Nevus, Keratosis, Skin Spots, Warts, Benign Growths and Moles

BENIGN GROWTHS & MOLES

Everyone has skin growths. The dermatologist is the expert on determining which are harmless and which should receive attention.
This article is not a substitute for a medical exam. If you have any serious skin issues or concerns, you need to consult your physician.

Moles

nevus on an arm

Everyone has moles, from a few to several dozen. Most people think of a mole as being a dark brown spot, but moles have a much wider range of appearance. They can be raised from the skin and very noticeable, or they may contain dark hairs. Having hairs in a mole doesn’t make it more dangerous.

Moles can appear anywhere on the skin, alone or grouped. They usually are brown in color and can be various sizes and shapes.  Special cells that contain the pigment melanin cause the brown color.  Facial moles are probably are determined before a person is born. Many of those that form in childhood and early adult life are now thought to be due to sun damage. Some may not appear until later in life, but moles that appear after age 50 should be regarded with suspicion. Moles may darken, which can happen after exposure to the sun, pregnancy and sometimes during therapy with certain steroid drugs. Moles can be safely removed for cosmetic or medical reasons.

Blood Moles

These are benign growths that consists of small blood vessels. These tumors can be located anywhere on the body. Some of the different types include spider angiomas, cherry angiomas, and angiokeratomas. We do not know the cause of most types of angiomas.

Age Spots

Multiple small brown spots that may appear on wrists, backs of the hands, forearms, and face could be solar lentigos. These are also called “liver spots” or “age spots” and occur later in life. The are flat and evenly colored.

Keratosis

After a person reaches middle age, he or she may acquire other dark areas that are not moles. The brown, wart-like growths that appear on the face or trunk and look as if they have been stuck to the skin may be seborrheic keratoses. Seborrheic keratoses are non-cancerous thickenings of the outer layer of skin. They may be just one growth or clusters. They are usually brown but can vary in color from light tan all the way to black. They’re different sizes as well –anywhere from a fraction of an inch in diameter to larger than a half dollar. A main feature of seborrheic keratoses is their waxy, pasted-on, or stuck-on look. They sometimes look like a dab of warm brown candle wax that has dropped onto the skin. Others have a rough surface.

Actinic Keratoses, also called solar keratoses, are caused by sun damage. They occur on body areas that have been heavily exposed to sunlight or exposed a little bit often for a lot of years. The face, hands, forearms and the V of the neck are the most common areas for actinic keratoses. They may get sore a times. These growths are more common among pale-skinned, fair-haired, light-eyed individuals. They are flatter, redder and rougher than seborrheic keratosis. Actinic keratoses are pre-cancerous, which means they may become skin cancers. The risk has been estimated at 1% per spot, per year,

WARTS
Warts are caused by a viral infection of the cells found in the top layer of the skin. The name of this virus is the human papillomavirus HPV). Warts are skin-colored and feel rough to the touch. Hand warts are usually found around the nails, on the fingers and on the back of the hand. They are more common where skin has been broken and in the areas where fingernails are bitten or hangnails picked. Foot warts are usually on the soles of the feet. These warts are called plantar warts (this has nothing to do with farming-the bottom of the foot is called the plantar side by doctors). Flat warts are much smaller and are less rough than hand or foot warts. They tend to grow in great numbers — 20 to 100 at any one time. They can occur anywhere, but in children they are most common on the face. In adults they are most often found in the beard area in men and on the legs in women. Skin irritation from shaving probably accounts for this.

Watch out for…

Melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. Melanomas are often, but not always, very dark brown to bluish-black growths. Melanomas may be confused with seborrheic keratoses or moles because both can become very dark. It is wise to have any growth that turns dark or becomes irritated checked by a dermatologist. Early detection of skin cancer is the best way to assure successful treatment.

Information by : Dermatologist, Robert M Rosen, D. O.

Understanding Basic Types of Moles

It is necessary to clarify that not all moles are the same. There are a few classifications. But the most important for you is to be able to
discern the common mole from the moles that are more risky to cause skin cancer.

Moles are overgrowths of the skin’s pigment cells called melanocytes. Usually the moles are round spots on the skin colored in medium to dark brown. The greater part of moles is flat with constant color and regular in shape. A number of moles are raised with lighter colors. The people often had mistaken the new moles with the freckles. Sporadically the moles may develop a white halo around them.

