How soon should I see a doctor about this mole?

April 7, 2010 3:43 PM

Dermatologyfilter: I have a mole on my back that's turned rough and itchy in the last week....

From what I can tell in the mirror, it hasn't changed color or gotten asymmetrical, so I'm okay there...I hope. I realize none of you is my doctor--I have an appointment with him this coming Wednesday. What I'm asking, though, is if I'm probably okay waiting until Wednesday to see him, or if I should really think about trying to get squeezed into his schedule sooner.

(I guess on some level I'm also asking for some reassurance that I'm not going to keel over dead of melanoma in the next month because it's 11:30 at night and I'm home alone and my doctor's office doesn't open until morning. Bear with me, won't you?)

posted by Mr. Bad Example to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Glad you have an appointment, keep it. You'll be fine for a week. Try not to itch it.
posted by 6:1 at 3:49 PM on April 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

This happens to me sometimes with the ones on my arms. I think it is actually an allergic reaction on my skin (I'm allergic to grass and pet dander), which causes the skin to get itchy and irritated. I scratch it and it gets scabby and rough. May be what you are experiencing.
posted by mai at 3:53 PM on April 7, 2010

You should be OK until Wednesday, and it is most probably nothing – especially if it hasn't grown, changed color or started to run or "bleed" outside of its regular border – but it's good that you're getting checked out. If it's at all reassuring, even if it does turn out to be malignant melanoma, catching it at this early stage means that a cure is almost guaranteed.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:56 PM on April 7, 2010

I have a few small (uncolored) warts that do this on a pretty regular basis (2-3 months). I always figured it was a cycle of viral shedding.
posted by strixus at 3:57 PM on April 7, 2010

Happens to me sometimes even if I just scrape a mole against something. Clothes rubbing up against the scraped spot can make it scab up and itch and so on.

You're most likely fine, it's good that you're going to get it checked out, and in the meantime, don't mess with it, you'll only make it more irritated. If you'll feel much better getting it checked out sooner you could try calling to ask if there's a cancellation, but a week isn't that long. If it's really bugging you you might ask the doc if there's something you can put on it for relief from the itch.
posted by nat at 4:00 PM on April 7, 2010

I have a mole that did this last summer. I attributed it to getting more sun than usual. I haven't died yet and it went back to normal after I picked the scab off a few times. I'm not at all suggesting you shouldn't get it checked out, I'm only pondering it might be more common than you think. Based on what others have said, maybe it's just caused by pestering the mole?
posted by kthxbi at 4:03 PM on April 7, 2010

For years, I've had 3-4 moleish/freckleish things on my throat, shoulders, & upper chest that would sometimes itch and scab over and, terrifyingly, bleed a little on occasion. When I finally balled up and went to the dermatologist last summer, it turned out to be dermatosis papulosa nigra, which is totally benign. If you have any black ancestry, lesions like these are a possibility.

Either way, going to the doctor is a good idea.
posted by elizardbits at 4:09 PM on April 7, 2010

Medline Plus is great and I recommend you look at their website for information. They have a lot of pictures and information that will help ease your worries and probably better prepare you for your MD visit.
posted by effluvia at 4:26 PM on April 7, 2010

You're fine. In my experience if the Dr. decides to biopsy the mole (which they often don't even do), and if it looks sketchy and they have to go back and remove more, they don't schedule that second appointment the next day or anything. I've had to wait weeks or even a few months in between. So whatever might be wrong with it, one week shouldn't make any difference. And probably nothing's wrong with it at all.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 4:28 PM on April 7, 2010

I had a mole that was clearish and was removed last year. It came back this year, not as clear, and now rough and itchy, and it was basal cell carcinoma (err, Cancer). I wouldn't book an emergency appointment but I wouldn't cancel this one either.
posted by getawaysticks at 4:37 PM on April 7, 2010

While in South Africa about 10 years ago I had a mole on my thigh go kind of hard, like dried chocolate pudding. I went to a doctor and he was just like, ja boet, we better get rid of that: pulled out a cannister of liquid nitrogen (cold!), dipped in a q-tip and burned it out, completely painlessly and I was out of the office within minutes. I think there, with all the sunshine it's a pretty routine, regular thing.
It left a cool kind of crater which unfortunately soon filled in; now there's barely even a scar. And no recurrence.
posted by Flashman at 7:00 PM on April 7, 2010

I just had a very similar experience--a mole that I've had my whole life recently got itchy, scabbed over, and partially peeled off. Of course I took to the Internets and freaked right out over tales of skin cancer and fast-growing melanomas, so I made an appointment with my dermatologist to have it checked out. I was worried that they couldn't get me in for a couple of weeks, but when I went (this afternoon), the doctor literally looked at it for 1.5 seconds and assured me it was fine. I think you should definitely keep your appointment, but try not to worry too much in the meantime! You can also use your appointment to get a full-body mole check, something my doctor recommends getting every year or so to keep track of any new growth or changes to existing moles.
posted by Jemstar at 9:37 PM on April 7, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody. I'm freaking out a little less now, and feel better about waiting until Wednesday to see my doctor.

I'm still probably going to drink heavily between now and then, though, just on general principles.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:26 AM on April 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Just to follow up--I saw my doctor a couple of days ago, and he reassured me that I've just got some itchy skin, and my mole looks fine. I'm at more risk for skin cancer, being the pasty pale Caucasian that I am, but so far I'm in okay shape.

Thanks again, everybody. =)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:47 PM on April 17, 2010