Moles and Skin Cancer Checks
Medical Diagnosis of Possible Cases of Skin Cancer
Chapel Hill Dermatology, P.A .is pleased to offer all of our patients the opportunity to have a complete body skin exam. By examining you closely for worrisome moles or skin cancer, we can help to ensure your optimal skin health. Nearly 5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with skin cancer every year. The three most common types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma are all associated with excessive unprotected exposure to the sun.
Dermoscopy involves using a small handheld instrument, placed directly against a skin lesion, to both illuminate and magnify it. The use of a dermatoscope makes it possible to see deeper into a skin lesion, revealing features invisible to the naked eye. In doing so, we can often better distinguish between benign lesions and skin cancer, often reducing the need to biopsy a lesion and leave a scar. Dermoscopy is also helpful in properly diagnosing inflammatory lesions like eczema, psoriasis, and disorders of the hair. Dermoscopy is one of the many cutting-edge tools used at Chapel Hill Dermatology, P.A. to assist us in properly caring for your skin.
We can do a biopsy on a mole to determine if they are malignant (cancerous) or benign. If a mole is cancerous, our skin care doctors can remove it and tissue nearby, if necessary, and run tests to ensure the cancer has not spread.
Most skin cancers are usually curable when caught early, so it is important for you to get in the habit of doing regular self-examinations, looking for any new lesions or for any lesion that is changing, itching, or bleeding.
