leg that appeared to have a small tunneling that reminded me of a root being pulled out. the scars im going to have are terrible. I have a very large scar on my R delt shaped like a Z from the melanoma removal, I wear it proudly and use it to tell people about skin cancer, but i am ashamed about the way my legs look. i feel like i look like a drug addict with all those sores. what can i do for the scars?

[concernedguy]

Thanks a lot dr. r, from now on I will only listen to the dermatologist and no more walk-ins and no more obsessing about my penis, because it really gets you into trouble, as you make rash decisions instead of taking well-educated medical advice. From now on I trust my derm. as a skin expert. Will keep it moisturized with vitamin E and keep my appointment to see what she has to say. I hope it all clears up eventually and that the skin eventually returns to normal. Hopefully I don't lose any feeling there. I know I had 10 or so freezings before on my foot and you can't tell at all now, skin healed completely. My advice for anyone out there, listen to your dermatologist about skin issues, they know what they are doing! Thanks again dr. your advice really helps a lot of people, I know you've helped me a lot.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Please look at my post, which crossed yours.  Again, just relax and follow up and all will be well.

Dr. Rockoff

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Relax, my friend.  Liquid nitrogen can produce impressive blisters, but it is most unlikely to produce permanent damage to the skin or nerves, no matter how hard the nitrogen was pressed on.  Just keep the area moist and you'll soon be good as new--the skin of the penis is highly vascularized and heals very fast.

I suggest seeing a dermatologist in a week or two.  Things should be just fine.

Perhaps the dermatologist can pass some advice on to the walk-in clinic doctor about the proper use of liquid nitrogen . . .

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[concernedguy]

doctor I should add that the skin is dark red/purple rather than black after 24 hours, so I believe this is  a 2nd degree burn rather than black as a nerve damaged 3rd degree burn would be  i read... and the pain I am experiencing is really there, so leads me to believe the young doctor did not get right to the nerves...