What To Expect When You Want A Mole Removed
Posted on: 19 December 2019
Share
While some people embrace and flaunt their moles, not everyone loves having them, and there's nothing wrong with disliking yours. If you want to get rid of the moles that you have, then here's what you can expect when you head to a dermatology office.
Exam
The first thing your dermatologist will do is examine your moles to determine if they look suspicious or not. Most moles are perfectly benign, but this is a precaution as some moles are cancerous. This will also help them to understand exactly how many they need to remove and if there are any special circumstances attached to them.
Anesthetic
If everything looks good and you're ready for them to be removed, your doctor will use some injected anesthetic. These are injected near the mole but not directly into it. This should numb the area of your body that they're attached to, ensuring that you don't feel anything while they're being removed.
Removal
The removal of your mole is a simple enough process. Using a scalpel, your dermatologist will carefully remove the mole by cutting around the normal tissue next to it. Then, they'll use sutures to stitch up the area where the mole was removed and cover it with a bandage. Follow your dermatologist's directions explicitly on how to care for your skin once the mole has been removed in order to prevent infection and to lower the risk of scarring.
Testing
Finally, your dermatologist may choose to send in the removed moles for tissue testing. This is, again, just a precaution that will give your dermatologist the opportunity to ensure that your moles were non-cancerous. If they are, then you have nothing more to worry about.
If any of your moles were cancerous, you may be sent to an oncologist or come back to the dermatologist's office for a thorough examination to determine if the cancer was stopped with the removal of the moles or if there's still more cancerous tissue that needs to be removed.
Many people are born with moles or develop them naturally over the course of their lives, so there's no reason to automatically suspect that yours are cancerous. It's far more likely that they're completely benign and just annoying to have. However, by saying yes to a tissue test, you can rest easy at night knowing for a fact that they're not dangerous, rather than just hoping that they aren't. It's best to say yes to your dermatologist's decisions, so ask them if you have further questions or don't understand something.