Scarsdale Mole Removal doctors

See below for my live interview on MSNBC recently about how to tell if a mole is bad. The trouble with evaluating a recently picked or traumatized mole, is it really can look bad while healing, and then turn out fine, so don't panic. Allow a mole to heal if you know you have picked at it, and THEN evaluate it. If it doesn't heal normally, or looks different after healing than it did before, go to a dermatologist for a biopsy removal of it, so it can be sent in to have the tissue checked under a microscope.

Don't panic, most likely a picked mole doesn't change if it was benign before.

I just posted another answer on exactly this topic. I agree with your concern about difficulty monitoring the root cells of a mole that may be left under the surface after laser mole removal. For this reason, I disagree with using this method to remove moles at all. I prefer a small shave biopsy and sending the mole tissue for pathologic evaluation. Unfortunately, trying to "melt" away a mole for cosmetic purposes does leave you at some risk. It's hard to have it both ways.

I disagree with a posting by another physician here. True moles (nevi) are collections of melanocytes, the cells that make melanoma if they become malignant, not just random brown patches on the skin. These should never, ever be removed by laser. Laser may remove the outer layer of the pigment cells, leaving deeper melanocytes that can't be well monitored for changes over time.

Any mole removal should be surgical (shave or excision) and be sent for pathologic evaluation to ensure its benign nature. That said, careful, artistic mole removals, especially on the face, can often be performed with essentially "no scar", though bear in mind there is really no such thing as "scarless" surgery, just "hard to find scar" surgery. Find an artistic, careful dermatologic surgeon or plastic surgeon.