shave biopsy healing: Help, Belle2003? - Cancer: Skin Message Board

FearfuL · 04-17-2005, 10:35 AM

Hi, Belle, or anyone who has had a shave biopsy, really.

But Belle seems to have the most similar situation to mine.

Belle, you said you had a mole with different shades of brown shaved off the chest area. How long ago was this? Is it still red?

Also, do you remember what the mole ended up being ('compound nevus, junctional, birthmark, whatever?) I was told pigment could grow back because mine was one that is usually deep. Were you told anything like that or do you think they got all of yours with the shave?

Mine was done about a couple of months ago (on the boob) and it is still reddish/dark pink in color.

I saw you say that the original mole wad dime sized and now the scar you have is nickel sized. Is that pretty normal? My redness overall is bigger than my original biopsy/mole size. But you can tell where the original mole was because that redness is a little darker than the surrounding reddish skin.

Did your wound ever scab or did it just heal without a scab?

Sorry for all the questions, but a million thanks!

Belle2003 · 04-18-2005, 04:37 PM

My shaved mole was around December of 2003. I was fortunate that at the time I was having MOHS done on my nose. They were concerned that the large, flat mole on my chest may be a melanoma. Thankfully it was not. My MOHS doctor removed this questionable mole at the same time he was doing the MOHS. Since I had to have reconstruction done on my nose, he also did a laser treatment on the scar on my chest. This treatment eliminated the redness of the scar. I still had a keloid as he had warned me that keloids usually form on the chest.

For the keloid he injected a small amount of cortisone, which flattened the keloid after a month.

The doctor did not tell me the medical term for the mole that was removed, just that is was not cancerous. It was not a birthmark, but a mole that slowly grew over the years. I know that they got all of it out.

When the mole was removed, I was instructed to put antibacterial cream for a week. It did form a scab and when it was healed it was really red. Without the laser treatment to eliminate the redness, I am sure that it would still be quite red. My scar is located very high on my chest and is visible above all my necklines, except for turtlenecks. I was never told that my mole was deep.

I know in time the redness of your scar will fade. You have to give it a year or two. If the redness bothers you, you can see if your dermatologist does laser treatment to get the redness out. This is costly, but if it bothers you this much, it may be worth it to you.

Once you have the laser treatment it is very red and bruised looking. This slowly fades and the scar ends up being the same color as the rest of your skin.

FearfuL · 04-18-2005, 05:53 PM

Thanks so much for the reply, Belle. So, then, you had no stitches or anything when your mole was removed, right? Also, to clarify, is whatever spot you are left with larger than your original mole?

Belle2003 · 04-19-2005, 07:16 PM

I did not have stitches and my scar is larger than the mole that was removed. Since I have had the laser treatment to remove the redness and the injection to flatten the keloid, it is difficult to see where the scar is now. It virtually blends in with the rest of my skin.

FearfuL · 04-22-2005, 07:13 AM

Heya, Belle. Sorry to bug you again, but how did you know that the whole mole was taken out? I was curious about thssi myself, but my doc can't confirm but implied that it wasn't taken all out.