Common Mole

In fact the moles could come into view everywhere on the body. Their color is usually brown, because is caused by the pigment melanin. Usually the common mole appears at the first part of life, when the system is growing but it is not impossible some moles to appear after the age of 20. The sun is one of the direct factors that have a strong influence on the moles. The people who are often exposed at sun light tend to have more moles that the others.

The common moles could change during the adolescence and the pregnancy, because of the big hormonal changes in the system. There is no typical way of change of one common mole. Usually one mole exists about forty to fifty years. Usually at the beginning of its life cycle the mole is flat and thin something like a freckle. Sometimes the color of the new mole is brown to black or even pink.

According to the size and shape the moles become bigger and rise over the surrounding skin with the time. Usually this is attended with the lightening of their color. It is not unusual some moles to rise over the skin and to develop a small stalk. The older moles tend to have some hairs on it that makes it odious sometimes. Some moles do not ever change.

The question which excites a lot of people is: Is it possible the common mole to disappear by its own? In fact the answer is yes. Some moles at the end of their life cycle tend to loose their color and to fade away. The raised moles also could fall of if they are raised vastly over the skin and have a thin stalk, but remember you must not try to wrench it away yourself. Look for a professional medical pracictioner to remove your mole for you.

As you can see there is no typical course of mole development. Because of that it is very important to know well your moles and to keep the history of their growth. According to the risk of skin cancer the early mark of any changes in the mole could be the decisive factor for the success of the melanoma treatment.

In order to make the process of the moles observation easier and at the same time enough efficient and useful for your dermatologist, our organization develops a list of common descriptions and characteristics of the moles that will help you to check your moles regularly and correctly. Be sure that you know the common types of moles.

Types of Moles

Each person has at least a few skin moles. They usually come out by the time an individual is 20 and at the beginning looks like freckles. Of course there are a lot of people who were born with skin moles. Usually every 1 of 20 babies has one or more moles at its birth.  A skin mole’s shade and form don’t usually change. A mole typically lasts about forty or even fifty years before start to become lighter. Some skin moles fade away completely, and some never fade at all. Sometimes a number of moles extend stalks that raise them above the skin’s surface it is possible these moles to drop off.

A skin mole is a spot on the skin with darker color. Generally it is part of skin pigmentation and could appear anywhere at the body. Most often we are talking about benign moles that are just a couple colored cells of the skin. Sometimes the facial moles could be even charming. On the other hand, from time to time moles can cause a serious health risk and can become Cancerous moles.

There are several skin mole types depending on its placement on our body:

Facial moles – or all moles on the face. It could appear all over the face and the head.

Body moles – are the moles at the other parts of the body with no specific location.

Genital Moles – Very often a lot of people feel ashamed of its genital moles. It is not surprising that most often the mole can cause
more psychological than health problems to its owner.

Moles in Children – It is normal the kids to have some moles at their bodies and it is important their parents to know what to check and how to examine the moles of the children

Black Moles
This variant of a benign mole (the common mole) is also referred to as a mole of midlife. It typically is seen in darker-skinned persons

between the ages of sixteen and thirty years. Of course this rule has a lot of exceptions. Usually the black mole is little, up to 5 mm.

Bleeding Moles
In common cases the mole which is bleeding or ooze is a reason to go to dermatologist. But even in this case the bleeding could be caused by irritation of the mole on the underwear or just a cut during shaving.

Body Moles
Moles may come out from the birth of an individual or may appear later during the whole life. It may begin from maturity and could still
grow when the person become forty or fifty years old. There is no specific place where the moles tend to occur more often

Changing Moles
The changes in the mole have to be brought to the attention of your dermatologist. It is normal the mole to grow with us and to change through the years but any unusual change in the color, fast growth, bleeding or oozing, inching or pain could indicate that the mole is turning into a melanoma.

The average person seldom has only “beauty marks”. In fact, in our present society the moles are often seen as a hindrance for their owner. There are a lot of people who feel depressed by their moles, especially if we are talking about the facial moles. If such a mole has strong influence upon the overall appearance and the general condition of the person may be it will be better for him or her to remove it.