If you have skin, you probably have a beauty mark or a mole! Sometimes beauty can turn to horror with a dangerous mole. Let Dr. Schultz diagnose and remove dangerous beauty marks and moles. Schedule a consult today.
Although you might love to, you can’t prevent beauty marks and moles from forming on your skin. Dr. Schultz says, “Many are genetically determined at the time of conception.” Some of them are also caused by high-intensity, short bursts of sun exposure as a child or teenager — that kind of sun exposure is the kind that gives you blisters or bad burns with chills. However, those typically take 20-25 years to come out. “So,” Dr. Schultz concludes,” even if you were really diligent with sun protection which can help you prevent the sun-induced marks and moles, you still can’t prevent the ones that are genetically determined.”
According to Dr. Schultz, there is actually no difference between beauty marks and moles, but they can be flat or raised. Dr. Schultz says, “The raised ones are the better ones, they almost never get into trouble. It’s the flat ones that look like freckles that are often the ones that may have the potential to degenerate into skin cancers.” The moles you get from a bad sunburn are almost always flat. Moles and beauty marks are identical because they both have an increased concentration of melanocytes (melanin-making cells) in the skin. As far as freckles are concerned, Dr. Schultz says, “They are just extra pigment that have been made by the basal cell layer of melanocytes, but the important distinction is they never get into trouble or become cancerous.” Determining what is a freckle and what is a flat beauty mark can be very difficult to distinguish, even for a dermatologist.
Just having a beauty mark or mole on your skin isn’t dangerous in and of itself. However, there are certain marks and moles that may be precancerous. This doesn’t mean you have cancer. It just means that slowly, over time, these marks and moles have the potential to develop into cancer. Early detection of these precancerous spots is extremely effective in saving lives. By booking your appointment with Dr. Schultz at our Upper East Side office, you'll have the chance to take care of the problem before it becomes a real issue. That’s why getting regular (annual) screening exams and treating your abnormal beauty marks and moles is vital to your health.
If you do have a dangerous beauty mark or mole, after administering local anesthesia to make the removal painless, we’ll remove the entire mole. This means, if it’s flat, we’ll scoop slightly under the skin, which sometimes leaves an oval, discoloration, or even a slightly oval dent. The other way to remove a dangerous beauty mark or mole is to literally cut around it and stitch it. For those that are raised, the same rules apply. Dr. Schultz says, “If the beauty mark or mole is raised, it will also go deeper into your skin. Therefore, to get the whole thing out, just scooping may not be effective. You may have to cut and then complete the treatment with stitches to get the best cosmetic results. But that will remove the whole thing if it’s abnormal.” If you’re removing the beauty mark or mole for cosmetic reasons, the raised area is usually shaved off to be level with the surrounding skin (of course with local anesthesia). We’ll send the removed part to the laboratory to check it for any abnormalities, but the root can remain as long as the lab confirms that the removed part is normal. Dr. Schultz advises, “When you’re dealing with a flat type of beauty mark or mole, you’ve got to make sure that the cosmetic outcome is going to be a better outcome than the appearance of the mole itself.”
When dealing with beauty marks and moles that could be dangerous, timing is everything. Having an acuity to separate those that need to come off because they are subtly abnormal (and therefore precancerous), and noticing them much earlier than other physicians is what sets Dr. Schultz apart. In our Upper East Side office, we’ve learned a very small threshold for recognizing abnormal moles, therefore we can help prevent people from getting skin cancers from very early in the process so they don’t have to deal with it later on when its a much bigger problem. You always want to choose a dermatologist or surgeon who has the skills and expertise to make sure there’s as little effect on the adjoining skin as possible. In addition to recognizing abnormal beauty marks and moles, Dr. Schultz and our team perform 4,000 removals a year, giving us the technical experience that produces a superior medical and cosmetic result. You are in good hands when you have your mole removal done by Dr. Schultz.
When you come in for your beauty mark or mole removal appointment, you won’t need any preparation. The area you’re treating will be cleansed, and depending on what our team decides is the best course of treatment, it may be numbed with anesthetic. After the area is painlessly removed by any of the methods outlined above, it will be covered by a bandage to protect it as it heals. We’ll give you instructions on how to take care of the area and you’ll be able to go back to your normal routine immediately after your appointment with no restrictions.
Moles, also known as beauty marks, have an increased concentration of melanocytesRead More
They might be genetically determined, or they might be caused by shortRead More
It is typically the other way around: flat moles carry a higherRead More
Depending on where it is on the body, it could take upRead More
First, we perform a small injection of anesthesia. Then the mole isRead More
Yes.
It depends on the treatment. Flat moles that have the potential toRead More
The earlier, the better. Skin cancer prevention is much easier than dealingRead More
Make your skin care a priority with leading-dermatologist and New York Magazine’s “Top Doctor”: Dr. Neal Schultz.