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“Under her breast
(Worthy the pressing) lies a mole right proud
Of that most delicate lodging.” – Shakespeare,
Cymbeline, II, iv, 134
mole, or “nevus,” is a benign (friendly) tumor of the skin. Almost everybody has at least one mole – in fact, the average number of moles on the adult human body is about forty.
Moles are usually brown or brownish-black, but they may be skin-colored or pink or tan or even blue-black. They may be flat or raised, round or oval, single or in groups, smooth or warty, hairless or hairy. They can vary in size and shape from a fraction of an inch in diameter to huge, irregular areas covering half the body.
We don’t know what causes these tumors, but we do know that they run in families and that their presence is determined even before you are born. In other words, if your parents have (or had) moles, chances are that you will, too. What these moles will look like and where they’ll occur, however, seems to be a quirk of fate.
Most moles develop about the time of puberty or adolescence. They grow rapidly over a period of years and then slowly disappear – as if fading into the skin – in old age. Surprisingly, people in their seventies and eighties have very few moles.
The fashionable mole of a bygone era was a fortuitous happenstance. Strategically located on a woman’s cheek, people considered it a sign of beauty, and the name “beauty mark” still is heard today. Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe and Telly Savalas had moles. Elizabeth Taylor, Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwartzenegger and Madonna have moles.
Other people, however, don’t share this admiration for their own moles and seek to have them removed. The usual method for removing small moles is cutting them out under local anesthesia, a relatively simple and quick office procedure.
Although moles are harmless, they may change and become darker, causing concern. This can be due to exposure to the sun and to certain types of medications, such as cortisone. Hormone changes during puberty and pregnancy also may cause moles to become larger and darker and may even cause new ones to appear. More often than not, these changes are no cause for alarm. On rare occasions, however, changes in a mole can indicate a melanoma, the dreaded “black cancer.” Although the most dangerous and fatal of all skin cancers, melanomas have an excellent cure rate if recognized early and are followed by complete and wide excision.
So, if your mole suddenly becomes larger, changes in color or in texture, bleeds or crusts, or becomes itchy or painful, consult your dermatologist at once. Your doctor may recommend that the tumor be excised completely, or he or she may opt to surgically remove a small piece of tissue (known as a biopsy) and have it examined microscopically to determine the nature and extent of the apparent change. Most likely, your lesion will prove to be benign, but only a doctor can give you this reassurance.
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For more information on moles, log on to: www.aad.org or phone: 1-888-462-DERM x22 |
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