Lumps & Bumps
A wide variety of benign lumps & bumps can arise on your skin. Common examples are warts & verrucas, 'skin tags', little vascular lesions such as 'cherry angiomas' and pigmented lesions such as 'pigmented warts' (seborrhoeic keratosis). Some people might also have a tendency for 'overgrowing' scars (hypertrophic scars or keloids), which can be very distressing.
Warts & Verrucas
Warts and verrucas are benign lesions on the skin, caused by a virus called HPV (human papilloma virus). They can take on a wide variety of different shapes and may appear as tiny flat lesions on the face (verruca plana); 'warty', rough-surfaced lesions on the hands; or confluent lesions growing inwardly on the sole of the feet, which might be uncomfortable to walk on. All of these are of viral nature and should be treated.
We offer different forms of treatment such as clinical freezing (much more powerful than any available home freezing variant) and home-administered paints containing high concentrations of salicylic acid and lactic acid. If, however, a quick removal in one session is desired, we can arrange a curettage & cautery ('medical scraping & electrosurgery') under local anaesthesia.
Skin tags
'Skin tags' are harmless lesions, often appearing around the armpits, on the neck or on other parts of the trunk. They can be a single lesion or arise in large numbers. Because they are often pedunculated (grow on a small stalk) they might easily catch on your clothes or simply be unsightly. Straight forward removal can be arranged via cryotherapy ('freezing'), cautery ('burning off') or curettage ('medical scraping') under local anaesthesia.
Blood vessel related lesions
Sometimes harmless little, red vascular lesions such as 'cherry angiomas' or 'spider angiomas' ('spider nevi') come up on the skin. Although these are benign, removal for cosmetic reasons can be done easily by cryotherapy ('freezing') or cautery ('burning off') on the day.
Benign pigmented lesions
As we get older, many of us will develop 'pigmented warts' (seborrhoeic keratoses) which often occur on the trunk. At times they can be difficult to distinguish from sinister pigmented lesions such as a melanoma skin cancer, even for GPs. If there is any doubt, come and see our Dermatologist in clinic for an appropriate diagnosis following clinical inspection and examination under the dermatoscope, a specialist magnifying lamp with polarised light.
If you wish to have a 'pigmented wart' removed for cosmetic reasons (they're unsightly or keep catching on clothes), or need a definite diagnosis to be established under the microscope, we can arrange painless removal via curettage ('surgical scraping') under local anaesthesia.
A seborrhoeic keratosis should not be lasered. There have been cases reported where what appeared to be a 'pigmented wart' turned out to be a melanoma skin cancer. Whenever a pigmented lesion is removed, it should therefore be sent for examination under the microscope as a routine measure. You might be interested to hear that we offer the option of an express 24-hour turnaround histology service after curettage.
As differential diagnoses of pigmented lesions include dysplastic moles and pigmented skin cancers, accurate diagnosis by a specially trained Dermatologist is important.
Treatment of scars
Some people develop raised, 'overgrowing' scars (hypertrophic scars or keloids) after operations, trauma or even minor inflammations arising from folliculitis or acne. The earlier these are treated, the better the chances of a good treatment outcome. As with any scar, they won't disappear completely with treatment. However, in most cases we can significantly improve them. A common treatment for 'overgrowing' scars is repeated injections with steroid solutions plus topical home treatment.
To improve the appearance of 'normal', flat scars and stretch marks we offer Carboxytherapy. For Carboxytherapy, we inject tiny amounts of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) directly into the scar with a tiny needle. The CO2 gas dilates blood vessels, improves delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the skin and results in tissue remodeling with improved elasticity. Carboxytherapy is not a one-off treatment, but needs to be performed 6-9 times, 2-3 weeks apart.
