Why do people leave gigantic growths on their faces?

Meant to type "I mean one of those glistening" ....

I assume because taking it out will leave a scar or a huge crater.

Because if she got it removed, you'd be botching about the huge, ugly crater it left that never healed.

That's not what I've read. Even large ones can be removed without a crater. A small scar might result but it's better than having the fucking Manitou emerging from your face.

Is this one of DL's excretable Mole Hating Trolls?

And is her skin "yellow", OP?

This would be a cosmetic surgery in most cases and it costs more money than the "hideously disfigured" can afford.

[quote] Because if she got it removed, you'd be botching about the huge, ugly crater it left that never healed.

Not true. I had a little bumpy thing removed right below my eye and there is nothing there now. I routinely have skin tags removed (welcome to middle age) and have no craters at all.

I agree with the OP, get that shit zapped!

I had a large growth on my nose removed when it doubled in size and came back immediately after the first removal. It left a crater and a purple scar and, ironically, a little bump of scar tissue above where the old bump was.

I can definitely see people opting to keep theirs, simply because the site often looks terrible after removal.

I read something about this, but my feeble brain is having trouble remembering the exact article. In rare cases these moles can't be extracted not because of a small crater being left behind, but instead these moles are like "tip of the iceberg" You see an unsightly thing on your face, but the underlying structure you don't see is so complex that removal has more risk than benefit. e.g. the potential for nerve damage as well as significant deformity.

[quote]Is this one of DL's [bold]excretable[/bold] Mole Hating Trolls?

OP is a cunt and will stop at nothing to feel superior.

Yeah I have some moles and insurance won’t pay for them to be removed unless they look cancerous. Getting them removed by a derm or plastic surgeon is expensive. Mine don’t look like THAT so I just live with them. I’ve had some removed and the scars aren’t that terrible.

I was talking to a woman who has one on her lip and I think if I had one like it, I’d spend the money. It’s terribly distracting.

R11 has a pumpkin with tentacles dangling from it on her cheek. It oozes old semen and fecal matter.

[quote]I routinely have skin tags removed (welcome to middle age) and have no craters at all.

A skin tag is much different than a mole, there is no underlying structure with a tag.

r4 lol Manitou. I love you.

I'm sorry but I am unpersuaded by these objections. When you look like the Wicked Witch of the West and all people can see when you talk to them is this shiny globe on your face, you take your chances having the thing exorcised.

My sister has a huge mole on her face. I don’t thibk she even sees it. It’s just a part of her. I’ve never, ever heard her say, “I wish I could get this pendulous mole removed.”

My father had a cyst on his face and a “plastic surgeon” (that’s what the dr called himself, but I have my doubts) took it off and left him with a huge scar across his face. Maybe that’s why my sister leaves her mole there. Or maybe she really believes it’s a “beauty mark.” She’s 65 now, so it’s a real beaut, all right.

A dermatologist- or even their assistant- can remove it by zapping it with liquid nitrogen (insurance may even pay for it if they can do a biopsy of it and send it off for skin cancer tests). It crusts over then falls off: bump no more.

Many people have no body consciousness. They don't know how to look attractive and don't care.

[quote] You see an unsightly thing on your face, but the underlying structure you don't see is so complex that removal has more risk than benefit. e.g. the potential for nerve damage as well as significant deformity.

Yes, I've seen people who've had cancerous or precancerous moles removed and they've been left with scars much wider and longer than the original mole.

I figure if Tom Cruise hasn't had that mole removed from his left cheek, there must be a good reason for it.

They’re pets.

Tom's bump is not a problem -- it's inoffensive, just like Cindy Crawford's. It doesn't look like it's about to explode and maggots will come spilling out.

I had one of those things attached to my face; it was located directly below my nose, front and center.

Because of its unsightliness and the related social anxiety, I had it removed. The surgeon used a puncture-like instrument to remove it, sewn up the resulting wound with a couple delicate sutures, applied a small bandage to it, wrote a script for an antibiotic ointment, and sent me on my way. Two days later, the embarrassing bandage was removed, though the sutures remained. My surgeon instructed me to start applying the antibiotic ointment in place of the embarrassing bandage (the sutures would eventually dissolve.)

Here's what happened upon the removal of the embarrassing bandage: not only did people focus on my surgical wound, they'd actually talk to it as well! A coworker approached me to ask if our manager was about; rather than talking to me, he was talking to my surgical wound the entire time!

Did you end up with a physical scar in addition to your emotional one, R22?

I get all "thingeys" on my body removed. I have a great Dermatologist and is reasonable and tries to get insurance to pay as much as allowable , otherwise i pay cash. Moles, keratoses, skin tabs, warts!

Could be far worse than a mole.

[quote] I was talking to a woman who has one on her lip and I think if I had one like it, I’d spend the money. It’s terribly distracting.

I love Rachel Maddow, but I'm glad she had her neck mole removed (or at least covered with makeup). Yes, I found it distracting

R23, no resulting facial scar, thankfully. Saw a Cosmetic Surgeon for the procedure.

