Pinkish lump on scalp

Hey guys,

Well... I’m not exactly new here but it’s (thankfully) been a few months since my last breakdown.

Anyway, today I’ve been running my fingers through my hair and I felt this weird lump. Cancer of any kind is, obviously, a big fear of mine so I immediately grabbed my phone and ran to a mirror to check. I found this VERY suspicious looking yellow/skin colored/pink lump. I thought, “maybe it’s just a wart” but I took a picture of it and it has hair growing out of it (i don’t think warts have hair growing out of them) and it also doesn’t look dry. On the picture it looks almost shiny but it could just be so because of the flash. Fast forward a few minutes and I just couldn’t resist googling and now I’ve been freaking over and crying and planning my funeral, basically.
I’m convinced it’s some type of skin cancer like basal cell carcinoma or even melanoma and I just can’t handle myself right now. The worst part is that I remember a few months back maybe even a year i’m not sure but definitely a long while back, I’ve scratched this exact spot and a flaky skin thing came of and it even bled a little and I just shrugged it off as a pimple or something. Now looking back, why wasn’t I more careful? I should have gotten it checked out right away. It doesn’t itch or bleed or feel flaky right now but maybe it’s just really progressed? Most pictures of skin cancer I’ve looked up look similar to what I carry around on my head right now and it’s gotten me crazy worried.

Here’s the link of the picture of my lump, https://i.imgur.com/hVUuT6l.jpg

I know no one here can diagnose me but I guess I’m just looking for reassurance, someone who is dealing or has dealt with the same thing and it turned out to be nothing sinister. I’m just scared, guys.

It's almost certainly a mole or a wart.

However, I neglected a basal cell carcinoma on my forehead for five years and getting it fixed wasn't a big deal. I know you're afraid, but I'm seriously so frightened of medical stuff I once broke my elbow and didn't get help.

Get it looked at for your own peace of mind, but I'd lay money on it not being anything to worry about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlueIris

It's almost certainly a mole or a wart.

However, I neglected a basal cell carcinoma on my forehead for five years and getting it fixed wasn't a big deal. I know you're afraid, but I'm seriously so frightened of medical stuff I once broke my elbow and didn't get help.

Get it looked at for your own peace of mind, but I'd lay money on it not being anything to worry about.

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Hi!

First of all, thank you so much for your comment. You don’t even know it, but reading it has calmed me down a lot and I’ve been coming back to it and re-reading it every time I stared worrying about it.

However, today it’s a bit harder for me, I don’t know why. Yesterday I didn’t even look at the growth and I felt fine but today I just HAD to take a look to “make sure it didn’t change appearance” but I know I was just gonna drive myself crazy looking at it. I even asked my grandpa to take a look and he just went like “I already looked at it, it’s a wart, stop messing with it” and he’s right but I just can’t shake the possibility that it is cancerous. I’ve been reading stories where people thought it was a wart but it turned out to be cancer. I’m 22 and obviously I went on to read stories about people my age getting diagnosed with it. I looked up pictures of what cancer would look like and I compare it to how mine looks and I just find it so similar and then I spin out of control because what else could it be? It’s shiny and pinkish, it’s got hair growing out of it.
And to top it all off, my friend’s uncle just recently had surgery to remove cancerous growths from his head and I just can’t stop thinking I also have a cancerous growth on my head.

Anyway, thank you if you’re still reading and I’m sorry for rambling.

Hey, you.

Dropping you a PM now.

Hey!

I thought I would post an update for anyone dealing with the same thing.

I went to my GP about three weeks ago and showed her the moles I’m worried about, including this one dude on my scalp. She told me she’s absolutely not worried about it but will refer me to a dermatologist because I’m pale and because she can tell I’m worried. She referred me under “fast” but explained it’s only because I’m so worried - normally she would refer me under “normal” and I’d have to wait months on months for an appointment. Anyway, fast forward a week and I had my dermo appointment. Turns out the mole on my head is absolutely harmless, my dermatologist even offered to burn it off in autumn if I’m still worried about it (he said he’d only burn off something if he’s 100% it’s harmless so...). He also told me that he’d like to remove my biggest and weirdest mole. It’s on my boob, about 10x8mm, multicolored and slightly raised but has stayed the same for as long as I can remember. I’ve been VERY worried about this one as well because it’s so different and weird, however, my dermatologist looked at it with the magnifying tool and told me it doesn’t look suspicious to him at all and only wants to remove it because it’s “aesthetically unpleasing”. My removal appointment is in August.

