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Shawn Allen, MD answers: What can be done for Mohs surgery lumps?

Nine months ago, I had Mohs surgery on my cheek (near my nose) for a very small Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). I developed two lumps from the surgery: one is a dog ear, and the other is a large lump that was caused from tissue being pushed by the surgeon. I was just told that this large lump will "never go away." Is there anything that a plastic surgeon can do to remove or lessen the appearance of this lump? I was never told that this could be a result of this surgery.


Shawn Allen, MD
9 months ago

First of all, be sure that you are dealing with a Fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon as the Fellowship emphasizes and requires expertise in cosmetic reconstruction. If they are Fellowship-trained, you can go to www.Mohscollege.org and look up your state and find your physician will be there.  

Aside from that, lumps after surgery such as dog ears are easily repaired with a small surgical excision. For deeper scar tissue lumps, an injection of Kenalog can often hasten the resolution of these lumps. Your first step is to report your concerns to your surgeon and they should be able to handle this problem (if they cannot, check the credentials of your Mohs surgeon at the website above). The next step would be to seek out a facial plastic surgeon or a general plastic surgeon, or another Fellowship trained Mohs surgeon.

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