So r27, you only had people looking at the surgical scar as it was healing. Now you're better. So you buried the lede a bit, lol. You're an example of why people SHOULD get this done.

Costs $300 to have a growth removed where I live. Just one. If you’ve got a bunch, they don’t give you a discount. I’ve got 6 or 7 sebaceous cysts on my scalp and multiple tiny skin tags on my neck. No way can I pay $300 out of pocket for each one.

OP, because she wasn't put on this Earth to live up to your standards of beauty and to satisfy your displeasure in her looks.

Get them removed. There is little risk of scarring these days.

R24, you are very lucky. Just curious how much do you usually pay out of pocket and what city do you live in?

I like to watch the Dr. Pimple Popper show on TLC. She removes all kinds of weird things from people.

R7, I have that same thing. How did you get it removed? Through surgery or some sort of lasering? TIA

Get them removed. It's quick,easy, and insurance will pay. Get creative if you're worried about it not being covered by insurance. Your doctor should be smart enough to know how to Bill it. Tell them it used to be a different color or size. They will usually take a biopsy and it isn't going to leave a scar. I don't understand all this hand wringing and whining about something so simple. How the hell do some of you manage to wipe your own asses?

R29 I get 7 for $75

[quote]OP, because she wasn't put on this Earth to live up to your standards of beauty and to satisfy your displeasure in her looks.

R30, living her best life:

R32 R24 here.. I live in KC and most blemishes are frozen off, but a scalpel has been used for a Moloscum growth in my crotch region( I know , lovely!). That left scar for about 6monts. I don't know what I'll do when he retires (which could be soon).

[quote] Get them removed. It's quick,easy, and insurance will pay.

Bullshit.

And you can’t “get creative.” The moles, tags, etc are sent to a lab where they come back as benign.

Insurance used to pay for sebaceous cyst removal from the scalp. Then it would only pay for removal of infected scalp cysts. A few years ago I went to a derm with an infected scalp cyst (I’d hit my head on exiting a friend’s car) and she refused to remove it. Gave me an rx for an antibiotic and told me to put warm compresses on it and see if I could remove it myself. I told her I knew it was going to grow back if the core wasn’t removed and she said, “So what if it does? It’s cosmetic, not a medical problem.”

Sam Heughan, the Prince of Moles

I think it might depend how it is coded. I had something on my forehead removed by a dermatologist. It came back. I had to pay $300 or something like that. Insurance rejected it. About six months later when I realized it was fully back and growing, I went to a plastic surgeon. The surgeon assured me there would be no bill to me. (They got a prior authorization). He took it out and also worked much harder on the area. He said the dermatologist did not "get the wall" out so it was a useless procedure that I paid $300 for. I barely have a scar . I had 4 stitches. It's almost invisible.

On my back, I had a lipoma that was so big, people could feel it if they hugged me. It was so fucking gross. I just went straight to a plastic surgeon (no derm this time) and he said he'd just charge $500. He just numbed the area and took it out but he was joking that "I feel like I'm doing brain surgery" because it went extremely deep. When it was all the way out, he showed it to me and it was so disgusting and enormous. I could only feel the tip. It went down to the muscle. I still have a scar there because the back doesn't really heal that well like the forehead.

I've also removed all the moles off my shoulders - but also because some looked precancerous. I still have one brown mole thing under my eye. I had this removed 10 years ago with electrocautery (which hurt so fucking bad you have no idea -the doc said she couldn't use a lidocaine injection there). It came back but I never forgot how painful the removal was. And I hate that dermatologists charge $500 for 10 seconds to burn something off your face. I want to remove it but it's expensive and painful and it will just look like a scab for 4 months and then come back in 5 years.

Moles I don't mind, but why to people live with giant tumors? I've seen one the size of a grapefruit on a man's head, and another the size of an orange on a man's throat. Yeeech.

Seriously, r42. And those women with gigantic uterine tumors that make them as big as a house. Why do they wait?

People are afraid of doctors or don't have access to them. If you read a reconstructive surgery book, every page is basically "what the fuck" - because the person let the issue get so incredibly severe, they had to have herculean efforts to repair the issues. If it's melanoma, that's pretty common to require extensive surgery - but many people let carcinoma skin cancers just grow and grow - and you have to cut it all out - then replace it all with a flap or something.

Those people with the huge tumors are afraid of doctors or they don't have the ability to get to any. Or, they have horrible doctors that misdiagnose them potentially.

OP, that's called a wen, and they are very disfiguring IMO. Some people just don't care about them, or they don't want to go to the bother or the expense of having it removed, especially if they're elderly.

A mole on your face is usually called a beauty mark, and is thought by most people to enhance the appearance of someone attractive if there is just one: that's why Cindy Crawford and Tom Cruise don't get theirs removed. (Some people will even put fake beauty marks on their skin to mimic the effect--the most famous instance of this is Serena on "Bewitched," who would wear a fake one that would migrate all over her face.)

