Scary mole on fiancés back. Please look

[bunny11]

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since my last post. In the last year and a half my HA has been almost non-existent. This morning, I felt that horrible helpless heart sinking panic that I used to get so often.

This morning I noticed a freckle/mole on my fiancés back. We are 23 years old. We both get sun in the summers (just regular exposure) and we both have freckles and sun spots. Today I was looking closely and this spot looks a little scary. It has 2 different colors and doesn't look "normal". There is definitely a dark dot inside of it and I don't really there there are borders. It is smaller than a pencil eraser but the colors freak me out. Being the hypochondriac I am, I started looking though old photos to see if I could track it back to an earlier time. I was able to find a photo from about 4 years ago that shows the spot - so it has been there awhile, I just never realized how sinister it looks. Part of me thinks that's a good thing right? The fact that it has been there for awhile without growing?

Please click and look at the picture. I am SO afraid of melanoma. I am making him a DR apt first thing in the morning. I feel sick to my stomach. Does anyone have anything that looks like this? I will post a regular picture and a close up. Please help

4953 4952

[ankietyjoe]

You want a Doctor to look at the mole, not a larger selection of hypochondriacs.

[ErinKC]

You want a Doctor to look at the mole, not a larger selection of hypochondriacs. :roflmao:

But, seriously. It's probably nothing, but I don't even let myself stress about moles. A derm can check that out and tell you it's fine in like one minute. Just have him make an appointment.

[Alexldn89]

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since my last post. In the last year and a half my HA has been almost non-existent. This morning, I felt that horrible helpless heart sinking panic that I used to get so often.

This morning I noticed a freckle/mole on my fiancés back. We are 23 years old. We both get sun in the summers (just regular exposure) and we both have freckles and sun spots. Today I was looking closely and this spot looks a little scary. It has 2 different colors and doesn't look "normal". There is definitely a dark dot inside of it and I don't really there there are borders. It is smaller than a pencil eraser but the colors freak me out. Being the hypochondriac I am, I started looking though old photos to see if I could track it back to an earlier time. I was able to find a photo from about 4 years ago that shows the spot - so it has been there awhile, I just never realized how sinister it looks. Part of me thinks that's a good thing right? The fact that it has been there for awhile without growing?

Please click and look at the picture. I am SO afraid of melanoma. I am making him a DR apt first thing in the morning. I feel sick to my stomach. Does anyone have anything that looks like this? I will post a regular picture and a close up. Please help

4953 4952


To be honest it doesn’t look bad! They look for moles that are not the same.. they look symmetrical to me?!
I can show u what mine looked like and mine wasn’t even cancerous so if mine was okay, I’m sure yours will be.
They look pretty uniform to me.
Download skin vision app

[Fishmanpa]

Download skin vision app

Please do not download an App for this or any other health related tracking. It only feeds the dragon and you'll end up obsessing over it.

Positive thoughts

[Alexldn89]

Please do not download an App for this or any other health related tracking. It only feeds the dragon and you'll end up obsessing over it.

Positive thoughts

No actually do download the skin vision app that was created by doctors that takes a photo of the mole and works out if it’s high risk or not.
It’s saved thousands of peoples lives so it’s actually a good thing! It’s helped me TWICE and mine looked cancerous even to the surgeon. Until I informed him I’d had a baby and he was happy it was due to hormonal changes ..
BUT it’s brilliant
And doesn’t make you obsess. It gives you a better idea of what your working with.

Read up on it first to see the reviews! All positive

[BlueIris]

Alex, this site has a lot of very vulnerable people. I'd consider myself largely recovered from my health anxiety, and I still feel frightened just at the thought of the rabbit hole this could send me down.

No matter how good an app like this is for the general population, it could potentially cause severe emotional harm to somebody with HA; it might not have made you obsess but I'll bet a lot of people here could terrify themselves for days and weeks on end. Better to simply see a GP or even a nurse practitioner.

[Fishmanpa]

Alex, this site has a lot of very vulnerable people. I'd consider myself largely recovered from my health anxiety, and I still feel frightened just at the thought of the rabbit hole this could send me down.

No matter how good an app like this is for the general population, it could potentially cause severe emotional harm to somebody with HA; it might not have made you obsess but I'll bet a lot of people here could terrify themselves for days and weeks on end. Better to simply see a GP or even a nurse practitioner.

Agreed. One only need read all the threads where people with HA lose it over a fitbit reading and self test things from BP to urine and poo. Its quite apparent health related apps and diagnostic devices can be and are detrimental to sufferers. Glad you find it useful but I stand by my post 100%.

