moles

I had a question about moles.  I had a mole for many years and one side turned darker over the last year.  I had a dermatologist remove it and have not gotten the results yet.  But he was not concerned about it at all.  My son went to the dermatologist also to have a couple moles looked at.  One on his arm was darker colored on one side and slightly raised.  He did not even remove that one.  He said it was nothing to worry about.  My question is, how do you tell if a mole is one to worry about?  I know the ABCD's, but it seems like sometimes the doctors are not worried about ones that we are.  I am baffled as to how to tell to even have them looked at by a doctor.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Ann:

It's hard to answer you in a general way.  There are so many different kinds of moles and spots, and even those which change with time and show some irregularity are usually nothing.  Besides, it's hard to diagnose yourself or your kids.  My advice is to bring any new or questionable moles to the attention of your primary physician, who can tell you whether to ignore them, watch them, or take them off.  Once you learn a mole is OK, you can generally forget about it.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff