Mole/freckle with white spot on it. Please reassure me. No sinsiter comments please

[climbthemountains]

First picture was a few months ago.

Got it checked just under a year ago and all was ok with the dermatologists examination.

Fast forward to now, it has a white spot in the middle.

I suffer from bad health anxiety and stupidly googled it. Now convinced it's something sinister. Doctors are closed until Tuesday.

Does anyone have similar with the white dot in the centre and all is ok? Please no comments saying it's sinister etc, I will be getting it checked next week hopefully and my mental health can't take the extra worrying over the weekend! Thanks

I really doubt that us anything to worry about. I have health anxiety too and have looked at more melanoma pictures than I care to mention! Maybe it's a blocked hair follicle? I know it's hard but try to put the worry out of your mind for now and get seen next week to put your mind at rest.

@bellav thanks for the reply.

Having health anxiety is horrible isn't it. Wish I didn't have a smart phone and had no access to the internet to google this stuff but can't help myself.

I thought maybe I should try and "pop" it incase it's a small spot but not sure if I should just leave it be.

Feel sick to my stomach with worry.

Thanks for replying.

You have contacted the Dr as soon as you noticed any change. That is the right thing to do. You can't diagnose anything from Google, I had shingles once and I googled the symptoms and thought I was having a bloody stroke til I saw a massive rash down my back in the mirror thanks to Dr Google

The positives are it doesn't seem to have got bigger. You don't seem to be saying you are generally unwell or any other symptoms.

Please tell your Dr about your anxiety too. That sounds very difficult. Please try and talk to someone in real life who can reassure you.

@EatSleepDreamRepeat thanks for the reply. Haven't contacted the gp this time since noticing the new change but will do on Tuesday when they reopen.

Googling symptoms is never a good idea.

I do need help for my anxiety again but trying to avoid going back onto medication again if possible but will need to speak to gp about the anxiety as I can't go on like this.

I have a good support network around me who have told me I have nothing to worry about and to call gp when they reopen but can't help but worry.

Thanks for the reply.

You have a good plan. Some people ignore symptoms of anything for years, you are doing something straight away.

Please tell your support people you are struggling. Get them to help distract you in some way. If you were my friend I'd take you out to something you like to take your mind off it.

I have a couple like that and had mine checked fairly recently - they’re absolutely fine. Moles can change with age and even hormone changes. But you are right to get any changes checked. I always feel embarrassed at the GP for wasting their time but they are always very kind and say you should always get changes checked. Even if it was something to worry about, if you catch them early they are very easy to treat. Everyone over 50 in my family has had at least 1 melanoma and always been treated very quickly and easily.

I have had exactly the same - in my experience in growing hair that resolves itself

Hi , just wanted to say try not to worry until you have seen your gp. Easier said than done I know .
They might refer you to dermatologist.
I’ve been there this year unfortunately mine did turn out to be melanoma but mine didn’t look like that xx

@EatSleepDreamRepeat thank you so much for the kind words I appreciate it.

Yes, Dr Google is an evil bugger.

I would not pop it if I were you. It might make it look angry and then you will worry even more.

It's such a shame you feel so worried. Such a waste. The likelihood of this being anything serious is miniscule. Yes, check it out by all means, but try not to "borrow trouble" as the old saying goes. Right now, everything is okay.

When I was having a serious melanoma panic (a GP actually said she thought it likely to be melanoma and referred me to dermatology...she was wrong, thankfully!) I collected up some reassuring words of wisdom which hopefully might help...

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Look at the percentages and not the numbers.

-1 in 40 Caucasians get melanoma in their lifetime (looks scary right?)

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY:
-that is only 2.4%....If someone were to tell you that there was a 2.4% chance it will rain tomorrow, would you think it will rain?
-there is a 97.6% chance you will NEVER get melanoma in your LIFETIME
It is all a matter of perspective.

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Although it is right to treat the threat of melanoma with respect, it is good to remember that it is relatively rare. Statistically, in the UK your GP will see one every three or four years; or if you are part of a group of 20 people then you will have to wait 300 years for someone in that group to get one. And then bear in mind that 3 out of 4 are removed without any further complication at all, so the statistics are definitely on your side.

