Bleeding mole...how long to see a doctor?

[shelleyf]

I have a mole under my arm...yeah..my armpit :/
I have had it for as long as I can remember and I've never thought anything of it other than being careful not to lift my arms up when I'm in a shirt that could let it be seen.
I've thought about having it removed just because I find it embarrassing.
Never occurred to me that it could be unhealthy
Smee, How bad did it hurt?

I have had one under my left armpit for about 10 years now. I got it checked lots of times by different doctors over the years. They all say the same thing that it is from ingrown hairs. And it shrinks sometimes. I don't worry about it.

[Gnorga]

I have had one under my left armpit for about 10 years now. I got it checked lots of times by different doctors over the years. They all say the same thing that it is from ingrown hairs. And it shrinks sometimes. I don't worry about it.

Mine has been here this long, I guess I'm not going to worry about having it removed.
I read that they put a needle right into the actual mole.

That makes me cringe

[kval07]

I've had four moles removed (two came back abnormal). I just had two removed within the past two weeks. It's a quick procedure at the dermatologist. They inject lidocaine (sp?) in the area all around the mole. That is the part that hurts. Then they cut out the mole and the surrounding tissue and send if off for testing. I had my results on my appointment to have my stitches out. It is not a terrible procedure, but not my favorite either. I just had to have one removed on the right side of my right breast. I can thank my gyno for that one.

Anyway, OP, I'd get it checked out if it is giving you problems. If you have a lot of moles, you should go to the dermatologist yearly to have them looked at.

[Smee]

I have a mole under my arm...yeah..my armpit :/
I have had it for as long as I can remember and I've never thought anything of it other than being careful not to lift my arms up when I'm in a shirt that could let it be seen.
I've thought about having it removed just because I find it embarrassing.
Never occurred to me that it could be unhealthy
Smee, How bad did it hurt?

It didn't hurt at all! They shot all around them with numbing stuff and then I didn't feel anything. The shots didn't even hurt-- just minor pricks. A couple of moles were basically shaved from my scalp and the other was actually a punch biopsy on my back which removes a lot more tissue and required a couple of sutures. I never felt any of it.

[abond0017]

Well, saw the derm today. Told me that sometimes if a mole gets irritated enough and you scratch it it will bleed, and that it didn't appear to be cancerous. So, no biopsy. I am not 100% convinced a biopsy still wouldn't have been a good idea...at least to put my mind at ease. It's not a difficult thing to do...DH has had it done and it literally takes a couple minutes. Maybe I wouldn't still be a bit concerned if it had been irritated or if I really scratched it like they said they thought is what happened...but it wasn't irritated and I did little more than rub it. Oh well, they told me to keep an eye on it so I guess that is what I'll do.

The good news though is that they had no problem lasering off some other little growths I had. Go figure. I guess they just wanted to play with the fun toys today.

[cintinative]

Glad you are okay.

I had a friend whose child had a bleeding mole--one day it just started bleeding and wouldn't stop. It has to do with the blood vessels being very near the skin somehow. I think they removed the mole but I'm not sure how those types of moles are formed.

It's always good to err on the side of caution with moles. I found one between my toes once and got nervous when the foot doctor took one look at it and said, "we need a biopsy on that!" Fortunately it was benign, but moles on the scalp and hidden spots, bleeding moles, irregular shaped moles/changing moles should always be looked at as I understand it. Now if only it didn't take six weeks to get in to see the dermatologist! =)

Hope you have no more mole troubles!

[tammyinwv]

I had one on the back of my upper arm for years. Would constantly rub it or scrath it without thinking and get it to bleeding. Doc thought it looked a little suspiscious, so he removed it and biopsied it. It was negative. But I can certainly understand your worry. In my opinion it always best to err on the safe side.
Tammy

[MsSweetCheeks]

Please get your mole checked out. My mom passed away from melanoma. If it would have been caught sooner, they probably could have done something. Any changes in moles is a reason to get it checked out.

[CW&M Mom]

I agree, make an appointment with the derm and have it removed.