Worried about a weird mole

[penguin565]

Hi guys! :)

I'm new to this forum but definitely not new to health anxiety. So, I'm 16 and had a really stressful period lately, and it was mainly because my health anxiety, which has been there for like years, kinda got bigger and I was so scared of even looking at the word cancer.

So about 3 months ago I looked at my upper arm in the mirror and noticed a mole that wasn't actually big, (has a diameter of 3 mm, the doctor told me) but was asymmetrical and had irregular borders, two colors, so you know, the things that Dr. Google lists as the symptoms of melanoma. So I freaked out and went to the dermatologist the next day and she looked at it and told me it seemed perfectly fine, nothing to worry about, but they took a picture of it and told me to go back 3 months later. 3 months have passed and yesterday I went to the dermatologist again and they made an other picture and I was told they were going to compare the two recordings, although they did not seem concerned at all. I am talking to the doctor tomorrow and see when I'll get the results.

Now I'm kind of worried because it feels like that it has changed over the past 3 months. Not dramatically I would say, but maybe a tiny bit at the borders, and I keep telling myself that it's only my HA playing with me and I'm just imagining that it has changed, but I feel like I'm going to worry the hell out of myself until they tell me whether if there is really a change in the look of my mole or not. :wacko:

So my question to you guys, has anyone been like this? And do you think a mole may change in shape and still be perfectly fine? Sorry for this whole thing, but I can not really talk about this with anyone around me. :/

[Gary A]

Healthy moles can and do change. Some people have huge healthy moles that obviously must have changed as they certainly weren't born with it. Some moles can change with warm weather and sun exposure, some can become irritated by clothing and change. A mole under 6mm in diameter is not something that will concern a doctor, unless it's showing signs such as bleeding, itching of extremely rapid evolution.

If your mole hasn't noticeably changed or grown over a 3 month period then I'm pretty confident it'll be absolutely fine. Even if it has grown, the chances of it being malignant are slim to none, so the dermatologist may advise removal just to prevent it ever becoming anything nasty in the future. You did the right thing getting it checked, but all in all I'm sure it's going to be fine.

[penguin565]

Thanks Gary, this eased my mind. :) I hope so that it will be okay, and I can stop worrying at last.