Moles Archives

Basic Mole Maintenance

Dr. Stoll,
I've spent the last hour reading bulletin posts on moles and I appear to have much more basic questions than those who have already posted.

1. I have numerous moles ranging in size from the tip of a pen to a 1/4" in diameter. I've had these all my life, and there appears to be little to no change. They may have increased in number in the last 10 years, by about 10-20%. None of them have changed shape in any noticable way.
A friend of mine is urging me to have these monitored regularly by a dermatoligist. Is he being over precautious or should I follow his advice?

2. What is the difference between moles and tags, both in their appearance on the body, and in the possible effect they can have? Is there something else that looks like a mole but is not flat and is not a tag. Based on what I read moles are flat and tags stick up, moles can be dangerous, tags are not. Moles should be looked at by a doctor, tags can be removed with a home remedy. I have spots on my body that I always thought were moles but they are not flat. I have 3 bumps that stick out from the skin, 2 that are about a 1/16" and 1 that is about 1/8" in diameter. They seem to fit the description of "tags", however, I think tying them off would be painful, which is not supposed to be the case with tags. So what are they and what should I do? They have not changed shape at all in 27 years.

3. In General, what are moles and why are they potentially so dangerous? I've read posts on preventing and curing cancer. Your posts on moles, however, seem to indicate that they are not to be handled in more natural ways but should be dealt with by traditional dermatoligists. Why is this?

Thank you for your time,
S

Follow Ups:

• Re: Basic Mole Maintenance (Archive in moles.) Walt Stoll [9.8] 07:00:59 10/05/04 (1)
  • Re: Basic Mole Maintenance (Archive in moles.) S [951.10] 13:12:27 10/05/04 (0)

In Reply to: Basic Mole Maintenance posted by S [951.10] on October 04, 2004 at 21:53:22:

Hi, S.

In order of your questions:

1. Some depends upon your lifetime sun exposure but MY advice would be to have a dermatologist decide how often to be checked. Once a year would be a good interval. A malignant melanoma is one of the most serious cancers knnown and it is just not worth the risk to not have professional supervision.

2. Tags are nothing and can safely be dealt with by tying a black thread around the base and letting it fall off on it's own---NOT PAINFUL. If you can stand the cosmetic appearance, doing nothing is also acceptable. Moles, on the other hand always have a greater than "normal" propensity for malignant transformation (especialy those on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, under the nails and in the genital area). So far as I know , no one has yet figured out why.

Suspicious ones must be examined microscopically which is why they must be removed surgically and sent to the lab. If they are malignant or changing towards malignant, they must be treated aggressively. Improving anti-cancer immunity, in general, helps prevent all of this and also promotes general health mightily (See the cancer archives.)

3. See biopsy comments above.

Hope this helps.

Walt

Follow Ups:

• Re: Basic Mole Maintenance (Archive in moles.) S [951.10] 13:12:27 10/05/04 (0)

In Reply to: Re: Basic Mole Maintenance (Archive in moles.) posted by Walt Stoll [9.8] on October 05, 2004 at 07:00:59:

Dr. Stoll,
Thank you very much.
S