Laser excision of a mole versus surgical excision

It is not uncommon for people to enquire about laser excision of a mole here at the Staiano Clinic as I think that sometimes people feel that it is somehow better than surgical excision.
Anything with the term laser in it is deemed to be futuristic and therefore better than the old-fashioned ways, and indeed lasers have been a great advance in the field of plastic surgery and are very useful in many situations.

We do not offer laser excision of moles here at the Staiano Clinic, however we would be happy to talk to you about it.

If you wanted laser excision, it would always be best to talk to a practitioner who does offer laser excision of moles, because they would be best placed to tell you the pros and cons and the reasons why they offer it.
The main point to consider, is that if you want to have your mole removed, then it will need to be destroyed in some way.  The sort of lasers that are used for mole removal are quite destructive and cut the skin in a similar way to a scalpel.

One of the reasons people feel that laser is preferable to surgery is because they do not want the scar.
However, if the mole is going to be destroyed then it will leave a scar or a mark whatever modality is used.
The pattern of scarring might be different and that is true for the different types of mole excision.

One of the main benefits of laser is that multiple moles can be targeted at the same time, but one of the big downsides is that laser destroys the tissues and so the mole cannot be sent for histology, and it is good practice certainly for pigmented lesions, that they are sent away for histological analysis to be sure that there is nothing to worry about.

There are no moles that are removed by laser excision that cannot be removed by surgical excision and we are all plastic surgeons here at the Staiano Clinic and we specialise in the surgical excision of moles.

There are clinics that do offer laser excision of moles, but you have to be absolutely sure that they are benign before going down that route.

Ideally you would find a plastic surgeon who does laser excision of moles and surgical excision to get a balanced view.

The fact is that laser is often performed by non-plastic surgeons who may not have the ability to offer surgical excision, so it is sometimes hard to get a balanced view and opinion, and so my advice would be to look at the results of different practitioners and choose someone you can trust, who seems to give results and have happy patients because you will find, like with most things, there are many ways to crack a nut.

We are very comfortable with performing surgical excisions of moles here at the Staiano Clinic and we offer free consultations with one of our plastic surgeons if you would like to come along and have an assessment and a chat.
You can also download our guide with details of when you should worry about your mole here.
We are one of the few clinics to offer a see and treat service where you can come to the clinic and have your mole assessed and removed on the same day, and while we do ask for a deposit, there is no obligation to proceed and the deposit is fully refundable if you do not proceed with the surgery on the day.

If you have any questions and want to get in touch, then contact us on the website or on Facebook where I do a live Q and A on Facebook every Tuesday at 7 p.m.  Please visit our Facebook page if you would like to put a question directly to Jonathan.
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If you want to come for a free no obligation consultation with one of our plastic surgeons, please call or email us or fill in the on-line contact form.