Pink scars/spots on genitals after cryotherapy?

[MichaelP123]

Hi,

I am a male and I treated my molluscum contagiosum with liquid nitrogen in my pubic area.

Now that the scabs have fallen off, my pubic area is FULL of pink scars/spots everywhere.

It looks TERRIBLE because my skin is dark.

Is this normal?

How long will it take the skin to return to normal color?

I'm currently applying Aloe Vera gel on it. Is this a good idea?

[MichaelP123]

For anyone wondering, a month and a half later my scars and hypopigmented spots are almost gone. They are hardly noticeable! I am very happy.

Since Jasmina didn't bother to answer me further or give me any recommendations, here is what I did:

- Avoided hot showers.

- Avoided touching the area as much as I could.

- Applied aloe vera twice everyday for the first week.

- Applied rosehip oil once a day during the second week.

If anyone is considering self applying liquid nitrogen, MAKE SURE to freeze only the wart/bump and not the surrounding skin. Be very careful when using it.

[MichaelP123]

Oh yeah I definetely got huge blisters. I didn't touch them though and I read somewhere that it was normal.

Do you have any specific recomendations or "not to do's" while my skin is recovering?

[Jasmina Jankicevic, MD, MSc, CCRP]

Welcome to the Dermatology Expert Forum!

It seems that you have experienced liquid nitrogen burns (“cold burns”) – redness, blisters, erosions, scabs, and finally residual post-inflammatory hypopigmentation that are most prominent in darker-skinned patients. Skin pigment recovery time depends on level of damage and/or destruction of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.

Temporary post-inflammatory hypopigmentation do not require therapy.

However, differential diagnoses to be considered in penile skin with hypopigmented areas are: scars, vitiligo, lichen sclerosus, etc. All of these require specific therapeutic approach.


Wishing You Optimal Health,
Dr. Jasmina Jankicevic

[MichaelP123]

I would also like to add that the reason I treated these myself is because in the past I used liquid nitrogen on a wart and it worked perfectly.

This time however, the bumps were incredibly small for the swab and I ended up burning the surrounding skin.

I never left the swab on the skin for more than 3-4 seconds.

Anyway, like I said before, my pubic area is now full of pink spots and it looks very bad (because I have dark skin). I really hope they will go away.

Awaiting your response.