Doctor by birthmark
The mole (or nevus) is an accumulation of dendritic pigment cells of the skin of melanocytes, which happens both congenital and acquired. These pigmented formations are found on the skin, in Latin - dermis. And all problems related to the skin, as is known, deals with a special section of medicine - dermatology.
That is, as the doctor by birthmark is called? That's right, this is a dermatologist. But the question arises: how about aesthetic medicine and a whole army of cosmetologists offering to remove moles, which people consider to be bad for their appearance, and sometimes create significant inconveniences ...
Doctor's advice on birthmarks
Moles are at everyone, and professional advice or councils of the doctor on rodinki will be useful to all.
Dermatologists urge treating moles carefully, especially if you have many, and there are birthmarks in "uncomfortable places": on the hands and palms, in the groin, on the neck, in the axillary region, but the scalp. It is this localization of birthmarks that promotes their traumatization, and traumatizing birthmarks can trigger the process of their malignancy.
Do not forget to periodically check birthmarks and when you find any changes, consult a doctor. If the structure of the skin around the mole has changed, scales or cracks appeared, and the mole itself has increased and become more dense and asymmetric, causes itching or painful sensations - these are alarming factors. And to understand the causes of what is happening can only medical specialists.
And do not try to remove the mole by domestic methods: this is life-threatening. And if you accidentally injure a mole with bleeding, you should use the usual hydrogen peroxide (which should be in every home medicine cabinet) and stop the blood from being wetted with a tampon in it. And not delaying going to a medical institution. A doctor by birthmark - a dermatologist - knows what to do next.
The dermatologist or the cosmetician: to what doctor to address in occasion of rodinok?
Conversion of normal skin cells into melanocytes is due to the accumulation in them of the dark pigment melanin, which protects the skin from UFO. And when blood vessels grow on a limited area of the dermis, birthmarks of red color, called vascular nevi, appear.
Despite the high prevalence of moles, ICD-10 refers to congenital anomalies, deformities and chromosomal abnormalities (a combined class of XVII diseases) and are included in the category Q82.5 - Congenital non-neoplastic naevus, that is, a congenital non-neoplastic nevus. Obviously, this is due to the fact that melanogenesis and the process of skin pigmentation are regulated by genes. At the same time, skin pigmentation disorders, including pigment spots, are excluded from this category and belong to class L (skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases).
To understand all this, to examine the patient (including using a dermatoscope) and determine the type of mole and its structure can only dermatologist - the chief doctor by birthmarks.
And now it is necessary to clarify that dermatology, as well as dermatocosmetology and medical cosmetology, based on dermatology, are treating patients, and dermatologists work here. While the task of aesthetic cosmetology is to improve the appearance through proper skin care with the help of various cosmetics and some procedures. And here people often work without medical education, serving not patients, but clients.
Problems related to moles, in the first place, are health problems, as nevi can be damaged as a result of various factors and degenerate into melanoma - skin cancer, which oncologists are engaged in. According to the American National Cancer Institute (NCI), up to 25% of malignant melanomas develop specifically from the available nevi (in particular, pigmented nevuses consisting of melanocytes).
By the way, as noted by dermatologists, melanocytes in moles are a kind of evolution, and almost all pigment nevi - both congenital and acquired - change over time. This concerns the size and shape of moles (from a flat patch to a papule that is elevated above the surface of the skin), as well as their color. And only a dermatologist can distinguish a normal process from a pathological process. Therefore, the answer to the question of which doctor to apply for moles, has a unique answer: to the dermatologist!
And the doctor for the removal of moles is also a dermatologist who specializes in skin surgery and owns all methods of removing moles (from a scalpel to a laser and radiosurgery). It should be borne in mind that when removing a birthmark, its histological examination is mandatory.
Medical expert editor
Portnov Alexey Alexandrovich
Education: Kiev National Medical University. A.A. Bogomolets, Specialty - "General Medicine"
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Every person on his body notices dark pigmented spots - moles. In some people, they are single, and for someone, there are whole placers of dissimilar markers, differing in size and structure.
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