Mole, wart and skin tag removal in Metro Vancouver

Yes, BioPlus can remove a mole for cosmetic reasons once a physician has looked at it and confirmed it is benign. A raised benign mole is removed in the office by a short procedure after numbing, and a flat, benign pigmented spot can sometimes be lightened with a picosecond laser instead. The assessment comes first every time, because a mole is the one growth on this page that occasionally needs a medical opinion. If a mole is new, changing, irregular, itchy or bleeding, we do not remove it cosmetically, we send you to your family doctor or nurse practitioner to have it assessed first.

Cosmetic removal of a mole that a physician has assessed as benign is a routine, low-risk procedure. The single most important safety step is the assessment before removal, because removing a spot destroys it, and a spot that needs a medical opinion has to be looked at before that happens. BioPlus does not remove any growth that should be checked medically first. Removal also leaves a small healing area that can settle to a faint mark or a slight colour difference, more so on deeper skin, which is why it is done conservatively. Your physician explains all of this before anything is removed.

No. BioPlus does not screen for, diagnose or rule out skin cancer, and we do not perform mole checks or send tissue for pathology. What a physician does at your consultation is decide whether a growth is a benign cosmetic candidate or something that needs a medical assessment first, and route you accordingly. If you want a mole checked for medical reasons, that belongs with your family doctor or nurse practitioner, who can assess it and refer you to a dermatologist through the public system if needed. You can also call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 for guidance on where to go.

You cannot tell for certain at home, so the safe approach is a simple pattern called ABCDE and a low threshold for seeing a doctor. Look for Asymmetry, meaning one half unlike the other, a Border that is uneven or blurry, Colour that varies within the spot, a Diameter larger than about 6 mm, and Evolving, meaning any change in size, shape, colour or feel, or new itching or bleeding. A spot that is new in adulthood, that looks different from your other moles, or that changes over more than a month is worth having assessed. See your family doctor or nurse practitioner, or call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1. BioPlus does not diagnose skin cancer, and we route anything that fits this pattern into medical care rather than removing it.

Skin tags are removed by a short in-office procedure after the area is numbed, and the standard methods are snipping the tag off with sterile scissors, freezing it, or removing it with an electrosurgery device. A skin tag is benign by its nature, made of soft tissue on a narrow stalk, so removal is a cosmetic choice, usually because the tag catches on clothing, jewellery or a razor. Healing is quick, with a small scab that settles over one to two weeks. BioPlus confirms the exact method it uses at your consultation and tells you what the area will look like while it heals.

Warts can be removed, but they are treated differently from moles and skin tags because a wart is a viral infection of the skin caused by HPV, not a simple growth. Warts often start with the freezing or topical treatments a family doctor or pharmacist offers, and physical removal is considered for stubborn ones. Warts come back because the virus lives in the surrounding skin, so removing the visible wart does not always clear the infection, and warts can recur or spread to nearby skin. In children many warts clear on their own within a year or two. Your physician will give you an honest picture of what treatment can and cannot do before you start.

Small, smooth, dark brown or black bumps on the face and neck, especially in people with deeper skin tones, are often a benign condition called dermatosis papulosa nigra. They are harmless, they are related to seborrhoeic keratoses, and they are common in Fitzpatrick IV to VI skin, affecting up to about a third of Black adults and many people of Asian background. They can be removed for cosmetic reasons, and the important part is doing it gently, because aggressive removal on darker skin can leave a dark mark, a pale mark or a scar. BioPlus treats a small test area first and reviews how it heals before doing the rest. A physician confirms the bumps are benign before any removal.

Removing a growth trades it for a small healing area, which usually settles to a faint flat mark, and sometimes to a slight difference in colour from the surrounding skin. Whether a visible mark remains depends on the size and depth of the growth, the method used and your skin tone. On deeper skin tones there is a higher chance of a dark or pale mark, which is why removal is done conservatively and test first. We tell you honestly what to expect for your skin before removal, and we do not promise a mark-free result, because healing varies from person to person.

Removing a skin tag at home with a kit or a piece of thread is not recommended, and removing a mole at home is unsafe. At-home removal risks infection, bleeding and scarring, and it destroys a growth that a physician should look at first. Removing a mole at home also removes the chance for a doctor to notice a spot that needed a medical assessment. A skin tag is benign, but home removal still carries infection and scarring risk. The safe route is a physician assessment, then a clean in-office removal if the growth is a benign cosmetic candidate.

Cosmetic removal of a benign mole, skin tag or seborrhoeic keratosis at BioPlus is a private service and is not covered by MSP, and we tell you the cost before anything is done. Some situations are different and belong in the public system: a spot that needs a medical assessment, or a wart that is painful, spreading or on a child, may be handled by your family doctor or nurse practitioner, and any medically necessary assessment or biopsy runs through them under MSP. At your complimentary consultation a physician tells you which category your growth falls into and quotes the cost of any cosmetic removal in writing.