Mohs Surgery: The Best Treatment Available For Skin Cancer
Not sure of the best treatment for your skin cancer? Find out how Mohs surgery may be the best option to treat you — and get you back to living your life normally!
If you are diagnosed with skin cancer, you don’t want a treatment that only works sometimes. You want the treatment with the highest cure rate and lowest recurrence rate of skin cancer you can get.
You want Mohs surgery.
The team at Pure Dermatology in Austin, Texas, including double-board certified dermatologists Chelsey Straight and Christopher Chu, are experts in Mohs surgery. Here’s what you need to know before you embark on this treatment path.
What is Mohs surgery?
Mohs surgery is a treatment for skin cancer that removes cancerous (malignant) tumors in stages to make sure all traces of the rogue cancer cells are gone. It requires extensive training, and Dr. Straight and Dr. Chu are two of the best.
What kind of cancer does it treat?
The surgery can treat several forms of skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Basal cell carcinoma starts in surface areas of your skin, often where your skin is exposed to the sun. Squamous cell carcinoma also occurs in sun-damaged skin; the carcinoma looks like red sores, raised growth, or thickened skin. Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer; Mohs surgery can’t treat all forms of melanoma, but it can treat types that have not yet spread or metastasized.
How does it work?
Your dermatologist will give you anesthetic medicine and mark the area for the biopsy with a pen. Then, they’ll use a scalpel to remove a thin layer of the lesion that is immediately examined under a microscope.
Based on a lab analysis of the region, the doctor will then draw a map on your skin to section and identify the treatment area so the procedure can be as precise as possible. The team will then continue to remove thin layers of the lesion, each of which will be examined by microscope, until all the cancer cells are gone.
How should you prepare for Mohs surgery?
Preparing for the surgery can contribute to a positive outcome and a more comfortable recovery. Avoid sun exposure, tanning beds, and blood-thinning medications for a couple of weeks before your surgery. You should stop smoking, too! Wear loose-fitting clothes, eat a healthy meal ahead of time, and bring a book or activity to do during the surgery, which can last for a few hours.
If you need the most effective skin cancer treatment available, contact Pure Dermatology to discuss if you’re a candidate for Mohs surgery. Just call our office or use our convenient online scheduling tool, and you’ll be well on your way to ridding yourself of skin cancer for good.
