mole biopsy

[racietay]

I had a mole right above my knee to the side of my thigh area (not sure how long it's been there)... about 2mm in size, slightly raised,mostly brown, pretty much a circle, though maybe not a perfect circle. anyway, it seemed to be a little sensitive to touch, and I had not noticed this before. I made an appt. with my dermatologist, but also googled some info. on moles. I found alot of info. on apple cider vinegar removal, and decided to try it one night. well, after only 8 hours, the vinegar turned the mole red, dark, and had irritated the healthy skin around the mole. i know it was stupid to do this before seeing the doctor, so spare me the criticism:)....when I went to my doctor, she did a punch biopsy (it was hard to tell anything of the original mole, I guess from the irritation). she said they may not be able to see anything b/c of the inflammation, although she felt it was probably fine. my question is if they aren't able to analyze the tissue b/c of the inflammation, once the incision now heals, should I request another biopsy of the area to be sure it's benign?? thnx!

[racietay]

thanks so much for your response! it does help put my mind at ease! the scar from the biopsy is healing well & I have decided to not worry over it any longer!!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it is unlikely that the report is wrong and the pathologist has wrongly termed the arthopodic bite lesion instead of a mole.  On histopath examination, mole or nevus cells are present in the lower two-third of the dermis. These cells extend around the nerves, blood vessels and adnexae.

I hope it helps. Take care and regards.

[racietay]

thank you for your response. the pathology report actually showed "probably arthropod assault" and not a mole.. I was a little confused by this, b/c I have never had a bug bite that looked exactly like a mole..The report showed the specimen contained lymphocytes, histiocytes and eosinophils. Is there a possibility that i damaged the mole beyond recognition with the vinegar, or would the underlying skin still shows cells consistent with a mole. She did a 4mm punch biopsy. thanks:)

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Since the color changes of the mole appeared after you put the vinegar, so it does not look like any aplastic mole or having any malignant potential. Follow your doctor’s advice and do not mess around further with the mole. However keep an eye on any chages in the mole. If you notice changes in the mole's/mark’s color, height, size or shape, you should have a dermatologist evaluate it. You also should have it checked if it bleeds, oozes, itches, appear scaly, or become tender or painful.

I hope it helps. Take care and regards.