Pictures of Moles

 

One of every 100 babies born has moles when they are born. Most of the moles a person will develop in their lifetime will do so before they turn 20. Moles can either be a discoloration below the skin or a growth above the skin. Moles come in many different shapes, sizes and colors. Many of them are actually identified as skin tags, because they are raised from the skin. Some may produce coarse, dark hair. This may become unsightly, and some people choose to have this hair or the mole itself removed. Moles may be indications of skin cancer, or they may be as harmless as a beauty mark on someone's face.

There are three main types of moles:

Junction nevus - this type of mole can be brown or black and is flat against the skin. Some people may mistake these for freckles, but they are usually not in clusters like freckles are.

Compound nevus - this mole is raised and is black or brown. Beauty marks fall into this category. Celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford and Madonna all had a beauty mark on their face.

 

Intradermal nevus - these moles are raised like the compound, but the only difference is this kind has no pigmentation. It is the same color as the rest of the skin around it.

Moles are more common in light-skinned people and they mostly occur on the chest, back and arms. Moles do occur on dark-skinned people, although they are not as common. Dysplastic nevi is an inherited trait, and when it is expressed, the person can have more than 100 moles on their body. Having this trait makes the person more susceptible to melanoma, which is a very severe form of skin cancer. When a person has more than 50 moles, this puts them at risk for developing melanoma. Melanoma usually forms on dysplastic nevi instead of starting new growth on the skin.

Scientists also suspect that UV rays may be a cause of mole formation. We know that exessive sunlight can cause skin cancer, but it is now being hypothesized that they may be causing new moles to form on the skin. People usually develop moles as children. Some moles may even go away after people reach middle age.

A doctor may choose to remove the mole if they suspect it may be cancerous. It depends on the diagnosis the doctor makes first on how they will remove it. If it appears to be seborrheic keratosis, which appear wart like and are mostly on the elderly, they will use a razor and shave the mole off. They may also choose to burn it or freeze it off. If the choose to shave it off, they will usually cauterize the wound so there is not much bleeding after the procedure. If the doctor thinks it is cancer, they wil do a skin biopsy by removing a sample of the mole and a pathologist will study it to see if it is cancerous. Some procedures include freezing the mole and using a scalpel to remove the mole.

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