Has anyone got any experience in this? (Moles)

[Str3ssedOut]

I have a small brown patch on my stomach that appeared and got larger over the past year. It's all one colour and flat.

I also have some moles on my neck, I've had them for years. But, a new one has popped up. The moles are a mix of raised and non. Some symmetrical, some not. GP wasn't concerned about my existing moles about 10 years ago and haven't thought about them until recently.

I tried to book an appointment with my GP to have them checked but we have a same day triage system where you upload photos and they send a response first.

The only response I received was "I can do a referral to the skin clinic for you to be seen."

3 days later I received a request to upload photos onto an app (my skin doctor) for a dermatologist to review. Which I have done and have a few days to receive a response.

My question is, does this mean the GP has concerns? The NHS website states that the GP will refer you to be seen if they think you have a melanoma. Or do they always refer you if they don't have time that day to see you?

Now I'm stressing out and a little nervous because I don't entirely know/understand what's going on 😞

Posting to bump because I have also today decided to contact my GP about a mole on my face which is raised but not coloured and seems to peel twice a week.

I've previously had a mole removed that they were concerned about as it seemed to be getting slightly bigger in width and was getting "taller". They said at the time they would rather remove it and bioposy it than leave it, so I agreed. It wasn't cancerous which was a relief and I had the results in around a week. I think you can't guess what they will say, especially until the specialist sees you. As a general rule I think they suggest drawing around the area with a pen to see if it grows, but often moles are in odd places or visible, so this isn't an option. I am worried about mine because when it peels it feels slightly itchy and it's only a year or two old.

Hi @ChangedCircumstances

Thanks for letting me know what happened for you last time. I just need to stop googling it because now I feel I'm making myself worse. I guess I was hoping for GP to see me in person and I've never had to do something like this before.

Has it always itched? Or is that a new thing? You definitely did the right thing going to the GP. I know they usually want to see it if it itches.

Mine doesn't itch but one on my neck is taller. I remember cutting it years ago but I was early 20s then so wouldn't have cared/noticed if it healed differently.

Stressful isn't it.

If we don't get any advice I'll definitely update the thread when I get a response.

Have you heard of Seborrheic keratosis which can look very much like moles, they are not harmless, known as age spots! They often develop as we age. It may be something like this but hopefully you will get to speak to someone to be sure.

Thankyou @lennonj.

I'm pretty sure the one on my stomach is one of those 🤞 it's gone from a freckle size to about a 20p size. So I was super worried. I would have uploaded pictures but recently there's been a lot of trolls on MN and wouldn't want to risk people saying they're something they're not and stressing me out more.

I've just turned 30 so I can imagine things will start popping up now that I need to keep an eye on.

Hopefully they get back to me soon.