It freezes tissue.
Liquid nitrogen destroys selected tissue through freezing and thawing.
Cryotherapy vs Mohs Surgery
Cryotherapy: Liquid nitrogen is sprayed or dabbed onto a spot to freeze and destroy it. It is a standard treatment for warts, precancerous sun spots and some harmless growths. It commonly leaves a pale mark that does not fully come back.
Mohs Surgery: Skin cancer is removed one thin layer at a time, and each layer is checked under a microscope during the appointment before the next one is taken. It has the highest cure rate and removes the least normal skin, and it takes most of a day.
Choose Cryotherapy if…
Choose for quick removal of warts, sun-damage spots or harmless growths — accepting a possible pale mark.
- A wart or rough sun spot
- You want it done in one quick visit
- A pale mark wouldn't bother you
Choose Mohs Surgery if…
Choose for skin cancer on the face or other high-risk sites, where the highest cure rate and smallest scar matter most.
- Cancer on the face, ears, hands or genitals
- A cancer that came back
- You can set aside most of a day
Alternatives, not combined
Can you have both?
They are used for very different problems. Cryotherapy is for precancerous spots and warts; Mohs is for skin cancers that need precise removal.
Key differences
● Cryotherapy
● Mohs Surgery
DowntimeNone → 2+ weeks
1–2 weeks
1–2 weeks
PainMinimal → Needs anesthesia or sedation
Mild
Mild
Results showImmediately → 3+ months
1–4 weeks
Immediately
How long it lastsWeeks → Years or permanent
Years or permanent
Years or permanent
Visits neededOne → Every few months
A short series (2–3)
One
Cost per visit$ → $$$$$
$
$$$
ReversibleYes, can be undone → No, permanent
No, permanent
No, permanent
What is it?
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
What is it?
It treats diagnosed lesions.
It is used for benign or precancerous spots.
It leaves no specimen.
Nothing remains for microscopic examination.
Uncertain moles should not be frozen.
A diagnosis is needed first.
It removes cancer in stages.
Each layer is mapped and examined under the microscope.
It conserves healthy tissue.
Further tissue is removed only where cancer remains.
Not every cancer needs Mohs.
Type, size, site and recurrence determine suitability.
The wound can be larger.
The final defect may exceed the visible lesion.
What it treats
Evidence level
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
Strong evidenceMost established uses
Warts
A first-line treatment.
Actinic Keratosis
Clears precancers.
Seborrheic Keratosis
Removes growths.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
About 99% cure rate for first tumors.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Precise removal on the face.
Moderate evidenceSome supportive research
Skin Tags
Freezes small tags.
—
Little evidence
Keloids
Injections work better.
—
Not effective
Melanoma
Needs excision.
Actinic Keratosis
Too much for precancers.
Moles
Not for benign moles.
Treatment areas
Treatment areas
The specific lesion, scar or affected patch determines the treatment site; there is no fixed body distribution.
The specific lesion, scar or affected patch determines the treatment site; there is no fixed body distribution.
Skin tones
Skin tone
● Cryotherapy
● Mohs Surgery
Lighter skin
Some risk
A pale mark may not fully return.
Low risk
A fine scar that fades over a year.
Medium skin
Some risk
Pale or dark marks are more visible.
Low risk
Scars usually settle well.
Deeper skin
Higher risk
Lasting pale patches are common; ask about alternatives.
Some risk
Raised or darker scars possible; ask about scar care.
How it works
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
How it works
Diagram explanation
A selected lesion is frozen: A clinician applies liquid nitrogen to the treatment area. Cold injures the tissue: A controlled freeze-thaw response damages the target. The treated area sheds and heals: A blister or crust may form; repeat treatment can be needed.
Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.
A thin tissue layer is removed: The surgeon removes visible cancer and a surrounding layer. Margins are mapped and examined: The tissue edges are checked under a microscope. Only involved areas are treated again: Stages continue as needed before planning wound repair.
Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.
Before your treatment
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
The week before
A few days before: Thick warts: Soaking and filing the wart with a pumice stone or emery board helps the freeze reach the wart, not the callus on top.
Ask your provider: Several spots: If more than one spot is planned, ask to start with one and see how the skin heals.
Supplements and alcohol: Blood-thinning supplements you do not need, such as fish oil, vitamin E and ginkgo, are commonly stopped about a week before, and alcohol the night before.
Smoking and vaping: Stop from at least a week before through the first two weeks after if you can.
Day of treatment
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
Before you arrive
Not specified
Eat, dress and plan: Eat a normal breakfast and take your usual morning medicines unless told otherwise.
Arrival & prep
The spot is examined first — the most important part of the visit.
The site is confirmed against the biopsy report and photographed, and you will be asked to point to the spot yourself.
Treatment
Liquid nitrogen is sprayed or dabbed on until a white frozen halo covers the spot and a small margin.
A sun spot takes seconds; a wart takes longer and is usually thawed and frozen again the same visit. It burns and stings, peaking as the skin thaws, then aches for a few hours. Fingertips, toes, soles and ears are sorest. Brief and unpleasant, not severe.
The surgery: The tumor and a narrow margin come out in minutes.
