Why CO₂ laser?

This lesson is part of the WARTES HPV Masterclass. Preview: the first part of the narration.

Why do we treat warts with a CO₂ laser? In this video, I briefly explain the 4 most common methods and how they work: cautery, cryotherapy, radiofrequency and laser. And at the end, you will see why we choose the laser. All 4 methods have the same goal: to destroy the wart tissue.

The difference is how they do it: by heating, by freezing, or by vaporising. What matters is that the energy stays in the wart, and spreads as little as possible into the healthy skin around it. In cautery, a heated tip touches the wart.

The heat spreads through the tissue in every direction, so the healthy tissue around it can be damaged widely and deeply. What we see in the clinic: pain after the procedure, a long and difficult healing time, and a risk of scarring.

In cryotherapy, the wart is frozen with liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees. The cold moves inward from the surface: the top of the wart freezes easily, but the root deep below often stays alive.

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