If I picked at a cancerous mole...

[CleverLittleViper]

Urgh, I hate this crap.

I picked at I thought was a mole (it was a tiny thin light brown stripe in the crease of my finger) a couple of months ago, removed it and now there's no sign of it. There's a sign of the tiny dent I made (I didn't even bleed that's how not deep I went).

Of course, me being OCD and having HA about MM, I'm terrified that I actually picked off a bad mole and now I have no way of knowing it was bad until too late.

Would a MM mole have regrown? I can't even be sure it was a mole. I'd had a dry skin infection on that hand this year and I thought maybe the little stripe was related to that i.e. something got stuck under the skin. It looked just like dirt when I picked it off.

It wouldn't have just left with no trace, would it? I also have a number of moles that are fading with little halos around them. I'm at the Drs on Friday, should I mention that I did a stupid thing?

What if by picking it off I've hidden the tumour and now there's nothing they can do? It would have come back right, if it was dangerous?

[saab]

I had an infected mole last year which , as you can imagine, led to a lot of googling about moles. I can safely say I have never read of a case where someone picked a mole off, to the extent that it disappeared, and it then turned out to be a tumour that was still growing. If that was a way you could get skin cancer it would be mentioned somewhere.

This is classic health anxiety. When there is nothing to worry about, your mind will find something. If there isn't anything visible or painful, your mind will find something that is invisible or painless.

[CleverLittleViper]

I'm not scared about if I caused it by picking it. I'm scared that it was already cancerous, and by picking it off, I've hidden it.

The type of M that it would be is rare. Only 1% of M affecting my skin type and most of those are over the age of 40.

I'm just wondering *if* it were cancerous, would it have been obvious? It had remained the same for months. It didn't look like a mole. Just a pigmented stripe over the crease of my index finger (in the joint). I had dealt with a dry skin infection earlier in the year (I think just before getting the stripe) and I've considered that that may have caused it.

Would it have grown back if it were M? Like I said, it didn't take much to pluck it all out with my nails. It looked like I was removing pieces of dirt from under my skin, like a splinter was there or something (without the actual splinter).

Do you think its worth mentioning to the doctor? MM is my biggest fear right now. It's a common one for HA sufferers, especially those of us who battle with OCD. I was just scared of the placement of the "mole." I know it's not a normal place for them.

It is possible that it was just a piece of discoloured skin caused by eczema or some other dry skin infection. I'm just so scared right now, and it's hard to take my mind off it. :doh:

[Catherine S]

You can get skin blemishes, freckles and moles absolutely anywhere so where it was isn't a worry. Also, it doesn't sound like melanoma as you can't make skin cancer go underground just by just picking at a scab on the surface so it sounds more like just a regular blemish.

ISB x

[mnaha]

Geez biff... I have a thing on my arm.. since you are really good at determining if they are caner.. can i send you a photo of it? i have one on my scalp that is all crusty that has been there for a few years.. could you take a look for me? i have things all over my body that could be cancer.. moles included also I have a perfect impression of a triangle imprinted on my hand..just appeared there months ago.. no color just an imprint also I have a birthmark in the shape of a star on my chest that has been there all my life ... that is weird and also I have pesky sebaticious cyst.. ugh...they stink when they drain but doctors have seen all these things and never said hey...there is a cancer you might want to see about.. i also have this weird rash.. all over my right back and shoulder but its not red.. just little things of skin sticking up also i have dry skin on my scalp..yucky.. was just wondering could i send photos of all these to you for you to tell me if they are bad news?please advise?