Can a Colorado Springs dermatology clinic help me with skin lesions or melanoma? Of course it can. Colorado Springs dermatology clinics offer a variety of procedures, including the removal of moles, skin tags and even cancerous growths.

What is Melanoma? How do I know if I have it?

Melanoma is a cancerous tumor which grows primarily on the skin. It appears in roughly sixty thousand new cases every year and is found mostly, but not only, in Caucasian males and occurs more often among people living in sunny climates or who regularly use tanning salons.

Melanoma usually presents itself as a change to the size and color of one of your moles. It may also start to itch, ulcerate or bleed. Along with this physical change you may also notice symptoms like nausea, fatigue or loss of appetite.

What causes Melanoma? How is it treated?

Heredity is the primary cause of melanoma. Skin mutations that cause melanoma can be a chromosomal symptom based on the genetic patterns of an individual. Another contributing factor to melanoma is overexposure to ultraviolet rays, either from the sun or a tanning bed.

Treatment of melanoma usually requires the surgical removal of the cancerous growth. Time is a major factor in the ability to keep melanoma under control and the earlier a tumor is caught and removed, the better.

Melanomas which are farther along may have to be treated by immunotherapy, chemotherapy or possibly even radiation therapy. In some cases, gene or cell therapies have been prescribed.

What is a Skin Lesion? How can it be treated?

Skin lesion is a generic term to indicate almost any kind of skin bump, including moles, cysts, freckles, port wine birthmarks, rashes, insect bites, tattoos and blisters. Dependent on the type of skin lesion removal and treatment ranges from nothing to major corrective surgery.

Again, dependent on type, a skin lesion may first be biopsied, where a small portion is removed and tested for cancer. After that, the skin lesion may be removed by excision, with a scalpel; destruction, with cryosurgery or electrosurgery; or by use of lasers. For microscopic removal a dermatologist may use a procedure called Mohs surgery, where tiny bits of skin are removed and examined to be certain the end of the growth has been found.

A Colorado Springs dermatology clinic will likely have the treatment available for the removal of lesions and melanoma.