Everyone has more or less a few “black moles” on their bodies, which are often called “moles” by the people. What is scary is your indifferent or overly nervous attitude towards it. What exactly is melanoma and what is the difference between it and a mole? From the medical point of view, a mole is a benign skin tumor, which is divided into many kinds, such as pigmented nevus, connective tissue nevus, sebaceous nevus and so on. The “black moles” and “nevus” commonly referred to by the people usually refer to pigmented nevi. There are two types of pigmented moles: one is congenital, which is present at birth and gradually grows larger with body development; the other is acquired, which usually appears gradually after school age, and the number varies from person to person. In the narrow sense, “mole” refers to pigmented nevus, also known as melanocytic nevus, which is a common benign skin tumor that almost everyone has, usually appearing from birth to 20 or 30 years old, and varying in size, shape and color. Although moles are benign tumors, very few cases of malignant transformation can be excluded. So, how should we judge whether a mole is malignant or not? 1. Judging from the diameter and size. Ordinary moles are generally less than 5 mm in diameter, while most malignant melanomas are more than 5 mm in diameter. 2. Judging from the color. The color of ordinary moles is mostly brown, tan or black. Malignant melanoma often has multiple colors. If the color suddenly deepens, becomes black, becomes blue or becomes lighter within a few months, it should be highly suspected to be malignant melanoma. 3. Judging from the edges. Ordinary moles have smooth edges and are clearly demarcated from the surrounding skin. Malignant melanoma has uneven edges and jagged changes, and is not clearly demarcated from the surrounding normal tissues. 4. Judging from symmetry. By visual inspection, it is divided into two in the center of the mass, and benign moles are symmetrical on both sides. Malignant melanoma is irregularly shaped and asymmetrical. 5.Judging from the change. Ordinary moles do not change over the years and do not feel any discomfort. Malignant melanoma, on the other hand, often increases in size within a short period of time, and the surrounding skin shows bleeding, ulcers, itching, and is difficult to heal after breaking, with ulcers or crusts, and many new small swellings appear around it. Through the above five methods, we can initially determine whether a mole is benign or malignant. Of course, the scientific way to determine whether a mole is benign or malignant is to go to a skin specialist for a pathological biopsy, and then consider whether it needs to be removed through diagnosis and analysis. From the medical point of view, not all moles need to be removed surgically, and different moles need to be treated in different ways. Non-surgical method 1. Liquid nitrogen freezing method. The advantage of this treatment is no bleeding, not easy to produce scar and low cost. However, it is not suitable for particularly deep, large and black moles and some special parts, and sometimes it needs several treatments to remove them; 2. Laser. At present, the main treatment is carbon dioxide super pulse laser, which has obvious effect, visual operation, controllable depth, small skin trauma and fast recovery. Surgical treatment If a mole is suspected of malignant change or is particularly large, dark or deep, and cannot be completely removed by non-surgical methods, histopathological examination is needed to clarify the nature of the mole before surgery is performed. However, local anesthesia is required, and surgical incisions and scars can be easily formed. It is especially important to remind people that once you find a “suspicious mole” on your body, do not treat it on your own, but always go to a specialist for treatment.