Hi,I am Dr. Shanthi.E (General & Family Physician). I will be looking into your question and guiding you through the process. Please write your question below.
Should I Be Worried If A Mole Reacted To Ethyl Alcohol?
Yesterday I went to my dermatologist to have my annual skin check-up. She examined my moles and said everything is COMPLETELY OK. The only thing i should do is keep an eye on that mole on my left wrist -a 3mm diameter round and kinda raised mole (skin coloured with a brown center less than 1mm diameter from which a hair comes out) I ve had it all my life...Sometimes it would itch but it would stop after a few seconds (after all i wear bracelets and stuff) so nothing worrying she said.. Just keep an eye on that mole for any changes on growth because of its colour variety. i think its compeletely fine but just in case ...By the time she said that I couldn t stop thinking about it...I am a hypochondriac..In the evening while I was getting ready to go out I put some perfume..I thought i felt a little sting-like pain on the mole, I thought it was from the ethanol in the perfume so I freaked out and i started rubbing it with ethyl alcohol every 5 minutes to get sure i felt that pain..So I irritated the skin around it but still couldn t figure out if the mole hurt in contact with the ethyl alcohol..I tried to calm myself but continued teasing it and I desided to pull the mole hair...and i accidentally plucked it..with no effort or pain...just like that...and now it gives me some stings occasionaly...Does the fact that i didn t need effort to pluck the hair or the fact that my mole reacted to ethyl alcohol mean something bad such as melanoma?? Or is it just my Hypohondria along with the fact that the doctor said me to keep an eye on the spesific mole (which i was NEVER suspicious of before) that makes me worry so much??
Thanks you for the question. In general, those would be non-specific, provoked symptoms when manipulating the mole and would not be consistent with "conversion" or "evolution" of the skin finding. What your dermatology actually wants you to monitor over time (not every single day) are spontaneous changes in the mole:
1) Increase in diameter
2) Changes in coloration, specially darkening or multiple colors
3) Development of ulcerations or irregular borders.
If none happen over time, it may well confirm the benign nature of it.
Yours truly,
Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
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Should I Be Worried If A Mole Reacted To Ethyl Alcohol?
Dear patient, Thanks you for the question. In general, those would be non-specific, provoked symptoms when manipulating the mole and would not be consistent with conversion or evolution of the skin finding. What your dermatology actually wants you to monitor over time (not every single day) are spontaneous changes in the mole: 1) Increase in diameter 2) Changes in coloration, specially darkening or multiple colors 3) Development of ulcerations or irregular borders. If none happen over time, it may well confirm the benign nature of it. Yours truly, Dr Brenes-Salazar MD Mayo Clinic MN