Question about moles

[nrichmond5]

Dear Doctor,

Approx 1.5 years ago I went to my general doctor to have a few moles checked out that I was concerned about. I was concerned because they appeared to violate some of the "ABCDE" rules for moles, such as being not oval, different colors, etc.

The doctor looked them over and stated that even though they did violate some of the "ABCDE" rules that he did not think they were a concern. A few months after that, I went to see another general doctor who told me the same thing.

Now these moles haven't changed shape since then or been ulcerated or anything. Essentially they have remained the same in terms of size, color, etc. from what I can tell. So they have remained unchanged from what I can see.

My question is; do moles or possible melanomas generally change shape or let themselves be known? Can a melanoma remain the same without changing over time and be a concern? Should I trust my general doctors who determined that they weren't a concern? I do not have any pain from these areas either.

Overall, I am wondering if I am justified in trusting my general practitioners diagnosis that they aren't a concern or should I have them checked out by a dermatologist to be safe? I realize you can't diagnose over the Internet, but do Melanomas generally continue to change shape, itch, ulcerate or do something over time or can they remain stagnate. In other words, if you have one is it obvious because they are changing over time in some fashion?

Thanks

[gazzab]

Melanoma very rarely goes unnoticed, and a lot of moles can violate one or all of the ABCD rules and be nothing to worry about. The rules are there to tell you when to get a mole checked, but saying that, I personally wouldn't trust my GPs opinion, because none of the doctors I've seen have taken any notice of me or helped me in any way. If you're still worried, go back and see your doctor and ask to be referred to a dermatologist because you need to put your mind at rest, but in my opinion if your moles aren't changing, itching, bleeding or painful in any way you've really got nothing to worry about

[Pum]

I'm not a doctor and I don't think doctors are on this forum. However, my understanding is that yes melanomas change. If they are the same size and colour and you have had two doctors look at them then I think you can rest assured they are not melanoma.

I have a couple that fail the abcd rule too but don't worry as they look the same as they always did.

Take care.