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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to hate my moles and be considering paying a lot to get them removed?

41 replies

Fizzler99 · 24/01/2013 10:36

I have got quite a few moles all over me.
I have never liked them and they have always made me feel self-concious. I didn't wear a bikini for years as I had them on my stomach, although I have kind of gotten over that as I have got older and more confident in myself and I had the worse one on my stomach removed a couple of years ago.

I have a few more that I would really quite like to get removed, the worst ones (there are about 6 I really dislike) are on the back on my neck, my chest and shoulders, stomach and hip.

I can't get it done on the NHS as cosmetic. I have enquired and it would cost £1000 to get them removed at private clinic.

I have the money in savings, but I do sometimes think I am being vain and stupid to consider this, as they money could be better spent on other things. I am not normally a very vain person, and generally disagree with surgery for cosmetic reasons (I am also completely flat chested but would never, ever consider a boob job!!)

AIBU?

OP posts:
Spatsky · 24/01/2013 10:44

Yanbu IMO but I am also quite moley and there are a few I have considered getting removed but I have resisted on the basis that I have to got to 37 with them and I feel guilty spending money that could be for the family on my vanity.

Bt just because I have decided against it I don't think you would be unreasonable at all to get them removed as long as it wasn't putting you into debt or something.

ShowOfHands · 24/01/2013 10:53

I'd do it. I'm very moley and while some of them don't bother me, the ones on my neck and back I hate. I also have one on my chest which ds picks and picks at while bfing. The doc said he wasn't happy to remove it as it's fairly big and he thought the scar would be unsightly and it should 'only cost about £300 to go private'. Given that some weeks I struggle to afford milk, it looks like they're staying.

Psychologically I find them difficult atm as my Mum has had skin cancer twice and is similarly moley. I also had an intense uv treatment when younger for a chronic skin condition and I'm paranoid about the longterm effects.

DD is 5yo and has about 20 moles already. I feel a bit sad that I'm passing on some kind of legacy to her.

If I had the money to do it, I wouldn't hesitate.

PrincessPheobe · 24/01/2013 11:01

Watching with interest

MrsLDTE · 24/01/2013 11:38

YANBU at all!!
Like Spatsky said as long as you aren't putting yourself or family under serious financial strain go for it!

chris481 · 24/01/2013 11:42

I bet I have more than you - never counted them, but there must be at least one hundred. Also didn't like them when I was young.

I had a couple removed from stomach and thigh by GP's when I was a teenager (not in the UK) but the stitches split and left quite big scars. (Scars are colourless and don't bother me though.)

I had some of what that I thought of as colourless moles on my face and neck. Being colourless apparently means they aren't moles, they looked like warts but weren't that either. Anyway, I had a couple of those removed in my early twenties, they were cut out and the tiny scar quickly became invisible. That was in about 1990 and cost about £400, I think.

A decade or so later I had three less significant ones removed from face and neck with a laser. Also a good result. Think it cost about £600.

In both cases the money was insignificant to me, and I've always been pleased I did it. No intention to do any more though.

£1000 is about the cost of a skiing holiday - so for me that would be a reasonable cost for a permanent benefit. For removing 6 it sounds consistent with what I've paid. However I couldn't afford to be bothered by moles on my body - there are too many. My remaining moles don't bother me any more. (Now have weight and age to worry about!)

I agree that have moles removed is fairly insignificant surgery - nothing like a boob job.

I think the below link is the people who did laser removal of mine, but it was a while ago so I can't be sure.

www.mole-removal.co.uk/index.aspx

PhallicGiraffe · 24/01/2013 11:48

I have loads and loads of moles. They don't bother me at all, and I think the only reason to have moles removed is if they are potentially cancerous. Sorry but I think it is vain, if you ask other people what they think of them, they won't even have noticed, it is just a part of you that makes you unique.

I'd rather spend the money on another holiday.

chris481 · 24/01/2013 11:50

Actually the price list for my previous link doesn't mention laser treatments, but the site in the link below does, so maybe it was them. (Both share a Putney address for one of their clinics, I think that's where I went.)

www.cosmedics.co.uk/skin-clinics

JKSLtd · 24/01/2013 11:54

I have one on my face that I would love love to get removed, and I don't care if it's vain.

I may look into the cost if it is quite a straight-forward op.

The only thing is that DS1 (6) has one in almost the same place on his face and it bothers him, if I got mine removed it would reinforce the negativity about moles so I guess I better keep it for now.

InTheNightGarden · 24/01/2013 12:02

YANBU!!!

I know how you feel! I have quite a large, dark raised one right in my clevage! I hateeeee it, I also can't get it removed on nhs as it has a blood supply so won't become anything nasty! I've looked online for private places to get it removed but can't seem to find any, I'd be reallyyyy interested to know where you are looking at going or any places you know of that do mole removal?!

