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Had a mole for years now it has started to change! Advice.

KirstenJE91
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About 2 months ago I noticed that a mole on my neck was emitting heat and became raised almost like it was ulcerated. I get this constant pain in my neck and sometimes the mole is itchy. It also crusts over and becomes very dry. When inspected the mole had several different colours within it; black, brown, grey, red, pink and purple and even white, asymmetrical, red around the edges of the border. Luckily I have an appointment with a dermatologist this Thursday. Should I be concerned?

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    Hi Kirsten,

    It's good that you've got an appointment arranged - hopefully your mole will be fine but it definitely needs checking because of the changes. Moles can change for different reasons - a skin infection/irritation etc but only a dermatologist can tell if it needs removing for a biopsy. 75% of patients referred to dermatology get a clean bill of health so hopefully you will be the same. 

    Good luck on Thursday and please let us know how you get on,

    Angie (melanoma patient)

  • Offline in reply to AngieT

    Hi Angie. Thank you for your swift reply. As you can understand I am extremely worried because of the sudden changes in the mole itself. Each day there seems to be something new to find as if the mole is evolving.  I also notice the pain within my neck is getting worse and sometimes I lose my voice. I am not sure whether that's related or not. Again thanks for the instant reply. 
     

    Kirsten.

  • Offline in reply to KirstenJE91

    Hi Kirsten,

    It would be unusual for the neck pain & the lost voice to be connected to a malignant mole, they aren't known symptoms of melanoma. The neck pain may well be stress because of the worry - stress presents in many different ways. Try & look at this from a different angle - the mole has started to change suddenly and you have picked up on the changes very quickly which means that, if it turns out to be malignant, you have had it removed without delay. This gives a patient a much better chance of being successfully treated - it's leaving a changing mole for a long time that causes the most problems. 

    Angie x

  • Offline in reply to AngieT

    My latest update as of today is that I have without question a precancerous mole that's gradually evolving to become full blown skin cancer. I am having to removed next Tuesday. I will be left with a 4cm scar and stitches. Depending on hydrology results of extracted mole I might have to endure more surgery. The positive news that is was caught quickly. My advice to others is never leave it too late and trust your gut feeling.

  • Offline in reply to KirstenJE91

    That's wonderful news that it's been caught whilst precancerous. Knowledge & acting on that knowledge is the best prevention and I'm so glad you have come back on the forum to share your experience so others don't put off going to their GP with their 'dodgy' mole. Good luck with the histology report - hopefully you won't need further surgery but I'm sure your scar(s) will be hardly visible in the future (my consultant can never find the scar from my two surgeries to remove my melanoma & he was the one that did the surgery) :happy:

  • Offline in reply to AngieT

    Just to let you know my mole was benign 

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