I’ve been a little spooked that my boob mole is cancerous, not gonna lie, especially because I’ve read that people had their melanoma looked at through the magnifying tool and been told all looks well. Has anyone had a fairly big, raised and multicolored mole turn out benign?


Also the most important thing for me, personally, my GP gave me a referral to a therapist and I’m very relieved, happy and excited to start therapy again and hopefully get my health anxiety under control. In the last few weeks I’ve diagnosed myself with melanoma, breast cancer, esophagus cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma and cervial cancer. It’s been tiring and I’ve honestly thought I’m never going to be happy again. My family and friends are the most supportive people I could imagine and I’m so incredibly thankful for them but I know my health anxiety puts a strain on all my relationships and I just don’t want to give it that power anymore.

Anyway, that’s all about my update! Hope everyone reading this is doing alright and hopefully refuses to let health anxiety get the best of them, x

Hey!

I was hoping I wouldn’t feel the need to post again, especially not about my moles, however, I have run into a problem.

It’s about my boob mole, which is getting removed in exactly 9 days. It’s multicolored, raised and around 10 mm. The reason I’m having it removed is because my dermatologist told me it looks aesthetically unpleasing (he assured me it doesn’t look suspicious to him and also used the magnifying glass). The one thing that worried me about this mole, were little specks of brown on it. One speck was pretty obvious (apparently nothing to worry about though) and I checked it today and it looks to be gone? As I said, it was pretty obvious before and I can’t even find it today and I’ve been freaking out about it since I noticed because changes in color usually point towards melanoma.

The rest of the mole looks unchanged to me, the size is the same, and the remaining color is also the same. It’s just this tiny tiny brown spot that used to be there and is now gone. I asked some family members to check if they can notice any obvious changes and they all said no, they also said that small brown dot disappearing doesn’t mean anything sinister.

Can someone please, please, please tell me if this sounds like melanoma? I‘ve been doing so well these past weeks and now I feel like I’m back at the start :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by itsmaliasheart

Can someone please, please, please tell me if this sounds like melanoma?

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You already had someone far more qualified tell you that.

"my dermatologist told me it looks aesthetically unpleasing (he assured me it doesn’t look suspicious to him and also used the magnifying glass)"

Positive thoughts

Thank you Fishmanpa! Your message forced me to actually listen to my doctor and I just told myself to monitor the mole if any other changes occur and if they don’t - let it go. Unfortunately for me and my sanity, yesterday evening I realized 1/4 of my mole got lighter. This happened on the complete opposite side from where the brown specks disappeared and it was the actual skin of my mole that got lighter. The rest of my mole looks like it always has.

I’ve done the thing I shouldn’t and I googled. It says that when parts of mole change colors (gets darker OR lighter) that’s a sign of cancer. This caused me to completely freak out and I ended up having a panic attack. My family checked my mole out and no one noticed the change but it’s so extremely obvious to me and I just don’t know if it’s always been like that and my mind’s just playing tricks on me or if my family is just saying it for the sake of calming me down.

Has anyone else had a mole partially go lighter and it turned out benign? This mole is getting removed on monday and instead of me being relieved I’m already driving myself crazy over what my biopsy will say.

I had one on my face change colour, and it was taken off and looked at, it was fine in the end. Good luck for tomorrow, let us know how you get on x

Hey!

Just swinging by to give an update.
I had my mole removed two weeks ago and received the results today and it’s all fine and healthy. I haven’t read the official biopsy results myself but I called my GP and the nurse told me my results have been looked at by the doctor and it’s all well and normal and to not worry as they would have called me right away if it was anything to worry about!

I have to say, immediately after they told me that everything is okay, I began worrying that maybe it was just melanoma in situ and all has been removed so they told me everything is fine WITHOUT telling me it was actually melanoma. I’ve decided that I’ve had enough worrying in the past few months though and am now letting the issue go.

Thank you for the support you have showed me, I appreciate it so much!

Hope you all are well! :)