Best Method of Mole Removal?

Reasons for removing moles: 1. The appearance of the mole bothers you. 2. The appearance of the mole bothers your physician (i.e. suspicious appearance that is concerning for premalignant or malignant changes.) If there are suspicious characteristics (irregular color, irregular borders, enlarging size, bleeding, pain, asymmetric growth), then a surgical biopsy is necessary. This can either be a shave biopsy or an excisional biopsy. Excisional biopsy (cutting the mole out) minimizes the... more

Two of these methods are basically the same: surgery and cut with a scalpel. I do not recommend either of the other two for mole removal. Any experienced dermatologist can recite a tale of woe about a patient ( not theirs) who had a presumably benign mole removed which turned out to be malignant. I have heard of two such cases. It is always prudent to send a specimen off to pathology to prevent such a tragedy. Any method will leave a scar. A skilled dermatologist or plastic surgeon... more