Mole Removal Resulting in Little to No Scarring? (photo)

 

Although removing larger moles by any method from the face is likely to leave a small scar, scalpel sculpting, which involves no deep cutting or stitches has, in my experience, proven quite successful for achieving gratifying aesthetic results while leaving little, or often barely perceptible, scars.

The technique, which I have been using for thirty years, involves "scultping the mole" off from the surrounding skin in a tangential fashion (i.e. not cutting deeply into the skin). Deep cutting will inevitably result in a scar, while superficial (horizontal) removal in this fashion largely avoids this. Elliptical and fusiform simply describe the resulting shape of a wound excision after cutting them out deeply and before the placement of the sutures.

Following scalpel sculpting, the borders of the mole can then be smoothed and blended with the surrounding normal skin by "dermaplaning," a technique by which the edge of the scalpel is used to delicately abrade the skin. Properly done, the entire procedure, performed under local anesthesia, takes no more than three to five minutes. Perfectly flat moles (beauty marks, birth marks) can be elevated a tad with the local anesthetic and then more easily scalpel sculpted away and shaped to the contour of the surrounding skin.

Excision of the mole with dermabrasion of the edges should give the best cosmetic results and runs roughly $350-500. Another option is punch grafting with dermabrasion of the edges for $500.  Both are great and easy to undergo. sincerely,

David Hansen,MD

Moles on the nose can be easily removed by one of two methods: a shave excision or an excision with suture closure. A shave excision is a procedure where the mole is actually "shaved off" at a level just below the surface of the skin. The other method is an excision with suture closure which uses both dissolving and non-dissolving sutures to give the best cosmetic result. All methods of surgery will leave a scar but the trick is to minimize the scar using the proper technique. You should see either a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon but make sure they do both procedures expertly. The price will vary depending on the procedure that is done.