Tailored Treatments for Your Needs
The most important part of the process is for us to understand your reasons for removal and what you want to achieve. Our team are highly skilled at all removal procedures; however, we need to know what you want before we can offer the correct options. During your first consultation, we will discuss the options available and the pros and cons of each. Lesion and mole removals are requested for many reasons, including:
- The lesion is causing discomfort.
- It is annoying, keeps catching on objects, or repeatedly bleeds.
- The lesion is unsightly, and you want it removed for cosmetic reasons.
Working With You to Offer the Best Results
Planning is always a balance of ensuring adequate skin lesion removals against functional and cosmetic outcomes. Sometimes, the doctor will undertake techniques that can seem counterintuitive but are done to achieve better cosmetic outcomes. We want to ensure that you are happy and understand what to expect. Questions are always welcome!
Most procedures are undertaken with a local anaesthetic field block (numbing injections around the affected area) to minimise pain from the procedure. This means that you will be awake during the minor surgery.
Lesion & Mole Removal Procedure Options
There are several techniques that we can use to remove benign lesions, including:
- Cryotherapy
- Curettage
- Punch excision
- Shave excision
- Electrofulgration or diathermy (zapping/burning)
- Laser
- Surgical excision
About Our Lesion & Mole Removal Procedure | Surgical Excision
An excision is performed with a local anaesthetic to remove the lesion, which is normally sent to the laboratory for analysis. The wound is usually stitched together and requires you to rest to optimise the healing process. Several types of lesions can be removed, including cysts, lipomas, vascular lesions, and many others.
Pre Procedure
The surgery will be planned out, taking care to ensure your goals are achieved as well as an optimal cosmetic outcome, taking personal preferences and concerns into consideration. This will involve drawing on the skin with a felt pen. You are more than welcome to inspect the plan and ask questions.
During the Procedure
A local anaesthetic will be administered at the surgical site to ensure your comfort throughout the procedure. The excision will be carried out, which may involve undermining to free up the tissues and strengthen the wound. Electrocoagulation (or diathermy) may be used to stop the bleeding. This helps minimise the risk of complications and can improve the cosmetic result.
Closing the Excision
The wound will be stitched, typically using two layers of sutures. The deep layer uses a dissolving suture that provides structural support to the wound to reduce the risk of the wound stretching (dehiscing). The superficial layer can use either a dissolving or non-dissolving suture and helps provide a good cosmetic outcome.
To remove benign lesions, we will keep the safety margin as narrow as possible to minimise the size of the surgical wound. Usually, the wound is elongated and pulled together to create a flat, straight wound (direct closure). In some situations, we may need to apply a different closure method to optimise the cosmetic result. These can include:
Flaps
Flap closures pull nearby skin into the wound and can help reduce the distortion of surrounding structures. We often use flaps to make scars less visible, like hiding them in the hairline or natural folds of the skin. This can create curved or angled scar lines. We usually need direct closure or flaps to remove benign lesions. Grafts are also an option but are more commonly used in skin cancer removal surgeries.
Split-Thickness Skin Grafts
Split-thickness skin grafts involve taking a superficial layer of skin from a distant site and stitching this into the wound. These types of grafts will generally heal with a depressed scar.
Full-Thickness Skin Grafts
Full-thickness skin grafts involve taking a full-thickness piece of skin from a distant site and stitching it into the wound. Full-thickness grafts can often heal with good cosmetic results if a good tissue texture match is taken from the donor site.
Post-Procedure
After the procedure has been completed, we will not abandon you! The wound will be cleaned, and a dressing will be applied. We will discuss how the surgery went, and you will even be given an opportunity to inspect the removal; however, we appreciate that some people would rather not look immediately after surgery.
You will receive spare dressings and an information sheet with our after-hours contact number. While we don’t expect problems, we want to ensure we are there for you should the unexpected arise.
Laboratory Analysis
The specimen will be sent to the laboratory for histological analysis. The laboratory typically takes 1-3 weeks to issue the histology report. We routinely ensure that your GP is notified of these results; however, please advise us if you prefer we don’t send the results to your GP.
Optimising Your Recovery
While we provide a good cosmetic outcome at the end of surgery, wound healing is a team effort. It is crucial for you to rest after the procedure to ensure that tension on the wound is minimised. This will allow the wound to heal with a good result. We encourage you to plan your procedure so that you can take things easy for about one week following surgery.
Book A Consultation With Our Specialists Today
We take pride in good outcomes for patients and ensure that we provide the best cosmetic outcome possible. Experience the best lesion and mole removals in Auckland with our specialists at Skintel. Book an appointment today for a skin lesion removal consultation by calling our friendly team or leaving a message on our contact page. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible.
References
Bangash, HK. Ibrahimi, OA. Lawrence, JG. et. al. Who Do You Prefer? A Study of Public Preferences for Health Care Provider Type in Performing Cutaneous Surgery and Cosmetic Procedures in the United States. Dermatol Surg. 2014;40(6):671-8. doi: 10.1111/dsu.0000000000000016
