Moles
removed
If it gets in the way when shaving, catches on your collar or you simply find it ugly: we will look at it. Our skin therapist assesses the spot, and after a referral from your doctor we coagulate it where that is possible.
The referral is not a formality: only a doctor can have tissue examined, and that cannot be done afterwards. With that referral in hand we do the rest.
We assess the spot and coagulate it after a referral from your doctor.
Coagulating is removal with heat, in a brief procedure per spot. Getting the referral costs you an appointment with your GP; after that you can come to us.
Six things to look at.
Five letters dermatologists use, plus a sixth that most sites leave out. Go through it before you make an appointment. It gives no verdict and can rule nothing out; it helps you decide whether a doctor should look first.
- A: Asymmetry
Fold the spot in half in your mind. Do the two halves match?
A quiet mole grows evenly from one point and is therefore usually roughly symmetrical.
- B: Border
Look at the edge. Is it smooth and clear, or ragged and vague?
The transition to ordinary skin says something about how the spot behaves at its edges.
- C: Colour
Does the spot have one colour, or several shades mixed together?
Different colours within one spot are one of the best-known reasons to have it checked.
- D: Diameter
Is the spot larger than a pencil eraser, about six millimetres?
Size on its own says little. It mostly counts alongside the other points, and a small spot that changes matters more than a large spot that has been the same for years.
- E: Evolving
Has anything changed in shape, colour, size or feel in recent months? Think of itching, bleeding or a scab that does not go away.
This is the most important point of the five. Change counts for more than how the spot looks, even when the other four show you nothing unusual.
- The ugly duckling
Put this spot next to your other moles. Does it look like the rest, or does it stand out?
One person's moles usually look alike. So one that clearly stands out is worth checking, even if on its own it seems nothing special.
Go through the points above. Whatever you fill in, the outcome of this check is never a verdict on your spot: it only helps you decide whether to take it to your GP.
This check is information and not a medical examination. It cannot see what a doctor sees with a dermatoscope, so it can rule nothing out. When in doubt the advice is always the same: have it checked.
What helps and what we advise against
The first cross on the right is the only one on this site that is not about money: having something removed that is changing means there is nothing left to examine.
This works
- Looking yourself once a month, preferably at the same moment. It is about change, and you only see that if you have a picture in your head.
- Taking photos of spots you are watching, up close and with something beside them for scale.
- Looking where you do not look automatically: your back, your scalp, between your toes and under your nails.
- When in doubt, to your GP. That is what the surgery is for.
- Taking sun protection seriously, because this is the subject that is not about your looks.
We advise against this
- Having something removed that is changing, anywhere. What is gone cannot be examined. That is the one step you cannot make up for later.
- Burning or freezing it off yourself with something from a shop. The same objection, with more damage.
- Waiting until it hurts. Most suspicious spots do not hurt at all.
- Going by a photo app or a verdict from the internet. A screen sees no depth and no change.
- Thinking it is only about your face. Spots on the back, legs and soles of the feet are the most often overlooked.
Before we
remove anything
On the other pages this is where the things we do not do are listed. Here are the three steps that come before a treatment, and the first is the only one on this site you cannot make up for later.
We assess the spot
Our skin therapist looks at shape, colour, border and whether anything about it is changing. You hear straight away what we see and what the next step is.
Coagulating happens after a referral from your doctor
With a referral in hand we remove the spot with heat, in a brief procedure. That order is fixed: only a doctor can have tissue examined, and that cannot be done afterwards.
We cover moles up
If we laser nearby, a cover goes over it. Light on pigment can change the picture, and then a later assessment no longer holds.
What we use for this
Fibroma removal
€ 30Removing skin tags, usually in one appointment. We charge the treatment time per quarter of an hour.
Frequently asked questions
Then why is this page here at all?
Because people ask us this during a treatment, and because you lie in our chair with your skin in full view. We want you to know what to watch for and where to go, even when it is not us.
Can I have a mole removed at your clinic?
No. Not with a suspicious spot and not with one you simply want gone. That goes to your GP, who can do it or refer you on.
I have a treatment booked and there is a mole in the area.
Then we cover it. That takes half a minute and it means a doctor can still assess later what is there.
Do I get new moles from sunbathing?
Sunlight plays a part in new spots forming and in the risk of skin cancer. Exactly how large that part is differs per person and is not something we put a number on.
How often should I check myself?
Once a month is common advice and mostly practical: often enough to notice change, rare enough to keep up. Ask your GP what is sensible in your case.
It starts with looking
If you come for something else and there is a mole in the area, we cover it and carry on. If you come for the mole itself, it starts with looking.
Is it changing?
Then your GP first. They can have tissue examined and we cannot.
Is it not changing?
Then we look at it together and you hear what is possible and what it costs.
Removal
A brief procedure per spot. Then a scab that comes off on its own.