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Medical Forum / General / General / September 2005

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Why so many warnings on Dr. Scholl's Freeze Away?

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LurfysMa - 08 Sep 2005 01:13 GMT
I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
instructions are about how it is NOT to be used on anything that is
not CLEARLY a wart.

Can anyone explain why this is? What is the danger? What could happen?

I used to work in a chem lab where they had LN2 piped everywhere.
Whenever I had any kind of a little skin bump, I would get a Dewar and
some q-tips and freeze that little bugger off. Most of them were
warts, but I'm pretty sure some were not. Never any problems.

Once in awhile they would turn red for a day or two, but then I'd just
zap them again and they would eventually scab over and be gone.

Was I lucky or is Dr. Scholl being overly careful?
Jason - 08 Sep 2005 01:30 GMT
> I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Was I lucky or is Dr. Scholl being overly careful?

There are lots of stupid people in the world. I purchased a ladder several
years ago and there were lots of warning labels on it. The person that
sold me the ladder said that each warning label was the result of a
lawsuit or potential lawsuit. The warning labels and messages help protect
the companies from lawsuits since stupid people use products for things
that the product was not designed for.
Jason

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Devil's Advocate - 08 Sep 2005 06:39 GMT
>I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> --

What if the bump wasn't a wart but some other skin lesion which was
malignant and which needed surgical excision, radiotherapy, chemo, and not
necessarily DIY cryotherapy?

I hope you have better luck with your Scholl freezing kit than we did with a
similar wart & verruca freezing treatment marketed in the UK as Wartner. It
had no effect whatsoever on my daughter's verrucas, even after several
repeat treatments, and cost 3 times more than good old wart paint.
LurfysMa - 08 Sep 2005 16:19 GMT
>>I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
>> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>malignant and which needed surgical excision, radiotherapy, chemo, and not
>necessarily DIY cryotherapy?

That's a good point. If the "bump" didn't respond (ie, die) after 1-2
DIY treatments, and especially if it looked inflammed or was
spreading, I would then go see an MD. So I guess my real question is
whether 1-2 cryotreatments could make some types of lesions worse or
even turn a non-malignant condition malignant?

My other question is whether it is dangerous to freeze normal skin in
very small amounts. What serious harm could come from me applying a
Q-tip soaked in LN2 to a spot or normal skin 2-3 times?

>I hope you have better luck with your Scholl freezing kit than we did with a
>similar wart & verruca freezing treatment marketed in the UK as Wartner. It
>had no effect whatsoever on my daughter's verrucas, even after several
>repeat treatments, and cost 3 times more than good old wart paint.
Jason - 08 Sep 2005 16:55 GMT
> >>I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
> >> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> >had no effect whatsoever on my daughter's verrucas, even after several
> >repeat treatments, and cost 3 times more than good old wart paint.

I can only guess since I have never tried it and don't plan to do so.
You would probably get a red spot that would take several days to heal.

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Bob - 09 Sep 2005 03:12 GMT
>>>I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
>>> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>>>
>>> Was I lucky or is Dr. Scholl being overly careful?

You sound like a knowledgeable user -- not a typical user. Their
warning is for the typical user -- and of course is biased by the
liability mania as Jason suggested.

By knowledgeable user, I don't mean you know exactly what will happen
in this case, but that you know how to handle LN2 (and probably
hazardous materials in general).

bob
LurfysMa - 09 Sep 2005 23:32 GMT
>>>>I just purchased a package of Dr.Scholl's Freeze Away for treating
>>>> common warts. About 50% of the text on the package and in the
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>in this case, but that you know how to handle LN2 (and probably
>hazardous materials in general).

I guess the question I should have asked is this:

What's the worst that can happen from freezing a small area of normal
skin for 10-30 seconds with a Q-tip soaked in LN2?

I used to live in an area (Rockies) that got very cold in the winter
(up to -30 once in awhile). A lot of people got minor frostbite
including me. I never had a serious problem, but then it was minor. It
just seemed to me that this would be even less dangerous. It's a much
lower temperature (-300F or so), but it's for a very short time and on
a very small area.

So, that's my question: what's the worst that can happen?
SJ Doc - 10 Sep 2005 12:04 GMT
>I guess the question I should have asked is this:
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>So, that's my question: what's the worst that can happen?

Well, think of it as a third-degree (full-thickness) skin burn.  
Over most of the body, it's a pretty safe rule that any full-
thickness skin injury less than a centimeter across at its
widest will heal in without interventions such as skin grafting
or 'plasty.  If you're not suffering from any conditions that
intrinsically screw up skin healing, or the cold-induced injury
isn't over particularly tight corner, secondary intention healing
(scarring) should take care of the repair work.

The reason for all the labels, by the way, is that product
manufacturers are trying to defensively mitigate the flood
of lawsuits uttered as a result of a tort law system that's
gone completely berserk over the past fifty years.  I sug-
gest Peter Huber's *Liability: The Legal Revolution and
Its Consequences* (1990) as a very good appreciation
of the origins and effects of this insanity.  

---------------
"The human race divides politically into those who want people
to be controlled and those who have no such desire.  The former
are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of
the greatest number.  The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious
and lacking in altruism.  But they are more comfortable neighbors
than the other sort."

    -- Robert A. Heinlein
LurfysMa - 10 Sep 2005 16:46 GMT
>>I guess the question I should have asked is this:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>Its Consequences* (1990) as a very good appreciation
>of the origins and effects of this insanity.  

And, of course, the legal profession gets paid by both sides. The
ambulance chasers get paid to go file the lawsuits and the corporate
attorneys get paid to defend against them and to write the warning
booklets.

Actually, all three sides, as most of the legislators who enact these
insane laws in the first place are also attorneys.

What a country.
 
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