Not pointless, not really an experiment...
...but a fun little tale nonetheless.

I worked for a Major Corporation at one point as a co-op student, getting work experience as I went to school. I worked in the Quality Control lab where we tested samples of plastic for strength in various ways. One of these involved liquid nitrogen, so we had a five foot tall tank of that shit sitting there in the lab.

One day I noticed that I had a small wart on the side of my right index finger. Being the son of a dermatologist I knew how these were removed- Dad uses a small gizmo that's a metal tank with a tube sticking off the front and a trigger-actuated valve. You pour in the liquid nitrogen, screw the top onto the tank, and the expanding nitrogen inside pressurizes it so that when you pull the trigger a needle thin jet of liquid nitrogen comes out. It looks something like this:



Well, I didn't have one of those. But I also knew that you can do the same thing with a cotton swab...

I got a metal container, put a bunch of liquid nitrogen in it, waited until the fog cleared enough to see that I needed more, put in more, then took one of those wooden-handled Q-tips that they had in the lab and dropped it, cotton end first, into the liquid nitrogen and waited a few moments for it to get cold enough to transport the stuff. I then took a drop of liquid nitrogen and applied it to the wart.

Felt like a red-hot needle.

The idea is to give a very localized case of frostbite- warts are caused by a virus, so you need to kill the tissue. One little dab with liquid nitrogen wasn't going to be enough. So I repeated the process another few times to be sure.

One of the lab techs came in and saw me doing this, and looked at me like I had seven antlers on my head. I was gritting my teeth by this time, but I still gave her a grin. A manic, lock-jawed rictus of pain and glee that must have made me look like a death's head.

It worked nicely- the spot turned black and eventually peeled off, and it hasn't happened again- but the lab techs looked wary for days.

Maybe that was due to me sloshing the rest of the liquid nitrogen across the floor and laughing at the rolling fog bank...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 25 Jul 2008, 16:27, 7 replies)

Throwing liquid nitrogen
on the floor is great fun.

Also, the thing doctors currently recommend to remove verucas is to stick gaffa tape to it for about three or four weeks and it falls off.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 16:46, closed)

I once had a doctor apply that stuff
to a great big wart that had been on the end of my toe for a couple of years. I was only seven at the time and it was bloody painful - I couldn't walk properly for the rest of the day*.

Ironically I now work with LN2 on a fairly regular basis, and the only thing I worry about is asphyxiating myself and anyone else in the lab. But it is supposed to be a painless way to go...

*_{I may have just been a bit of a pussy at that age.}
(LongJohnBaldry, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 16:55, closed)

I highly approve this type of behaviour
I've seen what liquid nitrogen can do, but only on T.V and youtube.
( RiverBlues Hello, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 16:55, closed)

Yeah, Dad may be a little behind the times on that one.
It hurt like fuck and was not a lot of fun to do, but it worked.

As for the liquid nitrogen- when I was a teenager and liquid nitrogen was just starting to be used for these things, my father treated an actinic keratosis on the forehead of one of our neighbors from the place we'd moved from some years previously. He used the Q-tip method as I had, dipping it out of a small yellow Thermos.

When it was done their dog came up to Dad and started doing the usual Labrador retriever greeting if sticking its nose up his butt. Dad turned and poured a small amount of liquid nitrogen on the carpet next to the dog, creating a soft *poof* and a ring of fog. The dog, being an inbred twit of an animal, jumped back and started barking at the floor. Dad responded with another little pour in front of the dog, who jumped back again and barked even more furiously. He ended up chasing the stupid thing out of the room with it.

Classic...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 25 Jul 2008, 16:58, closed)

I've done this too
and can confirm the Loon's assertion that it hurts like hell!

Got rid of the wart though.

That reminds me - I've done numerous experiments with liquid nitrogen in the past. I feel a post coming on this weekend...
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 18:43, closed)

Liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen is excellent stuff: - you can chuck it all over the floor and all the dirt ends up in little icy bits! Probably best for dirty factory floors and not your parent's best carpet or wood flooring though!
( Vambo, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 20:15, closed)

DIY cryosurgery-don't do it kids!
Where I used to work, we had a huge machine that produced liquid nitrogen from the air, a wonderful bit of kit. I used some of said liquid gas to treat an obstinate verruca-bloody hell it HURT, and I was hobbling about for a few days in great discomfort. It did work though, in a green, pus discharging way and I've never had another verruca since then :-)
(Snabblim Dropfritt, Wed 30 Jul 2008, 8:55, closed)