Strange question, but if you scratch a mole before the biopsy, is the pathology affected?

Since melanoma is really gauged by the depth of a lesion BELOW the epidermis, it is unlikely that picking at it will make it look worse.  Ulceration is the condition where the pathologist checks to see if the epidermis is intact.  An open sore could make a lesion look ulcerated from the naked eye, but the pathologist has to be the one who determines ulceration from a microscopic perspective.  I suppose if something is irritated enough, it could cause a condition of ulceration although I've never read anything that would confirm or deny that picking a lesion could cause ulceration.

As for sun damage reversal, no such luck.  What's done is done and the DNA damage is considered cumulative over your lifetime. 

Since melanoma is really gauged by the depth of a lesion BELOW the epidermis, it is unlikely that picking at it will make it look worse.  Ulceration is the condition where the pathologist checks to see if the epidermis is intact.  An open sore could make a lesion look ulcerated from the naked eye, but the pathologist has to be the one who determines ulceration from a microscopic perspective.  I suppose if something is irritated enough, it could cause a condition of ulceration although I've never read anything that would confirm or deny that picking a lesion could cause ulceration.

As for sun damage reversal, no such luck.  What's done is done and the DNA damage is considered cumulative over your lifetime. 

Since melanoma is really gauged by the depth of a lesion BELOW the epidermis, it is unlikely that picking at it will make it look worse.  Ulceration is the condition where the pathologist checks to see if the epidermis is intact.  An open sore could make a lesion look ulcerated from the naked eye, but the pathologist has to be the one who determines ulceration from a microscopic perspective.  I suppose if something is irritated enough, it could cause a condition of ulceration although I've never read anything that would confirm or deny that picking a lesion could cause ulceration.

As for sun damage reversal, no such luck.  What's done is done and the DNA damage is considered cumulative over your lifetime. 

I was wondeing about this to. I sometimes get acne on my back and during the summer of 2011 I felt a zit so I tried to pop it, and it didnt work so I scratched it. It bled for about an hour or two. The next day I realized that it was a mole. I had not been there before and I was really worried because my mom died from melanoma in June of 2003. I have been seeing the dermatoligist every two years since so when I found out that this was a mole I made my dad call the Dr. He looked at it and said that it looked just a little off so he went to do a Biopsy right then and there. He said it would only take two weeks to get the results but it took about a month and a half. I did not go out in the sun at all. When he finally called back he told us to come in; so we did. He told us that the mole was not melignant, but that it had to many abnormal cells that it could come back cancerous. He had to remove the whole thing so now i have a scar that is about an inch and a half long on my right shoulder. I am still very scared to be out in the sun for very long. Any more information I should know…?

I am a 17 year old girl and I like to be tan, but I am scared to tan, is there any advice i can get on how to tan safely or what sun block to use.

Thank You very Much,

Mariah

I was wondeing about this to. I sometimes get acne on my back and during the summer of 2011 I felt a zit so I tried to pop it, and it didnt work so I scratched it. It bled for about an hour or two. The next day I realized that it was a mole. I had not been there before and I was really worried because my mom died from melanoma in June of 2003. I have been seeing the dermatoligist every two years since so when I found out that this was a mole I made my dad call the Dr. He looked at it and said that it looked just a little off so he went to do a Biopsy right then and there. He said it would only take two weeks to get the results but it took about a month and a half. I did not go out in the sun at all. When he finally called back he told us to come in; so we did. He told us that the mole was not melignant, but that it had to many abnormal cells that it could come back cancerous. He had to remove the whole thing so now i have a scar that is about an inch and a half long on my right shoulder. I am still very scared to be out in the sun for very long. Any more information I should know…?

I am a 17 year old girl and I like to be tan, but I am scared to tan, is there any advice i can get on how to tan safely or what sun block to use.

Thank You very Much,

Mariah

I was wondeing about this to. I sometimes get acne on my back and during the summer of 2011 I felt a zit so I tried to pop it, and it didnt work so I scratched it. It bled for about an hour or two. The next day I realized that it was a mole. I had not been there before and I was really worried because my mom died from melanoma in June of 2003. I have been seeing the dermatoligist every two years since so when I found out that this was a mole I made my dad call the Dr. He looked at it and said that it looked just a little off so he went to do a Biopsy right then and there. He said it would only take two weeks to get the results but it took about a month and a half. I did not go out in the sun at all. When he finally called back he told us to come in; so we did. He told us that the mole was not melignant, but that it had to many abnormal cells that it could come back cancerous. He had to remove the whole thing so now i have a scar that is about an inch and a half long on my right shoulder. I am still very scared to be out in the sun for very long. Any more information I should know…?

I am a 17 year old girl and I like to be tan, but I am scared to tan, is there any advice i can get on how to tan safely or what sun block to use.

Thank You very Much,

Mariah