Skin Lesions

A skin lesion is anything on the skin that is abnormal or looks different to the surrounding skin, including moles, skin tags, warts, cysts and actinic keratosis (also known as ‘solar keratosis’ – raised, crusty patches caused by sun exposure).

Diagnosis & treatment

While skin lesions are mostly completely normal and harmless, some can be signs of skin cancer or other disorders or might cause discomfort and irritation or affect people’s emotional wellbeing or self-confidence.

The expert dermatologists at Hadley Wood Hospital have a wealth of experience in both investigating and removing skin lesions, using the latest technologies and techniques. This includes mole checks, dermoscopies (where a special magnifying instrument is used to enable specialists to get a very close-up look at the skin) and skin biopsies (where a tissue sample will be removed and analysed in the labs for abnormalities). We are also able to remove a range of skin lesions – this includes moles, skin tags and warts – whether for health or cosmetic reasons.

The exact technique used will depend on the type of skin lesion, as well as why it’s being removed. But most procedures are very quick and straightforward and carried out on a day case basis under local anaesthetic, so no pain will be felt and you’ll be able to go home shortly afterwards.

Depending on how much tissue is being removed, sometimes stitches are required to close up the wound, but some skin lesions are removed via a procedure called a shave biopsy – which means the lesion is carefully ‘shaved’ or scraped off the skin’s surface so no incision is needed. Sometimes, the tissue that’s removed will then be sent to the labs for testing.