The surgery: You then wait 45 minutes or more while the tissue is frozen, sectioned and read. If tumor remains at a mapped edge, another layer is taken there only; most finish in one to three stages. The wound is then closed with stitches, a flap or a graft, or left to heal, in 30 to 90 minutes. The injections sting; nothing else does.
Before you leave
Red, swollen and tender, sometimes blistering within the hour.
A firm pressure dressing stays on 24 to 48 hours, with written wound-care instructions and a suture removal appointment.
After your treatment
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
First 24 hours
Days 1 to 3: A clear or blood-filled blister is expected, not a sign anything went wrong.
First 24 to 48 hours: Keep the dressing dry and in place, your head elevated including overnight, and ice over the dressing in short spells.
Days 2–7
Days 4 to 14: The blister dries into a dark crust with the growth on top, and lifts off on its own over one to two weeks.
Days 2 to 14: Bruising and swelling are worst around day two and can spread around the eyes.
Weeks 2–4
Weeks 2 to 8: New skin is pink and delicate.
Week 2 to Month 12: The scar becomes a hard, raised, pink ridge.
Time to results
1–3 weeks
Same day
How long results last
Permanent for growths; warts may need repeats
About 99% cure for first basal cell cancers
Risks
Risks
- A pale mark that is not filling back in
- A dark mark
- Numbness or tingling
- A raised or thickened scar
- Hair loss in the treated patch
- Still not healed after 4 weeks
- The growth is back or never went
- A thick or raised scar
- Numbness or tingling that is not improving
- A graft or flap turning black
- A stitch that surfaces months later
- Pulling at an eyelid or lip
- When to contact your provider
Cost
Per session
Cosmetic prices vary a lot and are usually quoted per lesion or per visit, cheaper per spot when several are done at once.
Mohs is the most expensive of the standard skin cancer treatments, and the day shows why: a surgeon who is also reading the pathology, a laboratory and technician in the building, and hours of appointment time.
Insurance
In the US, freezing warts and precancerous sun spots is billed as medical treatment, so you pay your copay or whatever the deductible has not covered.
It is generally covered by health insurance when the tumor meets accepted criteria for Mohs, which is why the location, size and subtype are documented before it is booked.
Questions
Cryotherapy
Mohs Surgery
Individual Questions
Does freezing leave a white mark?
Often. Pigment cells die at milder cold than the growth, so most effective freezes take some color out. Some returns over months; a good part does not. The mark is usually a little wider than the spot and stands out far more on deeper skin tones — worth discussing before you agree.
Can a mole be frozen off?
No. Freezing destroys the tissue without a diagnosis, so a skin cancer can heal over at the surface while it keeps growing underneath. Anything pigmented, new or changing gets examined and sampled, and moles that need removing are cut out and sent to a laboratory. Same for at-home freezing and mole removal pens.
How much does it hurt?
A sharp burning sting for ten to thirty seconds during the freeze and the thaw, then an ache for a few hours. Fingers, toes, soles and ears are worst. Brief and genuinely unpleasant rather than severe, and ordinary painkillers are enough.
Is the blister normal, and should I pop it?
Normal, and it is how the treatment works — the skin separates and lifts the growth off with the blister roof. Leave it alone and cover it. If it is large, tense and painful, the clinic can drain it, which beats tearing the roof off yourself.
How many treatments will my wart need?
Usually several, every two to four weeks. Many clear over three to six treatments, some need more, and some never respond. Salicylic acid at home in between improves the odds. If nothing has changed after three or four sessions, ask about a different approach.
Are the drugstore freeze kits the same as what a doctor uses?
No. They use a propellant gas much warmer than liquid nitrogen and harder to aim, so they are weaker on thick and plantar warts. They can still blister and leave a pale mark. Not for the face, and never on a mole or an unexamined spot.
Why does it take all day?
Mostly waiting. Removing a layer takes minutes; freezing, slicing, staining and reading it under a microscope takes 45 minutes to well over an hour, and that happens once for every stage. One to three stages plus a repair fills most of a day.
Will I be asleep?
No — Mohs is done under local anesthetic while you are awake. You will be numb but able to talk, eat between stages and walk to the waiting room. General anesthesia is used only in unusual cases.
How big will the scar be?
Not knowable in advance, which is uncomfortable and honest. The wound ends up as large as the tumor's roots turn out to be. Mohs removes less normal skin than any other method, so the wound is usually smaller than an excision would have produced for the same tumor, and a tumor that looked like a small spot on the surface can still be considerably wider underneath.
Should I stop my blood thinner first?
Not unless the doctor who prescribed it tells you to. Blood thinners are usually continued through Mohs. Extra bleeding during surgery is manageable; a stroke or a clot is not.
Why is Mohs recommended for the cancer on my face but not the one on my back?
Location, mainly. On the face there is little spare skin and recurrence rates are higher, so removing the least tissue with the highest certainty is worth the time and the cost. On the back a straightforward excision achieves the same result more simply. Size, an aggressive subtype under the microscope, unclear borders and a tumor that has come back before all push toward Mohs anywhere on the body.
Am I cured when I leave?
Almost certainly, and follow-up still matters. Cure at 5 years for a previously untreated basal cell carcinoma is commonly quoted around 99 percent. The bigger reason to keep coming back is that having had one skin cancer makes a new one elsewhere substantially more likely.
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