Keep a Check on Your Moles

Our skin colour is due to the presence of a pigment called melanin. When this pigment gets collected in a particular area of the skin, it gets darker as compared to the normal skin colour. This area is called a mole.

Reasons behind the appearance of the moles are unknown till date. But some hereditary inheritance is known.

Moles can be congenital or may appear anytime later. These may appear on part of the body. In teenage, in women on contraceptive pills, during pregnancy and menopause, these moles become darker in colour and new ones may also appear. Exposure to sun also increases their number.

Moles may have various colours (they can be of skin colour or darker) and different sizes. Usually they are brown in appearance. Some moles may be hairy and appear high on skin.

There may be different types of moles. Those that are present by birth are smaller in size but grow much bigger as one grows older. Moles that appear after the birth may be round or oval. Some moles may disappear spontaneously. Some can even be slightly raised.

Moles are normally harmless but some can become cancerous. So it is necessary to keep a check on the moles. There is a simple method to check these moles called ABCDE method. A stands for asymmetry, B means border, C for colour, D for diameter and E stands for evolution. It means that if you have a mole on an uneven area, it changes colour, you feel pain on it, its growth is uneven, there is swelling on it, it bleeds and also if the two halves of the moles do not look same, then you must go and see a doctor.

Even if the mole is not cancerous, some people like to get them removed for cosmetic reasons.