Suspicious Mole Checks Auckland: When to Get a Spot Examined

SCAN is a self-check framework from the Skin Cancer College of Australasia: Sore (scaly, itching, bleeding, tender, or not healing within six weeks), Changing (in size, shape, colour or texture), Abnormal (looking or feeling different from your other spots and moles) and New (having appeared recently, especially over the age of 40). It is your doctor's job to diagnose skin cancer, but you are best placed to notice when something on your own skin has changed.

A mole or spot should be checked if it is sore, scaly, itching, bleeding or not healing within six weeks; changing in size, shape, colour or texture; looks abnormal or different compared with your other moles; or is new, particularly if you are over 40. Early detection is the most effective way to manage skin cancer successfully, so it is always better to have a spot checked and reassured than to leave it and wonder.

A skin cancer examination begins with a discussion of your medical and sun exposure history, followed by a head-to-toe examination using a dermascope, a skin microscope that allows a much closer look at any spot than the naked eye. Photographs are taken of any lesions of note to create a record for comparison at future visits. If a lesion looks suspicious, a biopsy or removal may be recommended, sometimes at the same appointment.

Yes, New Zealand has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world, largely due to high UV levels and a population with a high proportion of fair skin. Skin cancer is also one of the most common and most treatable cancers when detected early, which is why regular self-checks using the SCAN framework and periodic professional examinations matter for almost everyone here.

Shave excision removes a mole or lesion while keeping the specimen intact, which allows it to be sent to a laboratory for proper analysis, meaning a melanoma is never missed the way it can be if a lesion is simply burned or frozen off without a specimen to examine. Dr Patti Piper's approach favours methods that preserve a specimen for analysis wherever a lesion needs formal assessment.

Dr Patti Piper is a full member of the Skin Cancer College of Australasia and the New Zealand Skin Cancer Doctors, and at 24 Rose Rd, Grey Lynn she is happy to look at a single mole or spot that is worrying you. She no longer offers full body skin checks, and advises everyone to have one with a dedicated skin cancer clinic or their GP. Existing melanoma follow-up patients continue as scheduled, and Dr Patti also continues to offer cosmetic mole removal, see the Mole Removal page.

No. Dr Patti no longer offers full body skin examinations, so she can focus her time on Aesthetica's cosmetic treatments, and she advises everyone to have a full body check with a dedicated skin cancer clinic or their GP. She does not mind looking at one particular mole or spot that concerns you, examined by dermascope. Existing melanoma follow-up patients continue their review schedule as arranged.