Liquid Nitrogen
For medicinal purposes
It's never good when someone says, This might hurt. In fact, it's usually a good indicator that whatever it is and whoever is saying it (doctor, person about to break up with you) is going to hurt you pretty badly.
(Though, worse still, once C., at the hospital, asked Will this hurt? and the nurse studiously avoided eye contact, pretending not to hear. The thing that hurt hurt a full 10 on the pain scale, big red and grimacing face, the intensity of which he still recalls easily, bodily.)
I had to get a little spot on my lip examined at the dermatologist—more for my peace of mind than anything. Its persistence was the most worrying thing about it.
She quickly determined the spot—somewhere between the start of a blister and a bit of a chap—was the result of sun damage. It could be remedied with an application of liquid nitrogen, which she already had on hand.
Have you ever had something frozen off before? she asked.
I think so? I answered, thinking of a past procedure that I later remembered was done with electricity, rather than ice. (Side note: Everyone wear sunscreen!)
So, it might hurt more than that, she said.
I guess this is useful information, in terms of expectation setting, but at the same time I wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
Okay, I said, recalling the pain of the past, something that felt like a prolonged bee sting. More than that. I supposed there must be an upper limit for a quick in-office visit. I imagined the medical assistant, who stood cheerfully in the corner, holding me down by both arms as the dermatologist held the liquid nitrogen gun to my face.
It ended up being like a burn, but sharper. A weird mix of touching something that is at once both way too hot and much too cold. But overall not so bad, and only a few seconds long.
You did better than most people, the dermatologist said. It's the same thing the nurse who stitched up my pinky finger, after I'd cut it open slicing onions, said once she'd finished the job.
I didn't want to tell you, but it's really hard to fully numb fingertips, she told me, laughing.
Thanks, I said, I might have been worried if I'd known.