What are warts and moles are they the same thing? They are entirely different things, but very commonly people mistakenly confuse between the two. Warts are infectious condition they are caused by viruses, and one should seek treatment even if they don’t look bad. They can be transmitted from person to person, and sometimes need to be removed there are medical treatments also available. Moles also called as nevus are usually brown or black coloured flat or raised lesions which need to be removed if they look dangerous or if they bother the peron cosmetically, that is they look bad or are too big.

How can they be removed? Very advanced techniques are now available for removal of warts and moles. We can also use sometimes a combination of a laser along with Radiofrequency ablation for mole removal (Radiowaves used to ablate the affected skin). Some application creams and oral medicines are also available to get rid of the warts but not really for the moles. For bigger moles, especially on the face etc. We may need to remove it by cutting out and giving a small stitch, the healing is satisfactory with a very fine scar usually which looks definitely better than the mole.

How long will I take to come back to normal skin? Can I get some scars also?
You may notice a small scab or crust at the site of ablation along with some redness the redness subsides by the 2nd or the 3rd day whereas the crust falls of in 4-6 days time. In case of very big lesions there it may take a little bit longer. Usually there is hardly any scarring but in moles that are deep in the skin there may be a little bit of a pit in the skin which gets a little better with time. There is always a possibility of a slightly darker of whitish mark, which gets better with time but rarely may not go completely, at the site of removal depending on the skin type and the individual tendency of pigmentation.

What about care after removal? It is usually very simple and one can put a cream prescribed by the doctor at home till the lesion heals completely. If there are stitches then they can be removed on the 7-10th day. One has to generally maintain a good hygiene so that the area doesn’t become infected.