What are Moles?
Moles are skin lesions or a skin outgrowth, small in size and formed due to the accumulation of melanocytes (melanocytes- cells responsible for producing melanin). Facial Mole.
What is Facial Mole
Facial moles are the moles or smaller lesions on the facial skin. Due to the presence of melanin concentration, they may vary in color ranging from light brownish to darker. Other moles can be skin-colored. The moles may appear raised, flat, or even rough. The shape may vary from round, smooth and oval edges. There may be a hairy outgrowth from the mole.
Commonly, an individual has 10 to 40 moles in total, appearing in childhood or adolescence, and they disappear or fade after some time.
How to Know if a Mole Is actually Cancer?
Certain criteria to recognize a mole can be cancerous include regular skin examination. Taking into consideration the appearance of moles and their alterations over time concerning the following:
Asymmetrical mole: A mole may vary in shape, size, symmetry, and appearance from other moles.
Diameter: Moles also have variable sizes, but they become a matter of concern as they start becoming larger than 6mm.
Border: Looking for the edges and the border is an important aspect of almost all the moles. They may vary in being disproportionate to normal and fine edges. Having irregularities in the border or edges in comparison to normal plain or regular border or edges should trigger an individual to consult a skin specialist.
Color: Generally, the moles have a wider range of colors, from a person’s skin color to variably darker or lighter shades. But moles with larger shades of the same color might indicate problematic moles. Such moles are signs of some complications and need a doctor’s examination.
Evolving: the evolution of a mole over time concerning any physiological or morphological change indicates that it needs an expert’s attention. It may grow excess in time or change color suddenly or even after some time. Cells of such skin moles may have pre-cancerous agents and need removal in no time.
How Are Facial Moles Treated?
For the majority of moles, there are no specific treatments as they are harmless. They may be surgically removed easily if there are cosmetic or aesthetic concerns.
When the moles become bothersome, and it gets difficult to shave them off, people can get rid of such irritating moles using several ways:
Shave excision: To shave off the facial mole, the area surrounding the mole is desensitized, and a sterilized mole shaving blade is used to remove the mole. This technique does not require stitches to cover the wound as there is a minute wound that heals easily without stitches.
Excisional surgery – This is a little more intense technique than shaving off the mole as it requires the removal of the mole from its root. The surrounding healthy skin is also removed using a sterilized punching device to remove the skin and moles completely. This technique eventually results in larger wounds and hence requires sutures or stitches.
To treat skin melanoma diagnosed at early stages when the mole has not grown to the extent of a major complication and is not yet malignant to spread to different body parts, a mild surgical technique can be used by dermatologists.
On the other hand, if detected in advanced stages, it should be removed along with surrounding healthy skin tissues to the safer zone. If on diagnosis, the metastatic behavior of appearing moles is evident. The patient needs proper medication, surgery, and treatment of such malignant moles. The malignancy or the passage of moles to blood or lymph must be controlled and need to be cleared.
What are the types of Facial Moles?
Common mole or Nevi: A general mole; a skin outgrowth can be pink, tanned, black, or brown. It has distinct edges.
Congenital Nevi: The moles present on babies’ skin when they are born. These moles rarely occur in people and have high chances of becoming melanoma or malignant on further development. It is important to know that the skin mole equal to or more than 8mm in diameter is mostly cancerous.
Dysplastic Nevi: The moles that are larger enough and irregular in shape comparatively are dysplastic nevi. They are mostly uneven concerning color as well as edges. These are hereditary. People with 80 -100 moles have a high risk of malignancy, so they must be diagnosed with early treatment for cancerous moles or melanoma. Any alteration in the mole needs proper diagnosis by skin experts or dermatologists.
How common are Moles?
Moles in the entire body or on the face are very common. Moles are very common. Generally, people may have 20 to 40 moles. Individuals who stay outdoors and are exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun have higher chances of getting more moles in comparison to the body parts that are not exposed to the ultraviolet rays.
Is it Normal for Moles to Bleed?
Yes, sometimes certain moles can bleed if the mole outgrowth is scratched accidentally. This will eventually hurt and becomes a cause of worry. If the moles are bleeding without scratching or tearing, then they need proper diagnosis as they may be cancerous.
What does it mean if I have a new mole after age 30?
An individual needs to remain aware of any mole or skin lesion coming at any point in time. In case the mole develops after 30 years of age, there is no need to worry every time as they might appear as a result of aging. If the mole becomes painful, larger than normal, and appears significantly different from other moles, a dermatologist must be consulted to get assurance of it being normal.
What causes Facial Moles?
Moles on the face also come as a result of cells getting accumulated in clusters. Facial moles are like other moles distributed throughout the body’s skin. The cells called melanocytes produce melanin that gives the resulting color of moles on getting accumulated at a particular body location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can facial moles be removed?
Yes, any type of facial mole can be removed. If the mole is not growing in excess and present at the skin level only, then it is mainly advisable not to get to the surgery for such minute moles. Such smaller moles can be made to hide with cosmetics. Suppose the mole outgrowth is excess that they won’t get easily hidden. In that case, plastic surgeons can remove them by cosmetic surgery that is minimally invasive and also does not result in any scarring.
Therefore, the non-cancerous moles, once diagnosed properly, can be removed using minor surgery. This is a daycare surgical procedure undertaken by expert cosmetic surgeons using various ways like shaving off, burning off, and other methods to remove them entirely.
What is the best way to remove moles from the face?
Various techniques to get rid of facial moles:
Freezing: Freezing is a procedure that utilizes liquid nitrogen to harden the mole and eventually remove it.
Burning: It is a mole removal procedure utilizing electric current to burn the layers of mole one by one. Burning a mole using this procedure might involve multiple sessions for the entire mole removal.
Shaving: Shaving needs a sterilized surgical blade to shave off the skin associated with the mole. The technique is required if there is only surface removal of the moles.
Excision: The excising of the mole involves deeper mole excision than surface excision. There are some stitches after deep mole excision to glue the skin together. This technique removes cancerous moles and does in-depth cleaning of such malignant tissues.
Will it grow back after mole removal?
No, if a mole is surgically removed along with other associated tissues, there are rare chances that the same mole will regrow. There is a possibility that another mole might grow in its place. Appropriate diagnosis of the tissues must be done, and proper treatment is needed if the mole is diagnosed and positive approval comes from a lab test. Rest assured, the skin must be cleared off all the malignant cells.
How to take care of skin moles?
This is essential for everyone to take care of their skin. At times, moles must be covered by a skin lotion or sunscreen.
What are the complications of moles?
- Melanoma or moles getting malignant is one of the major points of concern.
- Larger moles than the normal ones may get cancerous.
Factors resulting in increased melanoma risk are:
Congenital nevi– moles present in a person by birth; larger than normal moles. Infants are considered abnormally large if they are more than 5cm in diameter. Other diagnostic tests are required to confirm their malignancy.
Dysplastic nevi– a type of moles that run in families at a particular position on the face on any part of the body. Unusually irregularly shaped or large moles are risky.
Abnormally high numbers of moles at inappropriate locations in the body are also complicated as they may be melanoma, or if there are extensive moles near the breast, it may indicate breast cancer.
Can skin moles go away on their own?
Yes, moles can go away on their own; they may disappear entirely or get faded. There is no point in concern if certain moles go away at a certain age or come at another.
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