Getting told that you have skin cancer can be devastating, and many patients are left wondering what their options are going to be after that type of diagnosis. While it might feel as if your life has been turned upside down, it is important to remember that many medical professionals consider skin cancer to be a highly treatable condition. As long as you catch this pervasive disease in its earliest stages, there will be many different treatment options available to you. Skin cancer surgery might be exactly what you need to eradicate your cancerous cells so that you can get your life back on track.
The Drawbacks of Traditional Skin Cancer Treatments
Skin cancer surgery does have a very high success rate, but it is important to note that traditional treatments have a few drawbacks as well. In many cases, doctors suggest that their patients have the cancerous cells physically excised, and that can lead to extensive scarring. Chemotherapy is an option as well, but that style of treatment can be exhausting. Those are just a few of the reasons why many patients choose to undergo Mohs surgery after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
Mohs surgery has become very popular in recent years, and it is now one of the leading treatment options for skin cancer. In addition to having an incredibly high success rate, this procedure also leaves very small scars. As you can see from the Mohs surgery and skin cancer before and after photos, the scar tissue can be kept to a minimum. As an added bonus, many patients only require a single operation.
Starting Your Treatment Protocol
After you have done a little research on your own and taken a look at some Mohs surgery and skin cancer before and after photos, you will then need to schedule your first appointment with the surgeon. That initial consultation is very important, and you should consider scheduling it as soon as you are diagnosed with skin cancer. During your initial meeting with the physician, they are going to take a close look at the damaged tissue and inspect your medical history. If they determine that you are a good candidate for Mohs surgery, then you can schedule your first treatment session right away.
The procedure itself only takes a few minutes, but the tissue sampling generally requires two or three hours. During that time, you can relax in a comfortable chair, use your phone, or read. Once the doctor has removed all of the damaged tissue and no more cancerous cells can be found, you will be able to head home right away. Your surgeon is going to place some gel and a bandage over the treatment site, and those should be left on for the rest of the day.
Is Mohs Surgery Effective?
Following your initial treatment, you will need to schedule a follow-up appointment so that the physician can carefully inspect your skin. If they find more cancerous cells during that follow-up appointment, then you will need to have additional tissue excised. That being said, this procedure has an incredibly high success rate as long as patients catch the early warning signs of skin cancer and seek out assistance right away. Some of the most common signs of skin cancer that you need to keep an eye out for include asymmetrical moles, unusual skin discoloration, and raised patches of skin. While those blemishes aren’t typically harmful, you should always have them checked out by a medical professional.
