Symptom
Flat, dome-shaped, or protruding skin growths that can be up to a centimeter long and vary in color
Home care
If a mole requires treatment of any kind it will be necessary to see a doctor.
Precautions
- A doctor should see any mole that is bleeding or crusting, changing color, or growing rapidly. The doctor should also be consulted if a mole has been partly removed by accident, or if the color is extending into surrounding skin.
- Most moles are noncancerous. However, a type of mole known as pigmented nevus can become cancerous; this mole (unlike other types) is present at birth and is dark in color and very large.
- Moles cannot safely be burned off by the following methods: electrocautery, acids, dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. The doctor must remove them completely, if necessary, with a scalpel.
- No child is completely free of moles; some children develop many of them during childhood.
Moles are benign (noncancerous) growths on the skin. They can be flat, dome-shaped, or protruding. They vary in color from tan or brown to blue or black, and in size from one-half to one centimeter or larger. Moles are rarely present at birth; they develop during childhood. No child is totally free of moles, and some children develop hundreds of them.
It’s very unlikely that any mole will become cancerous (malignant). However, one exception to this is a type of mole called a pigmented nevus. This mole, which is present at birth, is extremely large (several centimeters wide) and dark and a mole of this type can become malignant.
Moles are easily recognizable, but if the doctor is in any doubt about a growth on the skin a laboratory examination of part of the growth may be necessary. Examination of an entire mole under the microscope may be needed.
Home care
If a mole requires any kind of treatment, it will require medical, not home, care.
Precautions
A mole should be seen by a doctor if:
• It has been partly removed by accident;
• It is bleeding or crusting;
• It is changing color or growing rapidly;
• If the pigment (color) is moving into the surrounding skin.
Medical treatment
If the mole shows any of the characteristics listed above under “Precautions,” the doctor will remove the mole surgically. Any pigmented nevus probably should be surgically removed because of the possibility of a malignancy. Moles must be removed completely with a scalpel. The surgery will leave a scar of some sort. Moles cannot safely be burned off by a procedure called electrocautery, or by acids, dry ice, or liquid nitrogen. Moles are sometimes removed for cosmetic reasons.
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