Positive thoughts

[RadioGaGa]

You’ll need to see a doctor, preferably a dermatologist for this. There appears to be red or pink around the mole, but this could be irritation.

I agree with Fishman regarding the SkinVision app. A couple of years ago I had a funny looking mole. My (now ex) bf didn’t like the look of it and neither did some relatives.

Doctor took one look and said benign. I then downloaded SkinVision. Scanned the mole and the app said no risk.

BUT THEN: an email came through from SkinVision telling me their dermatologists had reviewed my images and wanted me to get the mole looked at ASAP.

TWO dermatologists and a biopsy later, I received the all clear.

The anxiety that one single message from SkinVision caused was unbelievable. So yeah I can’t recommend it - unless your mole is a tiny tiny pin prick mole or a CLEARLY TEXTBOOK round banal mole, these apps will never give you the all clear. (Think lawsuits)

[CleverLittleViper]

No actually do download the skin vision app that was created by doctors that takes a photo of the mole and works out if it’s high risk or not.
It’s saved thousands of peoples lives so it’s actually a good thing! It’s helped me TWICE and mine looked cancerous even to the surgeon. Until I informed him I’d had a baby and he was happy it was due to hormonal changes ..
BUT it’s brilliant
And doesn’t make you obsess. It gives you a better idea of what your working with.

Read up on it first to see the reviews! All positive

This is terrible advice to someone with HA. I'm sorry, but it is.

An app cannot tell you if a mole is cancerous or not. All it can do is measure the mole up against the typical "rules" for cancerous moles and normal moles. However, not every atypical mole will be cancerous. Imagine a person with HA who is already obsessed with skin cancer downloads the app, takes pictures of a few of their moles and one of them is determined to be suspicious by this app. What reaction do you think that will cause?

If someone has something that is suspicious, a doctor can tell you if it is or not. Not some app. These apps prey on people with HA and I find it troubling that you would even suggest this to someone with HA. Someone who is already prone to worrying and obsessing about their health and the health of people they love.

If the mole hasn't changed OP and has always looked like that, then it's very likely not scary or worrying at all. I'm not a doctor, but it doesn't look particularly troubling to me from that picture. You mentioned you found a picture from 4 years ago showing the mole and didn't mention any changes, so...unless it's the slowest growing cancer in the world...if it's troubling, get your fiancé to go to a doctor to check it out.

[pav1984]

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since my last post. In the last year and a half my HA has been almost non-existent. This morning, I felt that horrible helpless heart sinking panic that I used to get so often.

This morning I noticed a freckle/mole on my fiancés back. We are 23 years old. We both get sun in the summers (just regular exposure) and we both have freckles and sun spots. Today I was looking closely and this spot looks a little scary. It has 2 different colors and doesn't look "normal". There is definitely a dark dot inside of it and I don't really there there are borders. It is smaller than a pencil eraser but the colors freak me out. Being the hypochondriac I am, I started looking though old photos to see if I could track it back to an earlier time. I was able to find a photo from about 4 years ago that shows the spot - so it has been there awhile, I just never realized how sinister it looks. Part of me thinks that's a good thing right? The fact that it has been there for awhile without growing?

Please click and look at the picture. I am SO afraid of melanoma. I am making him a DR apt first thing in the morning. I feel sick to my stomach. Does anyone have anything that looks like this? I will post a regular picture and a close up. Please help

4953 4952

Best get checked by a doctor to be safe. In the mean time to help with your worry you say it has been there 4 years. I would have thought it would have changed in that time if it was something nasty.

With regard to the app... in the hands of a person without HA probably a good thing. In the hands of someone with HA it is a tool to fuel the obsessive checking habits.

[Shadowhawk]

I will completely disagree with the suggestion of the app, but from the perspective of a technical person (a photographer and computer engineer). While we all marvel at what our cell phones can do (and they are amazing), they are NOT bastions of color accuracy and macro (close up) detail. Now, this is fine for every day shots, but this poses a problem for a diagnosis like this. Why? Because CORRECT examination of the mole requires detail (structure of the skin, clarity of margins, so on), as well as correct color (cool natural lighting WILL make something look different compared to warm lighting) - just imagine your phone taking a poor quality shot of a mole, making it look dark and splotchy.. trigger alert! A dermascope has good calibrated lighting, which casts no shadows (the light forms a ring, giving even illumination), and allows the doctor to see the skin clearly.

Sure, the app may catch the painfully obvious ones (like, a huge mole that should have been checked year ago anyway...), but i wouldn't ever consider something like it knowing what i know. And frankly, i am sure i have seen people here mention it giving false positives.. simply another reason to not use it.