Mole Growth...and fear...need advice

[palspals]

Hi all,

First some context: I am a very fair skinned Australian with many moles (definitely more than average). I am 24.

A few years ago, a small brown dot appeared on my chest and grew slowly (over the course of a year) into a larger brown mole, after a certain size (pencil eraser) it seemed to stay put. Back then, I had no anxiety but was displeased with the way it looked. I went to the general doctor who said it looked okay, and I then got it lasered off. Ever since, it's been replaced by a faint white scar- there has been no regimentation.

Still, I worry I may have zapped away evidence of melanoma and left it unattended to all this time. I worry because it was a new mole that most certainly evolved. From what I read, this isn't normal- most people say their benign moles have showed up out of nowhere in their entirety.

I am planning on going to the derma to have them remove the scar and any mole tissue under it...As the GP admitted to me that they were not thorough when they checked it in the first place.

Have any of you had a mole grow and be completely fine? Any wisdom much appreciated.

Thanks so much.

[Happy35]

I had a mole that grew over time from 3mm to 5mm, I had it removed as I was concerned, there was no issue with it.

I was about 20 years older than you at the time.

[NervUs]

You should verify this with a doctor but, if it had been melanoma, I am pretty sure you would notice pigment and growth in the scar. I think you can rest easy with this one, but see a derm next time something like this happens. I am fair skinned with a lot of risk factors and I have to be really vigilant since I get new growths all the time. I had no awareness at 24, so you are REALLY ahead of the game. But, living in Australia is an extra risk factor, as you know, so don't let them freeze anything off in the future!!!

[AthenaFaeyrn]

A big yes!! I was *terrified* of skin cancer last year, on account of* I had a weird shaped mole GROW, raise, turn darker in colour, and then!!.... turn into a raised (sorry for tmi......) scab! It bled and I was absolutely sick with fear. I went to hospital and got it checked out by a skin dr, and it turned out to be fine! The dr wasn't worried in the slightest after he investigated it, and I haven't had a single issue with it since. Wishing you the best. I know how scary this can be.

* I'm also very pale skinned, freckled, mole-ridden. I was 30 at the time, and have a history of scant sunbed tanning in my early twenties, and have been sunburned a good few times.

[fleurdelis]

Hi--just wondering whether you ever got an answer about this? Specifically, whether melanoma would have grown back/repigmented the scar? I had a thing frozen off my elbow a few years ago and am worried. Not a mole--at the time, I thought it was some kind of weird pool of blood underneath the skin, because it was a little knot that was the same pale blue as a bruise, and would turn darker/purple if I squeezed it. It never changed otherwise, but I picked at it a lot, and my gp eventually froze it off, so now I just have a scar. Just now, though I've suddenly been seized with a fear that maybe it was an atypical presentation of melanoma, and I've stupidly destroyed the evidence :/

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread with my story, and I hope you got the answers you wanted. And if you haven't been in to see a doctor yet, I'll just add my two cents and say that moles totally can change and be benign: I have one on my stomach that scared me to death because it most definitely got bigger, ending up about the size of a pencil eraser. The dermatologist could see straightaway that it was nothing to worry about, and I've had no problems with it since.