A mole on your neck is no big deal. Rachel Maddow and Edward Snowden have them and do not have them removed--as long as you get it checked out when you go to the dermatologist, it's not dangerous. I assume they do not care whether you find it attractive or not--many DLers seem to have a kind of hysterical OCD when it comes to physical appearance, and want everyone to look as much the same as possible, but most people just do not care nor do they find a single ordinary mole unattractive.

R39, how do you wipe your own ass? Serious question.

No dermatologist would ever say what you say she said, I call bullshit. You need to grow a pair and take your own health into your own hands. Get a cheese grater.

I have a friend from Russia who is good-looking but he had multiple moles all over his face and neck (I'm not sure if they were on his body too). The multiplicity of the moles was unattractive, and he eventually had all of them removed--I have no idea how much it cost him. It greatly improved his attractiveness.

[quote] Is this one of DL's excretable Mole Hating Trolls?

There are such trolls? To whom do they object?

DL Fave Tom Holland had a mole on his chin which has been removed.

Another question, r48 -- if they are "excretable," what are they being excreted from?

....

GROSS-OUT TROLL ON A RAMPAGE AGAIN!

F&F, burn it, ban it; red-tag it.

We don't want to see close-ups of moles, melanoma, sushi roundworm X rays, larvae-infested human skin, pimples, foot disease, or anything else you troll Datalounge with.

Did that creepy nephew of Francis Ford Coppola ever get the mole removed from his face? I can’t remember his name. Short, dark, Jewish looking guy

Not only is money the issue, but many people are afraid of surgery, especially on the face. I can relate to the poster above, who had been told it was cosmetic. I had something quite suspicious on the back of my upper arm, which grew and became darker, and referred to a specialist. Under NHS, I was told by a Dr. with a rancid bedside manner "better to make friends with it" as it turned out to be an age spot or liver spot. Insurance is not only tricky business, but also especially here in the States, the knowledge of the coders or billing staff. I plan on having it removed, but have been told it shall be 800 rougly. My derm is a plastic surgeon, and I believe it may be Mohs procedure.

R53, his name is Jason Schwartzmann and he is half Jewish (his father’s side). And I don’t think he’s had it removed.

SJP had her chin mole removed and Madonna had a huge mole on her face when she was a little girl. I had a mole on my back removed and it wasn't even all that big, left a small scar, no biggie, insurance paid.

Once they are drained, they are very handy storage areas for condiments like mayonnaise or salad dressing. Simply place your face over your food and squeeze the condiment out of the mole onto your food. Voila!

I find the American obsession with moles really quite strange.

I donate all my moles to Children's Charities! I'm an American Hero!

Are you Albanian, R58?

It's a cosmetic procedure. It's going to cost hundreds of dollars at least. And you better not trust it to just anyone to perform. You can't just shave it off; it might grow back. You have to remove the root, and the root can run deep. You're going to have a hole. The hole will likely disappear over time, but it will most likely be less noticeable than a mole. Oh, and it's going to hurt, too! I had a couple small moles removed from my face by a plastic surgeon. It left a hole that became less noticeable over time. I had a couple of big, pencil-eraser sized moles removed from my back. My dermatologist removed them with a giant can of liquid nitrogen spray. OUCH! They swelled up to the size of gumballs. Thank goodness I couldn't see them. Wearing clothing was difficult during recovery..

I know an older guy who has a huge cyst on his face and won't remove it because he doesn't want a scar on his cheek. Yeah, but a huge pussy growth is perfectly fine.

[quote] I find the American obsession with moles really quite strange.

Where are you from, and why do you find it strange?

In Europe we have voles.

I left mine because my psychic told me it would hurt if I got it removed.

[quote] In Europe we have voles.

One of DL’s dead holiday mascots is the Boxing Day Vole. The other is the Christmas Mouse.

Not enough F&Fs to ban this troll who likes to disrupt Datalounge with nasty close-ups of human disease on the front page.

It's a terrorist, people, please help shut it down.

....

It doesn't hurt.

Most of the time insurance will cover it.

No horrendous scarring happens unless you're doc is a hack.

OP is the owner of the mole in your post an Australian flight attendant by any chance? She is stunning but her mole is ghastly.

I'd like to see OP come to China, where it's considered lucky to have a huge mole on the face (no, seriously) so they not only refuse to remove them, but they won't tamper with them in any way. So you'll see guys with these huge facial moles sprouting 3-inch long hairs.

I remember when I first saw this on a train and my reaction was similar to how I imagine OP's was. I mean, I could understand why someone wouldn't bother with the pain, hassle and expense of removing the actual mole, but why not at least pluck the hairs out of it? But then someone explained to me the whole cultural aspect around them.

Another example

They even appear in fiction!

How long did SJP have that witch wart before she finally removed it? It was gross.

Even handsome Christian Bale has a bump or mole by his right eye. He's never had it removed.

I had one burned or frozen off my face. No crater, no scarring. It's like nothing happened. The healing didn't look hideous either. People with craters most likely picked at their chicken pox scabs when they were younger.