What Are Some Other Skin Conditions That Can Be Treated With Surgery?

Many people who want to improve their appearance will seek the services of a physician to surgically correct a variety of skin blemishes and disfigurements. These include birthmarks, moles, warts, age or liver spots, wrinkles, cysts, scars and actinic keratoses. Baldness can also be treated by surgical implants.

Birthmarks At the time of birth or soon after, a vascular birthmark can appear anywhere on the body. These imperfections are called hemangiomas and consist of tiny blood vessels that are clustered together. Port wine stains of a deep red, blue or purple are the most common of these and, although previously difficult to treat, are now responding to laser therapy.

Moles Small tan or brown moles are skin growths that are common to many people. Physicians frequently remove these moles through surgical excision to improve appearance, to prevent them from growing larger and to prevent them from becoming cancerous.

Scars Which have formed on the skin as a result of acne, accidents, chicken-pox or surgery may be improved through various techniques including chemical peel, dermabrasion and excision. Dermabrasion involves the use of a spray medication which freezes the affected area after which it is "sanded" with an abrasive, rotary instrument. The desired result is to improve the condition inasmuch as scar tissue cannot be completely removed.

Wrinkles Creases that result from aging, sun exposure or other causes respond to a treatment involving chemical peeling in which a diluted acid mixture applied to the skin causes the top layers to peel, thus leaving a smoother surface. Dermabrasion can also be used to treat wrinkles.

Actinic Keratosis, Seborrheic Keratosis and Cysts Actinic keratosis (thick, rough, reddish growths) and seborrheic keratosis (raised tan or brown growths) are usually treated with cryosurgery, dermabrasion, chemical peel or electrosurgery. Cysts, which are small, are usually removed by surgical excision.

Baldness A condition that can be improved by transplanting hair-bearing skin from other areas of the body to the head. Scalp reduction is another procedure that is designed to reduce baldness. In this procedure, areas of bald skin are surgically removed, thereby reducing the amount of skin that is without hair.

What Should I Do If I Have A Condition That May Require Surgery?

It is important to remember that skin diseases, diagnosed and treated in the early stages, can almost always be cured. While blemishes of the skin may not be injurious to health, they can cause unnecessary mental anguish and embarrassment. Today, many safe and virtually painless procedures are available to eliminate or reduce unsightly blemishes.