Birthmarks, Moles, etc: Having Them Removed?

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Ok, so I have this large Strawberry on my forehead which I've had as long as I can remember. I have always worn bangs/fringe to cover it, because I hate the way that it looks like a giant headless zit.

Skin cancer worries aside (giant moles seem to run in my family) - should I/can I get the thing removed?

Does anyone else have any huge moles or birthmarks that worry them? And has anyone ever had one removed - either for health or cosmetic reason?

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a birthmark on my back removed. It was harmless & it didnt really bother me that much, but i got it removed. It's still there a bit, but I never really even notice it. I have moles that worry me though def, I would liek to get alot of them removed, but i guess that's not feasible. If you are worried, it's prob best to get em checked out anyway. Now get to it, my girl!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:29 (twenty-two years ago)

(But either of these options - getting it seen to or getting it removed would involve me GOING TO A DOCTOR which I hate more than just about anything else in the world, so I really need people to tell me things like "Going to the doctor really isn't that bad" and "A GIANT FLESH-EATING MOLE ate my auntie!!!" in order to motivate me to do something about it.)

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a birthmark on my back - the size, shape and colour of it make it look like I've just been slapped. I never remember that I have it though so I'm not bothered about having it removed

― j0e (j0e), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Now Kate, come on young lady, you know you should go to the doctors about this sort of thing. I will buy you a frappucino if you go!!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:32 (twenty-two years ago)

And a bottle of ~~nasty~~ white wine for you to drink. *hides this comment from HSA*

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:33 (twenty-two years ago)

But... I'm sure it's OK. Face-Eating Moles are black and crinkly and scary. This mole is just sort of pink and twee.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:34 (twenty-two years ago)

i once cut a boy with my belf (accidentally) playing football - the cut was just under his huge mole - he ran home screaming he was going to die "im going to die" - he didnt

― james (james), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Your 'belf'? euwwwwwwww!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not going to ask!

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:51 (twenty-two years ago)

This mole is just sort of pink and twee.

Oh well then def leave it alone!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Pink & twee are my 2 most favourite things!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:52 (twenty-two years ago)

hey dont besmerch (sp) my good name in these parts - i think i tackled and fell heavily on him

― james (james), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Pink & twee are my 2 most favourite things!

we are talking moles here

― james (james), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know why it's been bothering me more than usual lately. Probably because I've been wearing my hair back off my face a lot more than usual cause I'm trying to grow out my fringe.

I've got about three other HUGE moles - two of them in rather saucy places - and they don't bother me. But also they are not pink and twee.

Is a strawberry different from a mole? And how are they both different from a freckle? A freckle is just an overanxious burst of melanin, right? Moles are skin cells gone BAD. Are strawberries blood vessles gone bad?

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Nooooooooooooooooo! Pink & twee, not moles. Hey I am sure Kate's mole is very pretty, but I don't love it!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm now thinking of naked mole rats

http://www.bio.psu.edu/Courses/Fall2002/Biol429/Chapter_6-organization_files/image013.jpg

― j0e (j0e), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It is not pretty. Like I said, it looks like a pimple without a head. Except bigger and uglier, and now there is a little rogue bit which is detaching from the main bit like it is going to make a break for it across my forehead.

(This strawberry is, actually, quite tiny, compared to, say, Gorbachev's, but still. I am insecure.)

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I have discovered that strawberries are actually called a hemangiomas. What is weird about it, is that most of them disappear within 2 to 5 years of birth. So this isn't a proper strawberry, it's something else. Humph.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I still say get to the doctors. Just grit your teeth & it'll be over b4 u know it!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, the consensus is that they are fairly harmless (unless they interfere with the function of an organ like nose or eye) and that they are better off left alone, because removing them can cause scarring that is uglier than the angioma was in the first place. So I've decided to just live with it.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:16 (twenty-two years ago)

But i thought you were unhappy about it? The doctor will advise as to the extent of the scaring. Scars can be v attractive in themselves tho!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha extent of the scaring!! Surely scarring would be more appropriate!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I was unhappy with it because it is ugly and people think it is a zit and try to squeeze it. A bloody great scar on my forehead would be even uglier!

