Laser Treatment for "Fleshy" Facial Mole Removal

Most board-certified dermatologists would share with you that every year, there are few surprises of what seem to be benign appearing 'fleshy' moles whose pathology come back as malignant. Lasers such as Nd:Yag lasers may be used only if pathology confirms benign nature of the moles. Shave excision is fine to proceed first because if you are not happy with the way it looks afterwards, you always have a chance to re-excise it; however if you excise first, you are going to be stuck with a tiny line and there is no going back.

In my opinion, moles should not be removed with a
laser.



Moles are a general term for a growth on the skin, but often
they are made up of non-cancerous pigment cells called melanocytes or
nevocellular cells. The problem is that these
same cells can sometimes be cancerous.
We call this type of cancer melanoma.
Melanomas are curable when found and treated early, but can be deadly
when they are found at a later stage or when they spread to lymph nodes and
internal organs.

When a mole is removed with a laser, the tissue is destroyed
and cannot be examined to be sure that it is not a melanoma.

I generally excise moles on the face because I think the results are better than with shaving.  The resulting scar is usually negligible.  Also, when a mole is removed with shaving, there can be a depression at the wound, pigment can form at the base of the scar and the mole can recur.  

What every you decide, don’t have your mole removed with a laser.