Horrible! After a woman removed 30 moles at a roadside stall, her eyeballs were burned and she almost went blind! Doctors urgently warn →

Recently, a news report about 57-year-old Aunt Wang who suffered alkali burns on her eyeballs after removing moles on the street has attracted widespread attention. The related topic #女人掉30痣的路边的坑后三层烧火# became a hot search on Weibo, sparking discussions among many netizens.

The picture is from Weibo screenshot

It turned out that an aunt named Wang removed more than 30 moles at a roadside stall at one time, which resulted in serious eye damage. After emergency medical treatment, the doctor said that there was a risk of blindness. Why would removing a mole lead to such serious consequences? What are the dangers of blindly removing moles? What do you need to do to remove moles correctly?

Street mole removal

What are the dangers?

As a dermatologist, I advise everyone not to remove moles on the street, it is really dangerous.

Because the chemicals commonly used in street stalls to remove moles are mostly alkaline corrosive liquids, such as sodium hydroxide, a strong alkaline chemical reagent. This type of liquid is very powerful and mainly achieves the effect of removing moles by corroding skin tissue. In addition to corroding moles, it will also corrode the surrounding normal skin.

Due to its high corrosiveness, this method of mole removal has the following risks:

1

Chemical burns

This is a common situation. If not handled properly, alkaline corrosive liquid may cause damage to the skin or even deeper tissues. Furthermore, if these chemicals come into contact with sensitive areas such as the eyes, mouth and nose, they can easily cause serious burns. Like Aunt Wang, whose cornea was burned by alkaline liquid, she will face the risk of blindness.
1

Infect

Street vendors often lack basic disinfection and sanitation conditions, and the tools used may not have been strictly disinfected. The reason for this is that street vendors are most likely not regular members of the medical system and do not have the concept of proper disinfection. After removing a mole, the skin will leave a wound, which is exposed to the outside environment and is susceptible to bacterial infection. Severely infected wounds may also leave scars and cause permanent skin problems.

3

Improper postoperative care

After the mole is removed in a regular hospital or clinic, there will be more detailed and professional post-operative care instructions, such as regular dressing changes, which are often said to prevent infection and promote wound healing. On the contrary, street stalls cannot provide such professional post-operative care suggestions.

4

Click on the wrong "mole"

Before removing moles, there is a basic question, that is, whether the moles mentioned by the stall owners (all mole-like dots) are moles in our medical sense (specifically "pigmented moles"). Considering the limited professional knowledge of the stall owners, they may not be able to distinguish those skin diseases that look like pigmented moles. If they mistake basal cell carcinoma and other malignant skin problems as ordinary moles and remove them, it will be a huge hidden danger.

So, for your own health, don’t go to the street to have your mole removed easily, as the risk is too great.

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Not all moles need to be removed.

The reasons for removing moles are probably due to the following motivations: fear that moles may worsen into melanoma; feeling unhappy about moles; or moles being unsightly and affecting appearance.

What I want to emphasize here is that not all moles need to be removed. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, the vast majority of moles (pigmented nevi) are benign and will not turn into melanoma throughout life, especially those that grow after birth. They are generally 2 to 3 mm in diameter and usually do not exceed 5 mm.

On the other hand, melanoma itself is also quite rare, with an incidence rate of about 1 in 100,000 people, while almost everyone has a pigmented mole. In addition, even if melanoma occurs, about 1/2 to 2/3 of people do not develop from the original pigmented mole, but from normal skin. Based on this, there is also a more mainstream view in the medical community that for most people, preventive mole removal is not recommended.
In addition, even if you want to remove moles in a formal way, there will be certain risks (although it is safer than roadside stalls), or potential side effects, so you need to weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to go.

Similarly, there is another problem. Before removing a mole, you should consult a doctor to confirm whether it is an ordinary pigmented mole. For example, a small number of moles may be special moles, such as Spitz moles, atypical moles, blue moles, black spots, freckles, basal cell carcinoma, etc. In addition, for those moles with irregular shapes, different shades of color, sudden enlargement or bleeding, professional evaluation by dermatologists is also required to determine whether there is a possibility of malignant melanoma. Removing these moles rashly may not only delay the condition, but also increase the complexity of subsequent treatment.

The correct way to remove moles

If you still need to remove a mole after understanding the above, please be sure to choose a regular hospital or a qualified dermatology clinic. Before removing a mole, a dermatologist will conduct a professional examination to evaluate the nature of the mole, decide whether it can be removed, and choose a safe and effective method.

There are two common methods of mole removal: surgery and laser. Choosing between surgery and laser is a very complicated issue. The doctor needs to make a decision based on the actual situation, combined with his own experience and ability, and then discuss with the client.

In the table below, we briefly summarize the differences between surgical mole removal and laser mole removal.

Table 1. Surgical mole removal vs laser mole removal

From the above, it can be seen that surgical mole removal and laser mole removal each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice should be made based on the actual situation.

In addition, after treatment, special attention should be paid to postoperative care. It is best to follow the doctor's instructions for care, such as protecting the wound, not rubbing or pulling the wound frequently, and not exposing the wound to the sun. In addition, regular cleaning and dressing changes should be performed according to actual conditions to create a good healing environment for the wound instead of infection.

Conclusion

Aunt Wang’s unfortunate experience reminds us that we must be vigilant in dealing with skin problems and avoid choosing street stalls for mole removal for the sake of convenience or cheap prices.

Skin health is not a trivial matter. Wrong treatment methods may lead to irreversible consequences. I hope everyone pays attention to their own health and stays away from irregular or even illegal mole removal stalls on the roadside. If you really need it, be sure to choose a professional medical institution for scientific and safe treatment.

References

[1] Sina Weibo. A woman's eyeball was burned three layers after she ordered 30 moles at a roadside stall. https://weibo.com/a/hot/8df7ff7db906a545_0.html

[2] UpToDate. Acquired melanocytic nevus. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/en/acquired-melanocytic-nevi-moles

[3] Frischhut N, Zelger B, Andre F, et al. The spectrum of melanocytic nevi and their clinical implications. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2022; 20:483.

[4] National Cancer Center, National Cancer Quality Control Center Melanoma Quality Control Expert Committee. Chinese melanoma standard diagnosis and treatment quality control indicators (2022 edition). Chinese Journal of Oncology. 2022; 44(9): 908-912.

Planning and production

Author: Tang Jiaoqing, MD, attending physician of dermatology

Review | Feng Jun, deputy chief physician of the Dermatology Department of Sinopharm Tongmei General Hospital

Planning丨Zhong Yanping

Editor: Zhong Yanping

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin