Cosmetic Clinics

Moles are pigmented spots on the skin containing the skin pigment melanin, they can be beneath the skin (sub dermal) or raised. There are many types of moles ranging from benign, to suspicious, to malignant lesions.

People mistakenly refer to many other lesions on the skin as to moles. These can be small cysts, fibromas, angiomas, age spots, cholesterol deposits and largeish warts. They can vary in colour from flesh coloured, yellow, red, blue or dark brown.

National campaigns are frequently run to make the public aware of skin cancer. Simple precautions are advised such as: to avoid prolonged sun exposure by using sun block regularly and to wear appropriate clothing.

You are advised to seek a medical opinion if your mole/skin lesion develops suspicious characteristics such as: increasing in size, become darker, itches, bleeds, develops irregular edges or becomes raised.

Thankfully most lesions that people present with are benign and amenable to quick mole removal.

Where should you seek treatment for mole removal?

The first port of call should be to your General Practitioner; large numbers of doctors perform minor surgery and will skillfully remove the lesion. If they think the lesion is suspicious they will refer you to the local dermatologist or suspicious mole clinic at the local hospital.

Recently some primary care trusts in the country have made a dictat; if mole removal is requested for cosmetic reasons, then this should not be made available on the NHS, the General Practitioner then has every right to decline treatment.

The option then left for mole removal for whatever reasons is to turn to your local cosmetic clinic.

Leading cosmetic clinics use a wide variety of techniques for mole removal; the most popular are Electrocautery, Laser and Radiofrequency. These will be briefly discussed.

Electrocautery involves as the name suggests cauterization using a probe which is heated by a D.C Electric current. The temperature of the probe is high and the resulting thermal damage to the sun can leave a scar. Never Electrocautery machines have variable power settings, so scans can be mitigated.

Radiofrequency uses radiosurgery probes which vapourise the moles, the advantage using this methos is that the resulted thermal damage to the skin is less leaving negligible scarring and instant results.

Lasers are excellent for removal curtain says lesions such as angionanas, giving excellent single treatment results and negligible scarring.

In conclusion; depending on the treatment methods despite the prices between cosmetic clinics can range from £75-£300/ treatment for a single mole lesion - so it is definitely with shopping around.

Article by Dr S R Bassi

Like all cosmetic treatments, mole removal has benefitted from the introduction of new technology and the improvement of existing technology. Moles are by the lay person sometimes confused with small cysts, small papillomas, small angiomas, fibromas, largeish warts and cholesterol deposits. These lesions can vary in colour from being flesh coloured, yellow, blue or red.

In medical terms a mole is referred to as a naevus, it is a small dark spot with high levels of the skin pigment… melanin; it can be underneath the skin (subdermal) or a pigmented growth on the skin. Medically moles can be subdivided into many types; these classifications are beyond the scope of this article.

All the types of skin irregularities mentioned above are amenable to the modern methods of mole removal (as well as wart removal and skin tag removal). There are many reasons for mole removal, such as; they may simply cause irritation, by catching on a chain, bra-strap or shirt collar. They may be cosmetically distracting and be lowering one’s confidence. Lastly, they may be sinister or suspicious lesions, the mole may be increasing in size, become raised, have irregular edges, start to bleed and become increasingly pigmented.

Recently leading cosmetic clinics are employing computer scanning technology, which analyses the skin pigment, haemoglobin and collagen in the mole lesion and this can accurately assess as any medical expert the suspiciousness of the lesion.

The main cosmetic treatment techniques for mole removal are radiosurgery and electrocautery methods.

Radio surgery involves using radio waves which vaporise the mole, they cause less thermal damage to the skin, giving instant results, negligible scarring and with the use of local anaesthetic is a painless procedure. If required the mole can be excised and sent for analysis using this technology and the analysis is not compromised as the histology is not destroyed.

Electrocautery treatment is a common mole and wart removal method used by many cosmetic clinics, for mole removal, this treatment resulted in scarring, however the latest generation of electrocautery machines have variable power settings and with skilled usage of this accompanied by using ice packs post procedure to reduce thermal damage, excellent cosmetic results can be obtained. This mode of treatment is far more price competitive than radiofrequency.

Dr S.R. Bassi is the leading cosmetic physician at a top cosmetic clinic in North Nottingham - Selston Cosmetic Clinic.