Exactly What I Was Looking for

Well, Real Self asked for an update and there has been some significant change, so here you go.

I imagine most of the progress is due to natural healing, but I have been doing a few things to coax it along that seem to be helping.

For one, I've been microneedling to even out the texture since as you can see from my previous photos, there was (and is) still a bit of a divot there. Wasn't too terrible in the first place, but as close as I can get to "it never happened", the better. It does seem to look a bit more even after every treatment.

The other thing I've been doing is using retinol and vitamin c serum mixed into a basic moisturizer when I got to bed to help with fading.

Again, I have no idea how much those 2 things are contributing and how much of it is actually just time, but for the sake of a complete review, that's what I've been doing.

At this point it's just a little pink and tiny bit uneven, but it gets a little better every week and I imagine in the space of a year it will probably be invisible at this rate.

Still very pleased with Dr. Flashner's work. Now I have the comfort both from a cosmetic perspective as well as knowing the threat of it turning cancerous as the years go by is gone. Definitely worth it and I would still recommend this to anyone whose had it floating in the back of their mind for a while.

Best of luck to anyone reading this!

I've had a flat mole on my right cheek (left from your perspective) for as long as I can remember. About the size of a dime and an irregular shape, definitely not a cute beauty mark. I covered it with makeup for ages and had always planned on getting it removed when I came around the time and money for it.

First I went to go see a dermatologist a few years ago. As it would turn out, a dermatologist can't remove a flat mole, only ones above the surface since cutting into the skin isn't in their scope and they told me I'd have to go see a plastic surgeon. As you can imagine, this put me off for a few years. Going from a $50 appointment to an unsure price tag wasn't something I was exactly skipping through the door to do for something so cosmetic.

This year, however, I'd found myself in a situation where the time and money for such a thing, as the prices on here indicated, was within the realm of reason, so I started looking into it more seriously.

Dr. Spiegel wasn't the first surgeon I'd contacted, actually. The first one that I went to see (will remain nameless) had a specific review for mole removal and so I scheduled a consultation. I walk into this really sketchy building and non-medical dusty looking dusty building with a receptionist who told me that they'd called to reschedule my appointment a few days before for a few hours earlier and whoever had called told her that they spoke with me. They had not, so that was a wasted trip of 2 hours. As I'm filling out paperwork and rescheduling, I'm asking questions. I started getting more and more freaked out and decided this was a completely unprofessional environment I wasn't willing to trust my face to and left.

I tell you that because this is what I'm more or less expecting when I go in for this consultation. So much better. Unbelievably better.

For starters, I contacted the center through this website and they responded, I didn't have to follow up and make a phone call myself in order to basically force contact after a good deal of time had passed. The request that I'd sent to the center was answered by email and the lady explained everything concisely in a friendly and prompt manner. This includes an "if you had to guess" price quote just to feel safe about being able to afford it and bringing enough, which the previous had refused. In addition, the told me what the consultation would probably be like and that he could probably remove it just as soon as I was in the consultation room. This is a 100% first-timer friendly environment. I was already fairly impressed. The lady gave me a link to their website and to book there is a booking fee of $200, but the booking fee is also applied to whatever work you get done, so I felt that was fair.

I will warn people who are looking for something right this second, you're going to have to hold your horses. My appointment wound up being booked 3 months out for the earliest. But I'd waited 28 years, so a few more months really didn't bother me.

Fast forward to the day of the appointment, I arrive about a half hour early and am glad that I did since there is quite a bit of paperwork to be filled out beforehand. The ladies at the desk are quite friendly and introverts will be happy to know that they won't force you into conversation while you're waiting or judge you for walking in with jeans, a hoodie and no makeup on (which I did) even though they look like they're ready to go clubbing at a VIP spot. The lobby is very clean and professional looking, which was immediately a relief. Also somewhat telling, while I was there a lady walked in that the staff knew on sight by name and then walked right on back. She looked as though she'd aged gracefully without ever had a thing done, but was clearly a loyal patron. That's kind of what you want to see, even if it is *super* surreal to witness.

So it comes to be my turn and a lady brings me to one of their consultation rooms. Also clean and professional looking. I wasn't a huge fan of all the before and afters on a continuous loop from the screen, but at least it was silent and I just read google news while I waited.

Dr. Spiegel comes in with a man I can only assume is shadowing him, but I didn't personally mind. In a calm and clinical demeanor that's not at all unfriendly or judgmental, he takes a look, asks a bit about it and asks if I have any questions. I think me must deal with people with a great many concerns and possibly unrealistic expectations who don't do their research on a regular basis because he seemed a little surprised by my brevity, accepting that there would probably be a scar and that it would take a little time to heal, literally turning to his shadow and saying "Well that was easy". So no worries, if you are one of these people with a million questions, I am certain he's made the time for and is ready to answer them without rush. He says that he could do it right now if that was something I was interested in. I said that I was, again in relief that I wouldn't have to possibly wait to come back in again which was an honest fear of mine. He says that the woman who had brought me to the room would be coming back in to see me shortly.

