Benign skin lesion treatment
This is the page where the boundary matters more than the treatment. Suitability is established at the analysis alone, and a lesion that looks irregular to me is referred to a dermatologist before any treatment — and I do not treat it.
What I don't do
I do not diagnose lesions medically. That diagnosis is made by a doctor, with the appropriate examination, and the analysis at the clinic is not a medical diagnosis and does not stand in for one.
A lesion that looks irregular to me — in its shape, its borders, its colour, or a change that has occurred in it — is referred to a dermatologist before any treatment, and I do not treat it. This isn't a clause in small print; it's how this work is done here.
Why that rule is so rigid
Telling a benign lesion from one that isn't benign is not done by eye, not even an experienced one. It is done by the appropriate medical examination, and there is no substitute for it.
So the only decision I make at the analysis is whether there is something here that requires a doctor. If the answer is yes, that's where we stop.
What does happen at the analysis
First we talk: when the lesion appeared, whether it has changed, whether something about it worries you. Then we look at it closely, together.
If it's something that needs a doctor, you'll leave with the referral rather than with a treatment. And if not, we'll talk about what can be done, what the recovery looks like, and what the instructions are before and after.
Who it suits
- There is a benign lesion, already examined by a doctor, that bothers you
- You want someone to tell you honestly whether a doctor should come first
- Keeping the boundary between cosmetics and medicine matters to you
When we talk first, and when I refer you to a doctor
- Any lesion whose shape, borders or colour looks irregular, and any lesion that has changed, is referred to a dermatologist, and I do not treat it.
- A lesion never examined, which you don't know the nature of — the examination comes before any treatment.
- Any doubt, however small, is resolved with a doctor and not at the clinic.
This page is a general explanation of the treatment, not personal advice. Suitability is established at the skin analysis and the conversation around it — and if this treatment isn't what your skin needs, you'll hear that from me.
Further reading
- When the right thing is a referral to a physician
Where cosmetics ends and medicine begins. On skin lesions, on hair loss, on conditions that call for investigation — and why "no" is sometimes the most professional thing I have to give.
- What happens in a skin analysis — and why every treatment starts there
A computerised skin analysis is not a formality before the treatment; it is what decides what the treatment will be. Here is exactly what happens at the first session, and what it shows that the eye cannot.
Let's start with an analysis
Tell me what's bothering you and we'll book a skin analysis and a conversation. By the end of it you'll know what's reasonable to expect, over what period, and whether this is the right method for you at all.