Mohs Surgery: One Of The Best And Oldest Forms Of Skin Cancer Treatment
In the 1930s, Dr. Frederick Mohs worked hard to develop an effective method for treating skin cancer, and the method he developed is called Mohs surgery. If you are diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer, your doctor might recommend using Mohs surgery to treat it. Even though this method was developed almost a century ago, it is still one of the most common treatment options for skin cancer. Here are three things to know about Mohs surgery.
The process
Mohs surgery is one of few treatment options for skin cancer that targets only the affected skin cells. When this procedure is completed, a doctor will typically begin by using a numbing agent on the affected areas. Once the skin is numb, he or she will remove pieces of your skin (in layers) and will immediately test them. The test will determine if they are cancerous or not, and these tests help doctors find and remove all affected areas of skin. Once a layer of skin tests negative for cancer, the doctor will know that all the cancerous cells are gone.
The benefit of Mohs surgery
With other treatment options, it can be hard to ensure that all cancerous tissue is gone. If you undergo a procedure that removes most of your cancerous cells, you are still at risk. If there are cancerous tissue cells on your skin that were missed during your procedure, they can grow and spread. This is why Mohs surgery is so common and preferred today.
Where it is completed
Another huge benefit of Mohs surgery is that it can be completed in most doctors' offices. In other words, you will not have to go to a hospital or outpatient treatment facility. Your doctor can schedule it and complete it right in the office.
After the surgery is complete, the doctor may need to perform stitches in your skin. If deep pockets of skin were removed, the doctor may pull your skin over the wound to close it up. This is called a skin flap. If the doctor did not have to remove a lot of layers of skin, you might leave with just a bandage on the wound and nothing else.
Mohs surgery has been around for a long time and has changed very little, but it is used frequently today because it is extremely effective. If you would like to learn more about Mohs surgery and other forms of skin cancer treatment, talk to your doctor today.
To learn more about skin cancer surgery, contact a company like Countryside Dermatology & Laser Center.
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