Mole Removal

mayoclinic.com

A suitable mole removal treatment is decided based on skin biopsy doctor conducts on you. This procedure can be considered as part of the treatment that will show if the mole is safe to be removed or if it is cancerous and so needs treatment prior to removal. It should be performed by an experienced pathologist otherwise the diagnosis can go wrong.

A tiny part of skin will be removed and sent for test. Before biopsy is conducted, local anaesthetic will be used to numb the skin around mole. If required, doctor will stitch up the skin area taken for test or might just leave it to heal by its own. Result can be revealed in a week time. The problem with biopsy is that it is difficult to ascertain how much the cancer has penetrated skin, consequently affecting the decision making of removing the mole.

Skin biopsy comes in four main varieties such as shave biopsy, punch biopsy and fine needle aspirate. Doctor decides which technique to use based on mole type. Shave Biopsy is shaving only a small part of a raised mole using small scalpel or razor blade. It should leave little damage and scarring as this technique depends largely on the expertise of dermatologist performing it. Punch Biopsy is used for moles that positioned in weird angles and difficult to reach using shave method. The instrument used here is a round shaped knife with the size of 1mm to 8mm. Fine Needle Aspirate is done using large bore needle and small syringe. Rapid stabbing motion of the hand wielding the syringe and rapid sucking motion of the syringe helps to reach and diagnose mole cells embedded deep into skin. You can expect immediate result from this method.

The methods above help in eliminating possibilities of a cancerous mole. So, it is advisable to do skin biopsy before mole removal treatment.