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

And scarier!

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I've had A LOT of moles removed from around my waist because they were considered a skin cancer risk at the time. I'm pretty jumpy about stuff like that and there's a raised weird mole on my back which must go.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, point taken!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Does it hurt to get them taken off, Suzy? And do they leave scars?

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Alastair Campbell to thread!

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I have skin tags on my armpits. I had one on my neck once, I tied a string around it and cut off the blood supply, it turned black and fell off.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I've had a skin tag burnt off many years ago. It stung a little & was a bit sore for a day or so, but that was it.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 18 July 2003 11:01 (twenty-two years ago)

It really doesn't hurt, but what they do depends on the type and size of the mole. There are scars from the ones I had removed at 11, but that's because one or two of those moles were proper big. For the last one I had removed, they just gave the area local anaesthetic, cut out the mole, and gave me three small stitches. There is no scar to speak of. However there is a bit of rigamarole involved with washing self when there are stitches but that varies depending on the type and amount of stitches and whether or not they freeze-dry it off.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 18 July 2003 11:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a v. large and ugly mole behind my right ear, it is my secret flaw. I can know someone for a year and then one day they go "what the hell is THAT?!" I've recently decided that I'm going to get it removed before my health insurance runs out.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I wonder about the skin tag thing. It sounds kinda dangerous - are you sure it's okay to do?

I have a haemangioma under my left eye. It turned up suddenly when I was about 18 and has remained there ever since. I think it gives me character.

I also have a cyst under the skin on my forehead which I am terribly aware of but my friends never notice it, even when I point it out. It's been there since I was 13, and has actually affected the way my forehead wrinkles have turned out. I was worried it'd be more noticeable as I went bald, but if anything I'm less worried about it nowadays.

I was briefly in a band named after it - "Silas Marner and his Cyst", we were called.

― Mark C (Mark C), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I have one immediately above my left eyebrow that sorta bothers me. It's in the worst spot: it merges w/my eyebrow and is the same color as it, causing my eyebrow to look misshapen. If I had insurance, I might look into getting it removed.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

mark, i was worried about it too. But i was sick of looking at it. It looked like i constantly had a rice krispie stuck to my neck. I wanted to cut it off one day with scissors, i got drunk and iced it up and everything, but i couldn't bring myself to do it. so i got some thin sewing thread and tied it tight. two days later it was gone. but it all depends really where it is.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I bet that looked lovely, CHris! I mean, the rice krispie tied up nicely with a bow. ha ha

Kate, I had a mole removed once, but it was on the side of one of my (cough cough)s and only because the doc said ooh! could be cancerous some day! It was very painless, and there is a wee scar left, but it's not like that many people see it.

I have a couple of moles I'd like to get removed. One is at the very tip under my chin! Kind of like a witch I guess, but you'd mostly think of it being on the nose... But anyway, it really bothers me, but I'm worried if I got that one removed there'd be this wedge cut out of my chin. I also have one on my back I could do without. My mom has rice crispies real bad on her back and I'm scared mine will turn into one. NO!!!!

― Sarah McLUsky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

And by the way, kate, it is good to have you back (uh, I know I've said that before...)

I am terrified of doctors but I went to one yesterday and look I survived!

― Sarah Mclusky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I forgot to mention that both of my sisters were born with particularly rosey cheeks. But they were like weird birthmarks on their cheeks or something. So one day my mom took them to the dermatologist and she said, "Oh! I can just zap some electricity into their faces and they'll go away!" And she did. And that explains a lot of things about why my sisters are the way they are.

― Sarah McLUsky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Tits?

