Painful mole

[Paranoid Louis]

Hi everyone,
I am having a current fear of skin cancer at the moment which almost a week ago resulted in me obsessively checking my moles and freckles.

Just two days ago, I visited my GP who looked at the three that have concerned me the most. The first one I showed her was on my chest just above my nipple. It has been there for a couple of years ( I think) but maybe it is more noticeable. The GP said it looks benign and said it looks normal as does the rest of them, even the big one on my leg. Therefore she told me to check them again in 6 months and compare them with a picture of them from before.

We then discussed my self diagnosing of several types of cancer to which she said they are rare and unlikely for my age and I have health anxiety that I should have help for. Again, she told me my moles are normal.

Fast forward to today, and I cannot stop looking at my chest mole. It's slightly painful but that could be due to me violently scratching it and no it is not itchy. It looks a little redder and maybe slightly raised but I don't know if that's because it being scratched. I don't want to go back tot he doctors twice in one week about the same issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am also 19 years old and I did not have this fear until online research and closely examining myself.

[NervUs]

If the pain had come out of the blue, that would be one thing. BUt the fact you are feeling pain right after getting it checked and getting in a panic about makes this pain suspect.


Can you put a bandaid over it, stop thinking about it, stop googling it, and then see if the pain is still there in a week or two? You are going to need to fight to be objective about whether or not you are really feeling pain. I will say, HA makes you feel things, so you need to work hard to really examine if the pain is legit or not.

If it turns out to be legit (you are still feeling it a week or two after you've stopped fixating on the mole, get it checked. I bet you will not feel any pain, though, once you have removed yourself from the preoccupation.

[Fishmanpa]

We then discussed my self diagnosing of several types of cancer to which she said they are rare and unlikely for my age and I have health anxiety that I should have help for. Again, she told me my moles are normal.

I wish there were magic words to stop you from self-examining but sadly there aren't any. You have what I now call "panic cancer" which is any cancer caused by self examining and Dr. Google ;)

Positive thoughts

[Paranoid Louis]

It's not painful at the moment actually since I've stopped picking at it but right now I feel pale and nauseous from examining the mole on my leg. I need to check in with the doctors again tomorrow but I'm too scared to go.

[Kris b]

I have a mole i examined 3 days in a row this week. Now i saw a small light brown spot 3mm sized about a 1cm below the mole. I was so scared it could ve been a satellite but what really happened? I used my cellphones led to shine through it and it was a small burn. It was better the next day and is almost completely gone. Next to that i have bruises around the mole caused by gripping the skin while examining. So yes you can have brirritation easily while you were examining constantly.

[Paranoid Louis]

Welo, I just got back from the doctors, who looked at my moles as I told him about the changes. He thought they were normal and said there's no reason to refer me to a dermatologist as he would just tell me to bugger off. He told me to stop looking at them and to distract myself. According to him, melanoma is really rare for my age.

[KK77]

Welo, I just got back from the doctors, who looked at my moles as I told him about the changes. He thought they were normal and said there's no reason to refer me to a dermatologist as he would just tell me to bugger off. He told me to stop looking at them and to distract myself. According to him, melanoma is really rare for my age.

I will inform the "Told Ya So!" gang forthwith...

Glad all is well :shades: