Mole Removal: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

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Moles that are commonly skin growths mostly do not pose any harm and treatment is not necessary. Moles appear either right from the birth or ay also develop later in the life. They appear due to exposure to sun and become atypical or dysplastic moles. These are pigmented cell clusters appearing as dark small spots on the skin in varying sizes. Some moles can also appear due to heredity and can be atypical/ dysplastic and may have a greater risk of a melanoma. They can appear on face and all over the body. There may arise some atypical skin moles that are quite common with irregular borders. Moles may require removal if they pose cancer risk or may bother someone due to aesthetic reasons. Your physician may take a sample of the mole tissue for biopsy to check whether it is benign or malignant. The removal of moles may involve the process of electrodessication and curettage, surgical excision, shaving, removal with laser treatment, freezing or cryosurgery, punch biopsy technique and with home remedies.

Treatment methods for removing moles from your body involve techniques like curettage and electrodessication with the help of a sharp knife or scalpel or with a curette. Moles can also be removed without stitches by simply shaving it off with a scalpel from the surface of the skin or may be just below the skin level. Few cells grown underneath the surface of the skin will be removed which may require stitches, leaving a scar on its place. Some non-cancerous moles that have not gone deep into the skin can be given a freezing treatment with liquid nitrogen thereby freezing the mole’s growth. Post the freezing treatment a small blister can appear on the skin which may go away eventually. Mole removal with intense later radiation can be done with ones that do not growth out of the skin. Laser treatment usually requires two to three sittings for complete removal. The technique is useful for removal of moles that have gone deep into the skin and also useful for removing more than one mole at a time. With the punch biopsy technique, smaller skin moles can be punched out with a special instrument.

Anybody with an unwanted mole or a precancerous or malignant mole is eligible for the treatment.

Most moles which are non-cancerous, or do not growth too much or do not bother the person, do not require mole removal treatment.

Removal of mole comes with certain side effects like infection, anaesthetic allergy, sometimes nerve damage and a scar on the removed mole site.

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If the mole removal is done by curette, then it will take about 14 days to heal completely, if there are stitches about two to four weeks are required for complete healing and if the treatment is done by freezing the mole, it takes about 10 days to fall off.

The cost of mole removal will be about Rs. 300 to Rs. 2,000 inclusive of consultation, medication and surgery.

Yes, the results are permanent for that particular site but can appear on other site later.