How Are Cherry Angiomas Treated?

Those little red bumps on your skin that your dermatologist has diagnosed as harmless skin growths that generally don’t need to be removed can still cause you enough concern and discomfort that even though they’re harmless, you want them gone from your skin, out of your sight, and out of your daily worries.

Of course, if your cherry angioma changes in appearance in any way, you absolutely must consult with your dermatologist right away, to rule out serious conditions, such as skin cancer. You’ll then get a biopsy so that your doctor can accurately diagnose what that red bump is.

When your doctor concludes that you do indeed have a simple cherry angioma, and understands with full empathy that it’s causing you distress, you will then be able to discuss with your dermatologist which treatment is right for the removal of a cherry angioma. (Even though there are home remedies shown on the Internet, no doctor recommends the ‘apply cider vinegar’ method, nor the painful-sounding ‘duct tape removal’ method. Any ill-advised attempts to remove your own cherry angioma is likely to cause big problems for you, including bleeding, infection and scarring.

Here are some of the top treatments for cherry angiomas:

Laser Surgery

A pulsed dye laser is used to deliver a precise line of laser that gives off enough heat to destroy the cherry angioma. This in-office laser treatment is quick and done as an in-office procedure, limiting your downtime. You may need between one and three treatments to completely destroy the lesion, and you may have some mild bruising afterwards that can last for over a week.

Electrocauterization

Using a tiny probe, your dermatologist will use an electric current to burn your cherry angioma away. Talk to your doctor about the details of electrocauterization, as well as what you can expect after your treatment.

Cryosurgery

Using liquid nitrogen, your dermatologist will conduct an in-office procedure by which the extreme cold will freeze and destroy your cherry angioma. An advantage of this dermatology procedure for cherry angioma is that it only takes one session for the treatment to work, and this type of treatment also often presents a lower chance of infection than other types of surgeries.

Shave Excision

In this procedure, your dermatologist will shave away layers of the cherry angioma until it is gone. This method is an alternative to more invasive procedures involving cutting out the lesion and using stitches to close the wound.

Talk to your doctor about the opportunities you have to finally be rid of those cherry angiomas that are always leading people to question you about them, or that may be in a location that gets bumped or nicked often. You’ll soon be rid of these red spots with your doctor’s expert hand and wisdom in the most effective method of removal.