Some people are born with moles as part of their hereditary characteristics. Many other people develop moles before they are 30 years old. The average person has between 10 and 40 moles. The medical community refers to moles as nevi.
Nevi are nothing more than a collection of the cells that produce pigment. While they are usually evenly distributed throughout the human body, they do clump together sometimes. We refer to the clump as a mole.
The majority of nevi are harmless but sometimes become a nuisance, such as when they grow on the underarms or interfere with wearing eyeglasses or a bra comfortably. Mole removal is fast, painless, and usually a permanent solution. These are simple office procedures that your dermatologist-- like one from Advanced Dermatology & Skin Cancer Specialists-- can perform.
Freezing the Tissue
A physician applies liquid nitrogen to the area. It freezes the mole so the doctor can remove it. This procedure can cause minor blistering but you don't need to do anything special. Your body will heal the blister naturally in a few days.
Scalpel Excision
You'll get a local injection to numb the skin around the mole. It takes about 10 minutes until the anesthetic is fully effective. Then the doctor uses a scalpel to cut out the mole and some of the nearby healthy tissue. You doctor chooses this method when the nevi goes below the skin or when the mole is too large for scissors. You might have a couple stitches, depending on the size and depth of the mole.
Shaving the Mole
The procedure for shaving a mole is similar to a scalpel excision. The difference is that the doctor only removes the mole. He does not disturb the surrounding tissue. This method does not require stitches.
Surgical Scissors
Surgical scissors are an extremely fast way to remove a mole that is only sitting on the surface of the skin. After numbing the area, your doctor simply snips the mole flush with the skin. This method does not require stitches nor does it scar.
Burning the Mole
The doctor uses an instrument that uses electric current to burn the mole. This method is effective when the entire nevi is above the skin. It might take more than one session to completely remove a larger nevi.
After the Procedure
It's standard procedure for moles to be sent to a lab for testing. While the overwhelming majority are benign, it's prudent to test for cancer. The doctor's office will contact you with the results.
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