The lady comes back and goes over the cost with me in a way that reminded me a bit of an old gangster movie where they write a price down on a piece of paper across a table. In my case it was on a clipboard, but for some reason it does seem to come across as far less abrupt than how prices are typically presented. Looking at what it was going to be I internally sighed in relief as after the deduction from the consultation fee, it's nearly exactly the same amount as I was quoted for and had brought with me. Like many of you, I was afraid that once I was in there and cornered I'd see a steep markup. So for those of you who are also worried about that, you won't be encountering that here. I tell her the price is acceptable and that I brought that with me, hand her the cash and almost as if she's used to people who want to haggle, she also seemed a bit surprised, but graciously accepted the cash and came back a short while later with change and told me Dr. Spiegel would be back in briefly.

I read more of my google news and shortly Dr. Spiegel and his shadow are back in. I half expected to be brought to some kind of operating room, but that seems to be the operating room at least for small things like mine. I had no idea what to expect since everything I'd ever managed to dig up on moles in my research was for the over-the-surface ones and so I'd pretty much prepared myself for him to pull out anything: those burn off torches, some kind of freeze stick, chemicals or a scalpel. While he was going through the cupboards getting his tools together he pulled out a very small number of instruments one of which I noted was a scalpel and I was honestly relieved. I had been dreading one of those torches.

He disinfects the area and explaining what he's doing all the while puts a needle in my cheek to numb the area, gives me a bit of gauze to hold to the area in case of blood and says he'll return in a few minutes. I've never been sensitive to needles, but it was quite a painless process. A few minutes later, he comes back, I hand him the gauze for him to toss and he lifts the chair that I'm in up and back, puts essentially a medical bib on me and I turn to the side, close my eyes and just let him do his work. He does give friendly conversation a shot, but as previously mentioned, I'm not much for small talk and it's one of those dentist situations where you don't really want to talk for fear of messing up their work. He doesn't seem to mind anyways and for the rest of the "procedure" he just makes a few offhand educational remarks to his shadow about what he's doing.

It's certainly a strange feeling which was altogether new to me. You feel it, but it's not at all painful. For the most part all I felt was the pressure. To give you a bit of an idea, all I could liken it to was that someone had put a thick piece of cardboard on my face and was cutting into that with a scalpel. The biggest even of the probably 5 minute ordeal was I felt a slight tearing when something apparently didn't want to come out followed by a quick spirt of blood to my side which made me quite happy I'd taken off my hoodie and just had an everyday tee on for. He didn't hit it, but he would have hit the hood if it had been on. So just on a side note, maybe don't wear your favorite top when you go. A bit of rhythmic pressure and tying which was him putting in stitches, a bit of swabbing to get most of the blood off and a band aid were the final touches.

After it was done, he explained that the way it was stitched is going to look a little shocking at first since it was semi-open, but also explained that this is a technique which allows for a better end result. He also gave me a few basic care instructions including that I would want to go to the store and pick up some bacitracin (neosporin) and band aids to keep it covered just to be sure it didn't get infected. The lady came back in and scheduled me to have the stitches come out the next week, no need to hit the front desk at all, you can just head right out after you're all done there (I checked).

Let me tell you, if you're one of those people who continually has to say "talk to me like I'm 5 years old", do not worry, they have this routine down pat and will prepare you for any aspect of whatever applies to your situation. They will not leave you in the dark about anything. Which leaves me a little concerned for what they regularly deal with, but again, if you're reading this thinking this is something you're guilty of, please treat them kindly. You don't have to brow beat them, they are more than willing to be at your service and there's no reason to be ready for battle. But maybe check yourself out in the mirror before you see anyone afterwards-I did still have a splash of blood across my chin before leaving and I could see that making some people uncomfortable.

Now as a word of caution: if you're getting this exact procedure, the bandage they send you home with (tan, round, reliable stick) is the best you're going to have on there if your plan is to go find band aids at the store afterwards. I went into Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Target and Walmart and they all are down to the exact same options and none of them are good. The only round band aid they have in there is clear with a little gauze square in the middle (who are these people that want to look at their wound with the band aid on?) and the second there is a lick of humidity it is going to slide right off your face or do what I came to refer to as a "flap" where one side is just desperately clinging while the other is flying in the wind exposing what your company may not want to see. And before you think you'll make some other thing work, I also did that: it won't they're all much too big. Go an amazon and get the scar specific neosporin and the round "spot" band aids up to 1" large. It will serve you, my friend.

