Skin Check/ Mole Check Hamilton

Skin Check

Before your appointment at Skin Logics Hamilton

Important things to consider

1. Please arrive 15 min prior to your appointment to complete the paperwork.
2. Please wear comfortable clothing as a full body mole check will require you to change In to a clinic gown
3. Please DO NOT wear any make up
4. Please DO NOT wear any nail polish on the day of examination. If you are wearing old nail polish, then take it off before appointment.
5. Please DO NOT dye your hair as your scalp needs to be examined and some time the dye can be on the skin of your scalp.
6. Please AVOID wearing ant Jewelry on the day of examination.
7. Please do a self-examination and point out any moles or spots that concern you the most.
8. You will be asked about your family history of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers- please check with your immediate family about it as it will change your risk profile.

How do we conduct Medical Skin Checks?

Firstly, your skin is examined with colour corrected and direct, focused lighting. Next, we use Full HD video dermatoscopes to perform scanning examination of your skin and individual moles at 50x magnification on a  high definition LED screen. We use Mole Max HD technology for skin examination. Where required, any lesions are further examined with high resolution Digital Dermoscopy at a minimal 16 megapixels and further magnified up to 300x.

Where lesions or moles are located at locations such as ear folds, nose, eyelids, fingers and toes, they are examined with non-polarised German dermatoscopes and ultrasound gel. Digital Dermoscopy is then further performed on these lesions.

This takes more time, equipment, and many more steps than a traditional Skin Check examination.

Our strong belief is that we must use the most appropriate equipment for different parts of the body, in order to provide the best service to our patients. Therefore, we have included the above steps in all our skin check consultations without additional costs to our patients.

A brief summary of steps:

• Skin examination under specialised lighting.
• Video Dermoscopy on Full HD mode at 50 x magnification for flat body surface areas.
• Digital Dermoscopy at minimal 16 megapixels resolution and up to 300x magnification.
• Contact Dermoscopy with Ultrasound gel, plus Digital Dermoscopy if required.

Full Skin Check

• Comprehensive skin examination head to toe. (Please note that areas beneath undergarments are examined only at your request)
• Detailed mole and skin examination.
• Skin checks performed by Dr Dilawar Singh – no dermoscopists involved.
• Identification and treatment of multiple precancerous sun spots with cryotherapy/freezing or non-invasive electrosurgical methods (charges apply for the procedure)
• Biopsy of suspicious lesions for specialist histopathological examination if required (charges apply for the procedure)

Spot Check

• Detailed examination of 1-2 spots.
• Skin checks performed by Dr Dilawar Singh.
• Treatment of 1-2 suitable precancerous sun spots with cryotherapy or non-invasive electrosurgical methods (charges apply for the procedure).
• Biopsy of suspicious lesions for specialist histopathological examination if required (charges apply for the procedure).

Dermoscopy

Dr Dilawar Singh trained in dermoscopy, which has now become the world standard in early skin cancer diagnosis.

Dermoscopy utilizes a unique imaging system to “see through” the top layer of skin, to assess what is happening to skin cells below. It uses specific algorithms to determine the position of cells and structures within individual layers of the skin. By studying the patterns we can detect early abnormal activity and therefore lead to early skin cancer diagnosis. This is a rapidly advancing field, which allows earlier and more accurate diagnosis of skin cancers.

Patients are often amazed by the small size of the skin cancer detected using dermoscopy, and obviously relieved to find their skin cancers cured at a very early stage.

Surgical Treatment

We understand you may be naturally anxious if you require skin cancer surgery. Our goal at Skin Logics is to provide top level care in your skin cancer treatment. We use techniques and materials to minimise scarring and to optimise your comfort.

These are some of the extra steps we take:

1. In the top and lower layers of skin, wounds are closed separately.
2. To provide strength and improve long term scar appearance, dissolvable sutures are used in
3. To reduce pain, local anaesthetic is pH balanced before use.
4. To reduce risk of the lower layer as internal stitches. Bleeding, time is spent with electrocautery to seal blood vessels.

Biopsy

If the doctor finds a mole or spot which is suspicious for cancer, a biopsy may be required to confirm the diagnosis and to fine-tune treatment. In a biopsy, a small sample of the suspicious lesion is removed and forwarded to a laboratory for specialist diagnosis.

At Skin Logics, refined techniques allow us to perform a biopsy with minimal discomfort and pain. It generally hurts less than a routine vaccination needle. The biopsy allows us to confirm the presence of skin cancer and to identify the sub-types of different skin cancers, their depths and any likely extent of spread. We are then able to recommend the most appropriate treatment.

Depending on the location and size, most biopsies are done on the day of the skin cancer check.

Mole Check Hamilton

Skin Logics specialises in mole check and mole removal.

Referral to Specialist

If the skin cancer is already advanced when diagnosed, the doctor will co-ordinate your care with specialist dermatologists and/or plastic surgeons with a special interest in skin cancer.