Why You Should Never Ignore Skin Lesions

If you have an area of skin that looks different from the surrounding skin, you may be dealing with a skin lesion. While many skin lesions are harmless growths that don’t require any medical treatment, others are signs of a potentially serious disease. In either case, you don’t have to attempt to grin and bear them.

At our office in Manchester, Connecticut, Dr. Laureen Forgione-Rubino and her team diagnose and treat skin lesions of different types and severities.

Read on to learn more about skin lesions, including reasons to take them seriously. 

Different types of skin lesions

A skin lesion can take several different forms, including:

• Age spots, or areas of hyperpigmentation from sun exposure
• Lipomas, or benign fatty tumors
• New or existing moles, or clumps of differently colored cells
• Sebaceous cysts, or growths that form under your skin
• Skin tags, or noncancerous skin growths in the folds of your skin

When to see a professional about a skin lesion

If you’ve noticed a change in your skin, including what appears to be a skin lesion, it’s wise to consult a professional. It’s especially important to seek care for a skin lesion that shows potential signs of cancer.

Skin cancer usually shows up as a mole of sorts. You can also have precancerous growths on your skin that could evolve into cancer if they go untreated.

Signs your mole may be cancerous include:

• Asymmetry
• Jagged edges
• Rapid changes or growth
• Bleeding or crusting over
• Multiple colors, such as different shades of black or brown

Skin cancer can also show up as a wart-like growth or oozing, open sore that won’t heal. 

All of these signs might indicate a type of skin cancer, such as basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or melanoma. While basal cell and squamous cell cancers are the most common, melanoma is the most serious form.

Treatment for your skin lesion

Whether your skin lesion seems to be a cancerous or precancerous mole, or you simply want to do away with a bothersome cyst or discoloration, Dr. Forgione-Rubino and her team will customize a treatment plan.

Dr. Forgione-Rubino removes skin lesions in her office, usually through surgery using a local anesthetic. She also provides laser treatment for noncancerous skin lesions, which guards against scarring. These treatments are painless and require little to no downtime.

If needed, cells from your suspicious mole are sent in for a biopsy to determine if it’s cancerous. If it turns out that it is, we discuss your next best steps with you. Thankfully, most cases of skin cancer are quite treatable, and often curable, when addressed early on.

To learn more about skin lesions or to get the treatment you need or removal you desire, call our office or schedule an appointment online today.