ImKateandsoismywife · 24/01/2013 12:03

If you can afford it and it would make you feel better do it! I had one on my face that really bothered me and I had it removed a few years ago at a private clinic. It has made a huge difference to my confidence and self esteem and my only regret is not having it done sooner Smile

Jks mine took about 20 minutes and cost £270, money well spent imo!

discobeaver · 24/01/2013 12:09

I have had two colourless ones taken off my face by a local beauty clinic using an electric current to cauterise them off. Cost £25 each. I think the process is called electrocauterisation, it worked brilliantly for me no scarring only took about 20 mins.
This was after being quoted hundreds by a private hospital to have the same moles cut out!

JKSLtd · 24/01/2013 12:10

ImKate - I would definitely ask DH for it as a present at some point, much more valuable than another pair of slippers, lol.

But my thoughts about DS1 still stand, I can't honestly sit there and tell him it doesn't matter/it makes you special/more beautiful/etc if i get mine removed. Sigh. Maybe when he's 18 we'll get them done together :)

fuckadoodlepoopoo · 24/01/2013 12:13

Yeah get it done if it bothers you and you can afford it. My dh had his largest removed on the nhs as they kept bleeding but wishes he'd asked them to remote some of the other bobbly ones as well.

ItsintheBag · 24/01/2013 12:15

Do it, it really bothers you.But some dont heal without leaving bumpy scaring depending on the size of them and how they are removed.

ImKateandsoismywife · 24/01/2013 12:21

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but if either of my dcs had a mole on their face I would get it removed while they are still young, I remember being teased for mine and being described as the one with the mole. I couldn't bear to look at myself in the mirror and if I accidentally touched it I felt physically sick, I wouldn't want my dc to go through that.

CommanderShepard · 24/01/2013 12:43

It's entirely up to you. Screw what anyone else thinks.

I'm considering having one on my back removed. It's not dangerous but it rubs against the bottom edge of my bra and isn't comfortable.

I once tried to count my moles from my toes up in a fit of boredom - I got to 50 before I even reached my knees :(

fromparistoberlin · 24/01/2013 13:10

yanbu

whip em off I say

I have one I want to take off, how much is it for one may I ask!!??

JKSLtd · 24/01/2013 13:19

Oh, call me dumb but I hadn't even thought of getting his taken off as a child, would the docs do that?

Boobz · 24/01/2013 13:32

I can't believe it's so expensive to get it done privately as it's so simple and takes no time at all! I had 5 taken off my back, purely for cosmetic reasons, but some were raised and catching on bra strap so the doctor here (I am in Kenya and married to an FCO man, so we get this sort of thing "free" by the FCO doctor who has a clinic at the embassy) did them on that basis, that they were getting in the way and exposed to a lot of Kenyan sun.

It took 20 mins to do 5, all whipped off with no problem at all (the doc said she finds mole removal quite satisfying - like others like squeezing spots I guess) and they healed in a week and left no visible scar. They were all about the size of a 5p piece or slightly smaller, and tested for cancer but all came back negative.

I think it is vain, but so what? We diet to look good, buy clothes to make ourselves look pretty and various other things in the name of vanity - why have unsightly moles if you don't have to? £1000 seems like a lot of money, but I'd have paid it if I hadn't have had it done free here.

OscarPistoriusBitontheside · 24/01/2013 13:46

I wonder if you can get it done on bupa? DH gets it through his work.

I have one on my back that the NHS won't take off, but it's quite fleshy and bothers me a lot. It's not dangerous though so stays. I had one taken off my leg and that scarred impressively so would only get this annoying one done. YANBU btw OP.

Lovelygoldboots · 24/01/2013 14:05

Just one word of warning, be insistent with g p about moles if they bother you. I have just had a basal cell carcinoma removed at the age if 42. It appeared about 8 years ago and my g p kept giving me cream for it. He's an idiot. Took me so long to get a proper diagnosis. Get any funny looking moles checked.

DeWe · 24/01/2013 14:09

I would be cautious.
I had 2 moles removed age 8yo. There is a small white mark where they were.
I had two more removed age 14yo, and they both have left a scar about the size of a 2p where the skin is obviously different.

SamuelWestsMistress · 24/01/2013 14:15

I've git loads of moles. I'd rather get rid of the saggy stretche marked tummy and the huge sagging boobs and the cellulite first!

EarlyInTheMorning · 24/01/2013 14:15

Does it hurt to have them removed?
big moled wimp Blush

TroublesomeEx · 24/01/2013 14:18

I have one that I'd like to get removed. Because of where it is it rubs on clothing and can bleed. It can be painful as a result. And sometimes itches.

Do you think they'd do that on the NHS?

I do find it embarrassing. I know it sounds vain but I'm very conscious of it swimming and when I'm nekkid (so during sex and stuff). So there is a vanity aspect, but it's the rubbing on clothing and bleeding bit that worries me most.