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I had a talk with my dermatologist about my melanoma concern.

He told me 90 percent of the population knows nothing about melanoma.They do not come to him unless something is god awful and black looking, bleeding or looks crazy.

He said even though these people still wait until that point most of the melanomas he sees are still stage 0 or stage 1.

He said the odds of someone with my level of attention and obsessiveness ever letting a mole or spot get to the point where it is terminal is pretty much zero. That is the same for all of us on this board... as soon as a mole looks fuzzy.. grows a hair... we will be in a dermatologists office. The majority of people would not... and it may take them months or years to actually grow concerned about a growing mole... if they ever even notice.

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Hope some of those help. x

@ru53 thank you this has made me feel alot better.

@greyfoxy thank you for the reassurance. Fingers crossed mine is similar.

@Isittoolatea thank you, sorry to hear yours was melanoma, hope you are okay.

@bellav thanks so much for this, it helped reassure me.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply, you don't know how much it has helped me. Have a lovely weekend everyone x

This is what my melanoma looked like at the start….

Honestly that doesn’t look worrying at all and I’ve had two types of skin cancer.

Its symmetrical, small, non scaly, non shiny, it really looks like a nothing. I wouldn’t even bother the doctor with it and I’m stupidly cautious now. (BCC and SCC)

@Isittoolatea that looks extremely painful. Hope you are recovering now and are ok x

@Hekett thanks so much. Having health anxiety really doesn't help me in situations like this, I get into such a state. Sorry to hear you have had 2 types of skin cancer. Hope you are ok now x

It wasn’t actually painful just itched and bled a lot . But my doctor dismissed it a few times and my dermatologist told me it was an infection (twice) so had 2 lots of antibiotics which delayed everything by 4 weeks then had to beg for a biopsy but glad I did. I won’t add anything else about it as I don’t want to worry OP but I’ve been one of the unlucky ones unfortunately x

Absolutely fine! Neither were melanoma (basal cell and squamous cell). They’re just abnormal cells, nowhere near as serious as what I would call “real” cancer. My consultant said of the BCC that around 1/3 of people will have them, many won’t even realise, and it’s rare they cause a problem, but they’re whipped off when they’re found as a precautionary thing! I literally just had them cut out and stitched and that was it.

I have also had moles exactly like yours and they don’t worry me at all!

Health anxiety is crippling though, but you are fine, and I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that it is your anxiety causing this, not cancer!

I have a mole with a white spot in it. It’s just a teeny tiny skin tag on the mole.

I have freckles/moles with the white spots in them. I never really noticed them until one of the spots seemed to become a bit raised/more prominent while I was living in Florida for a few months. Like you, I immediately panicked, assumed it was cancerous as it'd been in 40 degree sun daily, and went in a spiral of anxiety. Long story short, it was absolutely nothing. So, don't let this ruin your weekend. Anxiety is a liar and she'll tell you all sorts of fibs. ;)

What would you call ‘real’ cancer? Because to me all types of cancer are real

It is very rare for an existing mole to become problematic, it is usually a new mole. Try not to worry, the odds are very much in your favour. The GP will nearly always refer to dermatology under the 2 week pathway to be sure.

I'm so sorry, I hope you're being given appropriate care now. Sending hugs x

Ummm, not to be dismissive but if you look at the photo closely there are white spots like on the mole everywhere! It does not look like a remotely dodgy mole, and the Dr said as much recently. This is health anxiety and I hope you find a way to manage it.

Thank you , let’s just say 2024 is not my year !

Sorry to hear about that. hoping you may be able to have immunotherapy or similar. X
not to be indelicate but that is clearly a nodular melanoma whereas the OPs moles would be superficial spreading melanoma (though I’m 99.9%sure they are fine) which are less likely to be serious.

and the person above is right - non melanoma cancers aren’t exactly considered cancers (for example cancer research Uk exclude them from their statistics) as they are so common and so rarely fatal.