Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Research ArticlePraxis

Simple, safe, and effective treatment for pyogenic granuloma

Edward S. Weiss and Dominic Wood
Canadian Family Physician July 2023; 69 (7) 479-480; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.6907479
Edward S. Weiss
Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.
MD CCFP DipPDerm
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Dominic Wood
Master’s student in the Biology Department at Queen’s University.
BSc
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Pyogenic granuloma (PG) is a relatively common cutaneous condition often seen by family physicians. Patients frequently seek treatment for PG owing to the friable nature of the lesion and resultant nuisance bleeding from minor trauma. It is generally easy to diagnose, as the clinical appearance is fairly typical: a fleshy, ulcerated, reddish papule that grows quickly over the course of weeks to months.1 Pyogenic granuloma has numerous treatment options, including surgical excision, curettage and electrocautery, and vascular laser, although risk of recurrence is not insubstantial.1 The differential diagnosis for a lesion resembling PG includes rare cases of amelanotic melanoma, and for this reason it is sometimes recommended that ablative treatments (eg, cryotherapy) be avoided—unless the lesion can be demonstrated to be benign by histologic examination.

Busy clinicians may wish to have a simple method for correctly diagnosing and treating benign PG. Thankfully, there is a quick and easy way to do so, using the most common of household ingredients: table salt. Long recognized for its utility in treating umbilical granulomas, salt application has also been shown to be safe, effective, and well-tolerated for treatment of PG.2 It is believed that salt acts as a desiccant, causing shrinkage of the small vessels feeding the PG. An amelanotic melanoma would not be expected to regress substantially in the presence of salt.

Approach

The following method is recommended:

  1. Apply a thin layer of petrolatum or paraffin around the PG to protect the perilesional skin.

  2. Sprinkle table salt over the PG, ensuring the entire surface is covered; for lesions in awkward areas, such as the face, consider using a makeshift reservoir, such as the cap of an insulin syringe or folded tape, to keep the salt in place (Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C).

  3. Cover the PG with an occlusive bandage or tape and ask the patient to repeat the salt application and occlusion daily for 14 days, or until complete clearance is achieved.

  4. If the lesion has not diminished after 2 weeks of treatment or is recurrent after treatment, consider a biopsy to rule out a malignant mimic of PG.

Figure 1A.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 1A.

Step 1 in creating a makeshift salt reservoir to treat pyogenic granuloma: Prepare a piece of tape with a medial slit.

Figure 1B.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 1B.

Step 2 in creating a makeshift salt reservoir to treat pyogenic granuloma: Allow the edges of the slit to overlap slightly, creating a reservoir for table salt.

Figure 1C.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 1C.

Step 3 in creating a makeshift salt reservoir to treat pyogenic granuloma: Tape the salt reservoir over the lesion.

Presentations of PG before and after treatment with salt are shown in Figures 2A and 2B, respectively.

Figure 2A.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 2A.

Pyogenic granuloma before treatment

Figure 2B.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
Figure 2B.

Pyogenic granuloma after treatment with salt

This technique is easy to implement in a clinic setting and is cost-effective. Patients usually report no more than a mild burning sensation when the salt is first applied, and they often get rapid relief from bleeding associated with PG. Salt application can also be used during pregnancy, when other interventions may be contraindicated.

Difficulties with this technique may ensue with PGs located in areas that are difficult to occlude with tape, such as among facial hair or on mucosal surfaces. Manual occlusion of the salt with a finger several times daily may still be effective, provided there is adequate contact time for the desiccant action to take effect.

Conclusion

Family physicians are encouraged to try this novel technique the next time they are faced with a potential PG in a patient desiring treatment.

Notes

We encourage readers to share some of their practice experience: the neat little tricks that solve difficult clinical situations. Praxis articles can be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cfp or through the CFP website (https://www.cfp.ca) under “Authors and Reviewers.”

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    None declared

  • Copyright © 2023 the College of Family Physicians of Canada

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. Sarwal P,
    2. Lapumnuaypol K
    . Pyogenic granuloma. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2023. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556077/. Accessed 2023 Jun 12.
  2. 2.↵
    1. Daruwalla SB,
    2. Ghate S,
    3. Dhurat R
    . Establishing the efficacy and safety of the novel use of common salt for the treatment of pyogenic granuloma. Clin Exp Dermatol 2021;46(7):1243-7. Epub 2021 May 10.
    OpenUrl
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 69 (7)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 69, Issue 7
1 Jul 2023
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Simple, safe, and effective treatment for pyogenic granuloma
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Simple, safe, and effective treatment for pyogenic granuloma
Edward S. Weiss, Dominic Wood
Canadian Family Physician Jul 2023, 69 (7) 479-480; DOI: 10.46747/cfp.6907479

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Simple, safe, and effective treatment for pyogenic granuloma
Edward S. Weiss, Dominic Wood
Canadian Family Physician Jul 2023, 69 (7) 479-480; DOI: 10.46747/cfp.6907479
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Approach
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Éponge à haut rebond comme outil de simulation d’une suture périnéale
  • High-rebound sponge as a simulation tool for perineal suture
  • Assessment and management of disability due to mental disorders
Show more Praxis

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2025 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire