MOST MOLES AND OTHER blemishes are benign or non-cancerous. But because a mole can be a cancerous growth, it is always best to get medical advice if you notice a mole that suddenly changes in size, shape or color, bleeds, itches or becomes painful.

Someone may want a mole removed simply because it is unattractive.

Most procedures used to remove moles and skin lesions take only a short time and can be performed in-office. Usually a mole will not return once it has been removed.

The most common methods of removal include removing the mole by shave excision or cutting out the entire mole and stitching the area closed (excision).

Shave excision:

A simple procedure called a shave biopsy is used to treating protruding moles. After the skin is numbed with local anaesthetic the mole, above the surface of the skin, is removed with a scalpel. While a flat white mark is usually left after healing, sometimes the color can remain the same as the original mole.

Excision:

Excision biopsy is necessary if the mole is flat or melanoma is suspected. The full depth of the mole is removed and the wound is sutured. The specimen is then sent to a lab for pathological examination. The scar that results from excision may be only a thin line, though it can sometimes be more noticeable than the mole was.

With an excision on the face, the doctor may use a combination of extremely fine sutures on the surface and absorbable sutures under the skin.

The coarse hair which sometimes grows in a mole can only be removed permanently by excision of the whole mole.

Laser treatment:

Moles can also be removed with lasers instead of scalpels. Because lasers seal blood vessels as they remove tissue, the need for sutures is eliminated. This reduces scarring. After laser surgery, a scab forms and falls off within 2 weeks. The slight redness that is evident after the scab is gone will disappear in time.