The industrial gases industry could not be called a glamorous industry by any stretch of the imagination. It is safe to say workplace discussions around the water cooler are more apt to fall on innovative hydrogen fuel cells rather than plumping and altering skin cells, adding to existing pipelines rather than controlling expanding waistlines, and the latest welding lasers rather than the newest eye laser.
As you might have surmised, the less familiar terms you’ve just come across are the lexicon of the cosmetics and dermatologic surgery industry. But increasingly, they are becoming familiar to those who work in the medical and specialty gases industry — and perhaps more familiar to some of you than you might care to admit!
BABY STEPS
For many, especially sun worshippers, the dermatologist’s office is often the first glimpse of industrial gases at work in the medical field. Skin abnormalities, bumps, warts, or suspicious or undesirable growths, especially those brought on by sun damage, are typically removed with a short blast of liquid nitrogen. The nitrogen, when applied directly to the area under scrutiny, freezes the spot, causing it to blister, scab, and fall off, usually within days. No scalpel, no stitches, and rarely complications or scars. But the use of gases gets more complicated from there.
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