“If you touch a mole, it wakes up.”

WRONG

This is one of the beliefs that most often delays an examination. An assessment or removal done for a medical reason, with the proper technique and by a doctor, does not “wake up” a mole.

The real risk is the opposite: a mole that is changing being left unmonitored. The difference between a finding assessed early and one assessed late is decisive for follow-up and approach.

This is the point that gets mixed up: interfering with a mole in uncontrolled conditions, by burning, cutting or similar attempts, is not right. This is not about the procedure itself but about who does it and how.

Which doctor should you see to have a mole removed? Checking and removing moles is the field of dermatology. A dermatologist first examines the mole with a dermatoscope and decides from this whether it needs to be removed.

A mole that has been removed is usually sent to pathology, that is, to a laboratory examination. Burning a mole away with a laser makes this examination impossible. This method is not chosen for a suspicious mole.

Healing time varies with the size and position of the mole and the method used. The same assessment is made for a mole on the face, and the chance of a scar is discussed at the examination.