― Mark C (Mark C), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:49 (twenty-two years ago)

My HE-MAN-gioma (why can't it be called a She-Ra-mioma?) is slightly raised. I wonder if I tied a bow around it, would it just drop off?

Maybe I'll have HSA zap some electricity at it when I get home and see if it goes away.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

*sigh* Yes. I've just never found a good word for them that I don't feel weird saying. (And uh, no, this isn't an invitation for suggestions!)

― Sarah McLUsky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

That's a great idea, kate. You'll save lots of money. And I'm sure he'll be really flattered if you ask him, "HSA, I don't know nuffin' bout no electricity so could you help me?"

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

No! HSA actually has this... thing. It used to be one of those staticlamps at one point, but he took the lamp bit off it, so now it is just a bare electrode for that super-science look to go along with the oscillators and things! One day we were slightly drunk and got bored and we were chasing each other around the flat with it, giving each other shocks. At last we have found a use for it!

(Or maybe we could go over our mates' house that had the electrical glowing tube things that HSA used to turn the radio into a theremin. Those electrical things are supposed to be health-things in some way shape or form, so maybe I can zap my She-Ra-gioma with it.)

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I wouldn't recommend tying a string around a mole. A skin tag yes, a mole no.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 14:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I'll try tieing a string around my head on my next bad hair day.

Oh, I remember you talking about the electric shocks before now, kate.

― Sarah McLUsky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Why did Mark C just say "Tits?".

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 18 July 2003 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Why not?

― Sarah MCLUsky (coco), Friday, 18 July 2003 14:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Tits?

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I wonder if I tied a string around my tits, would they fall off?

(Some days my bra feels like I've done just this.)

(One of my saucy moles is directly halfway between my tits. It is quite raised, and I suppose in the middle ages, it would have got me burned at the stake for having a devil's teat.)

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I've got a slew of moles but nothing raised/irregular/evil looking from what I know -- there was an evil little lump removed on my right arm when I was twelve, still have a scar, but that's about it. Yay me, I s'pose.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a mole removed from my neck once. The doctor just cut it off with a scapel. However, there were some cells left behind and it just kind of grew back. There is no point in having a doctor remove skin tags as I can attest they simply cut them off with scissors which one could easily do themself.

― Mandee, Friday, 18 July 2003 15:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Face it Kate eventually you'll end up like the three titted woman from that Ah-nold flick.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

What - gunned down by fascist private police? You're cheery.

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't care about my saucy moles. No one sees them but me (and HSA, and he isn't exactly noticing them.) I care about the GIANT TWEE PINK THING on my forehead. Sigh.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Besides, it is not its MOLENESS which I object to - my saucy moles are regulation mole-coloured, which is sort of browny-black. It is its PINKNESS which I object to.

― kate (kate), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"The Saucy Moles" would make a killer band name.

― martin m. (mushrush), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.uksafari.com/jpeg/mole.jpg

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 15:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Kate, I bet no-one else notices. You're cute enough anyway - just think of it as giving character. I'm not taking the mickey.

― Mark C (Mark C), Friday, 18 July 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Put concealer on the pink thing.

― Mandee, Friday, 18 July 2003 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a small *blue* raised mole on top of my foot -- it got bigger & itchy, so I had it looked at. The dr took it off with a thing like a tiny cookie cutter (ew!), he gave me novocaine first so it didn't hurt. He sent it in to the lab & it turned out not to be anything bad. I had one stitch, it was no big deal at all, I left work, had it done, & came right back.

I'm sure a dr could tell you if your forehead-mole is anything you should have removed, and/or if it would be likely to leave a scar. If it's not urgently bothering you, just mention it next time you go in for some other reason.

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Friday, 18 July 2003 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I had something which resembled a small chunk of a cooked piece of cheese on top of my left hand for quite a while. I went to the doctor and had it removed (local anesthetic, a little slice off, some anti-bacterial medication, and a big band-aid)... hasn't reappeared since.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

It actually was interfering with my life, in the sense that I couldn't stick my left hand into my left pant pocket without causing abrasions on the lump, going in and out.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

We don't need to hear about your pocket pool problems.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

SKIN TAG *hand sign of rock*

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Scabies?

