TheOregano
31-08-18, 16:41
This my first post ever on this forum and I'm not a native English speaker nor a good writer so I apologize if something doesn't make much sense.
I'm 18 and from Iceland and I recently started to worry about a mole on my back that I noticed a few years ago. It's pretty big (about 8mm) and I've been worried sick about it the past few days since finding out and reading about melanoma online. I went to the dermatologist yesterday and he would imply that it was nothing to worry about but he could remove it if it would suppress my anxiety. I decided not to get it removed since it required surgery and he would have to take a bunch of skin around the area which would leave me with a scar.
I thought I would just be reassured and forget about the mole.. but a day later and I'm already worrying again. I made a Reddit post asking people about the mole on my back and got one reply from a person that told me that she herself had a not-so-bad looking mole on her back that ended up being melanoma (made me skyrocket with anxiety). It doesn't fit the ABCDE criteria instead of the "D" which stands for diameter. The recommended mole size is 6mm and if a mole is bigger than it you should talk to a doctor.
I don't know what I should do, I'm worried about the mole being cancer but I'm also worried about getting the biopsy and most definitely the wait time for the results that come with it.
I need your advice.. I really want to stop obsessing over this. I've been obsessing over the mole for the past 4 days when I found out about melanoma. Before then I was actually pretty happy. I don't know what to do.. get the surgery and get the scar even though it might be benign?
I'm 18 and from Iceland and I recently started to worry about a mole on my back that I noticed a few years ago. It's pretty big (about 8mm) and I've been worried sick about it the past few days since finding out and reading about melanoma online. I went to the dermatologist yesterday and he would imply that it was nothing to worry about but he could remove it if it would suppress my anxiety. I decided not to get it removed since it required surgery and he would have to take a bunch of skin around the area which would leave me with a scar.
I thought I would just be reassured and forget about the mole.. but a day later and I'm already worrying again. I made a Reddit post asking people about the mole on my back and got one reply from a person that told me that she herself had a not-so-bad looking mole on her back that ended up being melanoma (made me skyrocket with anxiety). It doesn't fit the ABCDE criteria instead of the "D" which stands for diameter. The recommended mole size is 6mm and if a mole is bigger than it you should talk to a doctor.
I don't know what I should do, I'm worried about the mole being cancer but I'm also worried about getting the biopsy and most definitely the wait time for the results that come with it.
I need your advice.. I really want to stop obsessing over this. I've been obsessing over the mole for the past 4 days when I found out about melanoma. Before then I was actually pretty happy. I don't know what to do.. get the surgery and get the scar even though it might be benign?