Mole Removal Q&A
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What Can I Expect From Mole Removal Recovery By Excision?
asked 3 months ago by VagNik
Latest answer by Mark Taylor, MD
Question viewed 216 times
Tags: excision, expectation, recovery
Hello, I went to a plastic surgeon to see my mole and he suggested me to remove it by excision. I am worried about the recovery time because I dont want to go to my job with a big cut. My mole isn't big , its medium size and its in my face. How much time will it needs to heal? What will be the size of the wound after the surgery? Bigger than my mole?
4 answers to What Can I Expect From Mole Removal Recovery By Excision?
+1
Small moles can be removed and the incision covered with a spot bandaid.
Mole removal is usually very simple. The incision can often be covered with a spot Bandaid and suture are usually removed on the face in 5 to 7 days. With skillful excision the scar almost always look much better than the mole. It will take a few weeks to as long as a year for the scar to completely heal and look it's best. Scars on the face may almost completely disappear. If this is any irregularity, laser can be used to smooth the scar.
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Mark Taylor, MD
Salt Lake City Dermatologic Surgeon
Salt Lake City Dermatologic Surgeon
+1
Surgical excision of a mole
Typically, a mole is excised as an ellipse of skin. So, to close the skin evenly, the tradeoff is a lightly longer scar than the mole itself. The scar will appear as a straight line probably oriented along natural skin wrinkle lines already present in your face. The scar will initially look red and inflammed and then slowly fade and soften. Once it has healed, you can apply camouflaging makeup even a week later.
Jennifer Lauren Crawford, MD
Austin Plastic Surgeon
Austin Plastic Surgeon
+1
Wound Healing and Recovery after Excision of Mole
There are basically two ways to remove moles (or nevi) on the face. The first is shave removal, also known as tangential excision. The second is excision. Tangential excision works best for skin-colored nevi, where the doctor has no suspicion that the lesion could be dangerous. Excision works best for darker colored nevi or if the doctor is concerned about a possible skin cancer. Recovery tends to be a little simpler and easier for the tangential method, but recovery for both techniques is...
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Andrew Kaufman, MD
Los Angeles Dermatologic Surgeon
Los Angeles Dermatologic Surgeon
+1
Recovery from Mole Removal
These are all great questions and ones which you should ask to the physician who excises the mole. The face, unlike other areas of the body, heals fairly well and stitches can be removed 7 days after an excision. They size of the wound is usually a little longer than the mole itself and will appear as a line of stitches. We have great bandage materials at our fingertips and thus are able to create very comfortable, effective, cosmetically-tolerable bandages. Every...
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