― Mark C (Mark C), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

DB, why hast thou forsaken me? *sniff*

― Lefty Cheeselumpkins (Dan Perry), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Handling vocal duties is none other than Jimmy Lawrence, best
known for his solo album "The World Is Round" which gained nothing but great reviews and
critics everywhere in the melodic rock world.

NONE OTHER, I should note.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

THE OFFICIAL THEME ROCK SONG FOR THIS THREAD

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I actually like that song! in a boogie rock Black-Crowes-gone-emo kinda way.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, you defined an anti-me song perfectly. All you needed to add was Zac de la Rocha.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

And what's-her-face from Republica!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, the agony.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a small mole on my cheek that once in a while I think about removing but everyone's like "no! it gives you character!" so I forget about it.

On my forehead I have a weird little stain that seems to come and go every six months or so--or at least everyone seems to notice it at once and ask if I have a forehead hickey once or twice a year. Maybe it has to do with how tanned I am.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Saturday, 19 July 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

"no! it gives you character!"

My sister said this exact phrase to me once. At the time I thought it was a nice thing to say but now I think how crap can my character be if it's built on having a brown spot on my cheek?

― N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 19 July 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

hahaha

― oops (Oops), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe if your character is an elf

― s1utsky (slutsky), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

(I don't know what that means)

― s1utsky (slutsky), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I do.

― N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

please help me

― s1utsky (slutsky), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, that would be too pally.

― N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 19 July 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I hjave the coolest birthmark in the world - and upside-down pink heart on my *pauses to think* left bum cheek. It's what convicned emma to go out with me. Maybe.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Monday, 21 July 2003 08:00 (twenty-two years ago)

This weekend my family went to Water Country USA to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday. When I was in line in front of her for one of the rides, she said, "Ew! Sarah! You've got like this mole on top of a mole or something! It's crazy!" So I turned around and was like, "That's so rude! Leave me alone!" And she's like, "It's not rude. It's just a fact. Like I have blue eyes; You have this weird mole." Grrr...

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Monday, 21 July 2003 12:57 (twenty-two years ago)

eight years pass...

Some sort of growth showed up just inside my right nostril last year and went from zero to about 4 millimeters in six months. Got me a bit worried...have a dermatologist appt next week. Removal from that area would be kinda tricky I think, and leaving it alone while it heals is going to be even trickier.

― improvised explosive advice (WmC), Thursday, 19 April 2012 12:51 (fourteen years ago)

three years pass...

I've had moles all my life. Used to be very self conscious about them, especially as a teen, but now I rarely even think about them.
In recent months though I've had a small but noticeable mole grow on the tip of my nose and it's bugging me. The doctor said it was nothing to worry about, but still it feels prominent and I swear I feel it tingle on occasion.
And in the last month I've had what I thought was a spot but turns out it's something else appear just to the side of my nose. Oh no!
Worse things happen at sea I guess, but there is this lingering paranoia that a) they're really noticeable and b) they could go malignant.
Anyone else suffer from prominent moles or know anything about getting rid of especially facial moles? I take it there's scarring whatever happens

― cod latin (dog latin), Monday, 29 June 2015 19:58 (ten years ago)

i have one in my armpit. i am occasionally self-conscious about it. more often than that, it makes me think of Cronenberg's The Brood, and that it might grow so that it could spawn demonic child-shaped minions that will carry out my revenge fantasies.

― sarahell, Monday, 29 June 2015 20:06 (ten years ago)

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Huge Ugly Facial Moles

http://41.media.tumblr.com/3bbce268f894a6ccaf7fbe07c10888bc/tumblr_nf1spprrJu1qgze9ho1_500.jpg

― The Hauntology of Celebrity (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 07:09 (ten years ago)

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