| tion_start --> | | | | Cryosurgery is gaining in popularity with medical |
| Skin cancer is one form of cancer that is often | | | | professionals and patients. One of the major |
| disregarded by many people. It can kill, but unique | | | | advantages to the procedure is it is less invasive than |
| treatments exist. Cryosurgery is one of them. | | | | more established approaches. It typically involves only |
| There is little doubt that cancer is a scary topic for | | | | a topical treatment or small incision in the area in |
| just about anyone. That being said, there are some | | | | question. This reduces trauma to the body and |
| forms of cancer which do not always sound serious, | | | | makes recovery much quicker and less painful. |
| but are. Skin cancer is one. It also happens to be the | | | | Sometimes, it can be done with only a local |
| most prevalent form of cancer found in the world | | | | anesthesia. It can also be repeated frequently and |
| today. Fortunately, most skin cancer is treatable if | | | | used in combination with other treatment strategies. |
| found early enough. There are a variety of methods | | | | As you might imagine, this less invasive approach also |
| for doing this and a unique one is cryosurgery. | | | | reduces the overall cost of treatment. |
| When talking about cryosurgery, one probably | | | | There is a disadvantage associated with cryosurgery. |
| immediately gets visions of eccentric wealthy | | | | The primary issue is there is no clear evidence of the |
| individuals freezing their bodies to hold off death. | | | | long-term results of the surgery. While it appears |
| While this is a more extreme cryo technic, it has little | | | | effective at treating obvious cancerous cells, it is |
| to do with cryosurgery for skin cancer. | | | | unclear if the procedure deals with all of the cells in |
| Cryosurgery for skin cancer involves a unique | | | | the surrounding area. It only takes a few missed cells |
| strategy for attacking cancerous cells in the layers of | | | | to lead to a reoccurrence of the cancer. Given this |
| skin. The basic idea is to freeze the cells. When we | | | | uncertainty, some health insurance companies balk at |
| talk about freezing, we mean extreme freezing. Liquid | | | | paying for the procedure. |
| nitrogen is used to essentially turn the temperature | | | | Cryosurgery for skin cancer is in its infancy at this |
| down to the point that the cells are destroyed, thus | | | | point in time. It is offered in select hospitals, but is |
| wiping out the offending cells. Currently, cryosurgery | | | | not widespread as of yet in the medical community. |
| is used to treat basal and squamous cell carcinomas. | | | | |