This patient had a benign skin growth called a Seborrheic Keratosis. These lesions are common with aging. Although they do not become cancerous, they can mimic other pigmented cancerous lesions such as melanoma. However, they have a “waxy, stuck-on” texture that is not typical of other lesions.
There are many ways to treat skin lesions (freezing/cryotherapy, heat/electrodessication, radiofrequency ablation, laser ablation, shave excision, full thickness surgical excision, etc). At our clinic, larger lesions are often treated with radiofrequency ablation, because the wound typically heals without a scar. However, any technique like RF ablation, laser, or shave excision might not remove all lesion cells that are buried deeper in the skin, so there is a small risk of recurrence. In contrast, if a lesion is removed by full thickness excision the risk of recurrence is very low, but a scar always results. Dr. Andrade explains the different ways to remove a particular skin lesion, and the pros/cons of each. When a lesion is removed by RF ablation, initially there is a superficial wound that should be treated with an antibiotic ointment and dressing daily until it heals. After about a week, the wound is usually healed with new, bright red-pink skin. At this point a dressing is no longer needed, but sunscreen should be applied whenever there is sun exposure for about 6 months. If newly-healed skin is exposed to the sun, the area might become deeply pigmented. It takes many months for the fresh skin to fade back to its baseline colour, as seen in this photo.
