Moles come in a variety of shapes, colours, sizes and kinds. Many lesions that people commonly describe as "moles" are safe structures that can be easily removed with little or no scarring. Some kinds of moles, if treated, need to be treated by full excision, which will invariable leave a small scar.

It is vital that any "mole”, prior to any treatment, is assessed by a doctor experienced with skin.

Having said that, if the mole is fleshy and raised and more-or-less the same colour as the surrounding skin, it can most likely be treated by a process of "shave and cautery". This involves a single administration of local anaesthetic under the mole, which would be the only part you would feel. Once the mole is completely numb, it is simply shaved off flat with the surrounding skin. Any bleeding points are lightly cauterised with the hyfrecator, and a dressing is applied. The part of the mole that has been shaved off is sent to a pathologist to assess under the microscope.

With shave and cautery, because the deeper dermis remains in situ there is roughly a 40% chance there will be no scar at all. There might otherwise be a slight loss of pigment, leaving a faint white spot instead of a prominent mole. Either way, patients are delighted.

Some raised pigmented "moles" can also be treated with a shave and cautery approach. Again, only your experienced skin doctor can decide this. In any case, the removed part of the "mole" is sent to the pathologist for examination.

Finally, a number of flat, individual brown spots that some might call "moles" can be safely treated with laser. In this case the laser is of a wavelength that is strongly absorbed by the melanin or brown pigment in the "mole", therefore application of the laser light leads to destruction of these pigmented cells without harming the surrounding non-pigmented cells. Again, accurate diagnosis is important prior to treatment, so come in for a consultation and we will advise you further.