Not everyone is deeply thrilled with having moles and other skin tags that they deem unsightly. Depending on the size and location of the mole, opinions vary on whether or not it’s a sexy beauty mark or a blemish that draws too much attention to itself. Those that are looking for a cheap and easy way to remove the moles themselves, often look for home or natural remedies that circumvent expensive doctor visits and procedures. The truth is, that unless the mole is cancerous, most people’s health insurance isn’t going to cover the procedure. So many look for other methods for removing the mole. One of the most popular methods is the use of apple cider vinegar.
The method that’s advocated on many websites throughout the internet advises those who want to get rid of their moles to perforate the mole with a needle, apply petroleum jelly around the mole so that the skin surrounding it is not affected, and then applying the apple cider vinegar to the mole over the course of a week. This will cause the mole to crust over and become a scab, eventually falling off completely. Some folks report that this process works just fine, while others say it didn’t work them. In the worst cases, the apple cider vinegar leaves behind unsightly scarring.
“The biggest danger to self-administering skin treatment,” says one dermatologist from Walnut Creek, “ is that we’re not going to know if the mole was cancerous or not. The procedure for removing a cancerous mole is a bit different than a cosmetic treatment. There’s no doubt in my mind that a process of chemically burning the mole, like the one described above, leaves behind some melanocytes, and in the case of a cancerous mole, there’s going to melanoma left behind. When a doctor performs a procedure on a cancerous mole, the idea is to remove the mole but then also remove some of the tissue underneath the mole so that we’re sure that we’ve gotten all of it.”
He also cautioned that if you perform the procedure yourself, despite doctor’s recommendations that you should examine the mole properly.
“Doctors use the mnemonic ABCDE for diagnosing a cancerous mole.
A stands for asymmetry. If the mole is asymmetrical then it to be looked at.
B is for border. If the border is fuzzy then it needs to be looked at.
C is for color. If the mole is not uniformly colored, then we need to take a closer look.
D is for diameter. If the mole is bigger than the tip of a pencil eraser, then we need to take a closer look.
E is for evolving. If the mole is showing signs of getting larger, changing shape, or color, then we need to take a closer look at it. Obviously, the best thing you can do is have a doctor remove the mole.”
Disclaimer: We are unable to guarantee any result, even though most of our patients do see success. The results of our services will vary greatly to each patient’s level of commitment and compliance with the program.