Now for the pictures. I literally had a before picture thought while I was parking, which I'd meant to do and hadn't, but I decided I could just pick from one of my facebook pictures later. Ugh. I typically pose with that side of my face hidden and further it was always, always under makeup. I wish I'd taken it, but I didn't so the best one I could find is the first one attached. You have to kind of look, but that was kind of the purpose of the makeup over it. Sorry!

Now the first collage is the week where I had the stitches in. As you can see, he was quite right to warn me as that first one there is pret-ty open looking. But he's a doctor, I'm not and he'd warned me ahead of time so really whatever as far as I'm concerned. I was also a bit pleased to see that the wound wasn't any larger than the mole was. I was half prepared for this large gash. Didn't happen, not to worry, as you can see. That second picture there, if you're like me, is probably what you'll be seeing at the end of the day during this process and I did kind of want to include that since all the rest were right after I'd washed my face. That second one, however, was after I'd taken the band aid off at the end of the day and my skin still had some makeup on it. Not pretty, but as you can see from the other pictures, it washes off.

And you can wash it, no need to be shy. Not once during this whole thing did it ever hurt, tear, nothing. I am kind of that person who tests boundaries, so if you've read this far, I'm sure you're thinking of getting something similar and I've done it for you. I babied it at first, trying not to get anything too close to it. Then I got some cleanser on it. Then my cleansing brush. Then toner... which you would totally expect to sting like the Dickens, right? Not at all. Felt just like everywhere else, so zero worries there. The only thing reminding me it was there at all was those terribly, terribly inept band aids on drug store shelves these days.

I took the photos 2 days apart since it didn't look terribly different from one day to the next, but 2 days seemed to show a bit of progress and as you can see, it healed up pretty well in that week.

So fast forward to the day I'm going to get the stitches removed. I'm a little concerned about needing to bring money for this-don't, it's all included and unnecessary. Seems to be one of the few places these days that they're not trying to sneak in a little extra, which was very much appreciated. I'm ready for that kind and they didn't which is practically an act of heroism these days. I appreciated that.

So after a brief check in with those nice aforementioned ladies, one of them takes me to what I could swear was the same room as before and I take a seat while I wait for someone to come in. A new person comes in with the person I remember as the shadow and I shake hands with both of them, everything's pretty much normal and they leave me again saying they'll be back momentarily to take the stitches out. The man I hadn't recognized whose name I don't remember who was around my age came back in.

As a side note, I'm obviously terrible with names, I had to hunt in my calendar for Dr. Spiegel's name, so if you work there and are reading this, I'm terribly sorry and please don't take it personally, I remember your face and you did a fantastic job, all of you.

As he was taking out my stitches he'd asked how big it had been initially, he seemed almost in awe of Dr. Spiegel's skill when I told him it had been the size of a dime. Now that's the reaction you want to see from a college who sees this day in and day out. Also, if you don't think dime size on your face is a big thing, go put a dime in the middle of your face and look in the mirror. It's something you notice. And also keep in mind my before photo is with makeup and is only getting it in profile instead of head on. Now, banter really isn't my thing, but that one made me giggle and you don't much expect that at a doctors office. So if that's your thing, you can engage and enjoy.

Super quick the stitches are out and I ask him for a band aid for aforementioned reasons, which he even puts on for me and I'm all set there. Also worth mentioning, there was also a new, somewhat older lady who took a look at it to see how it was healing and she just told me to get some anti-scar cream and it would shape up fine as well as some care instructions, which I already had and was doing, so that was fine, but again, they totally have you covered.

It's been about a month and it's basically at the point now where all it really needs now is some time to fade, but the ordeal is pretty much over with. I'm happy with the results even though I know they're not finished with yet, but that last picture is where I'm at now and that's 100% coverable with mineral makeup on an concealer brush, so I'm not very well going to keep meticulously taking pictures and taking mental notes since we're pretty much at end phase now. I couldn't have gone about this in a better way and now there's a reference point for both people looking for *good* doctors, the process they are going to be looking at instead of personal journeys (sorry guys, not applicable to me or what I'm looking for) and for those of you with flat moles, this is how it goes down. I honestly think if I'd kept looking I wouldn't have found a better solution, so if you're in the market for something like this, go see these guys, they know what they're doing and are running a quality and honest business that doesn't waste your time or make you uncomfortable. In, out, done well, efficient. 5 stars. If I had another, I'd go back to them again.

One teeny tiny word of criticism before I'm done though, since I almost forgot and I don't want to leave you guys left off guard: they take pictures. They say it's for your profile, but they took pics of my face from 5 positions both times I was in and I mean... I saw that tv screen with before and after's on it in the room and I'm not in love with the idea of winding up on there or the internet later. Maybe if you ask they won't, but I couldn't tell you and I did not go in there looking my best to say the least. So there will be high resolution cameras waiting for you and you should be ready for that.

Other than that, highly approve and I hope this helps someone out there :).