"Sometimes a mole may hardly change at all for years and suddenly start to change in shape, color, or get thicker."
NADIA BOROWSKI SCOTT / Union-Tribune
Jennifer Hauser, 26, an aesthetician and medical assistant at La Jolla SpaMD, has a mole near her right eye. Celebrities have highlighted moles as beauty spots, but moles can be significant as an early-warning system for skin cancer.
Dr. Gregg Garner,
All three are skin conditions, but dermatologists say warts, moles and birthmarks are unrelated. And they agree all three should not be taken lightly.
Moles are a localized increase in the number of the skin's pigment cells; warts are skin growths caused by a viral infection; and birthmarks are an increase in the blood cells in a given area, said Dr. Richard Gallo, chief of the division of dermatology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and chief of dermatology at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.
Moles have had their time in the limelight with celebrities such as actress Marilyn Monroe, actress Elizabeth Taylor and supermodel Cindy Crawford, who have highlighted them as beauty spots.
But most important, moles can be particularly significant as an early-warning system for skin cancer.
Reasonable care and attention to moles make it possible to catch and treat cancers in their earliest stages, said Gallo and Dr. Gregg Garner, an internist who is chairman of the Department of Medicine at Sharp Grossmont Hospital.
"Sometimes a mole may hardly change at all for years and suddenly start to change in shape, color, or get thicker," Garner said. "Go immediately to your family doctor or a dermatologist."
Although the vast majority of moles never develop into skin cancer, Gallo said, a mole on the skin since birth has a slightly higher chance of becoming cancerous. Skin cancer often appears in places where there has never been a mole.
While moles are the potential bad guys, warts get tremendously bad press as things to get rid of.
Warts are skin growths caused by the human papillomavirus, of which there are more than 60 types. There are several types of warts, and the appearance of a wart depends on where it is growing.
Warts are passed from person to person by direct or indirect contact – by touching a wart or by using towels or other objects that were used by a person who has warts. Some types are transmitted by skin-to-skin sexual contact.
Common warts generally grow around the fingernails, on fingers and on the backs of the hands. They are most common where the skin has been broken by fingernail biting or pulling at hangnails.
Plantar warts grow in clusters on the soles of the feet and are known as "mosaic" warts. Walking often buries them in the skin, making them painful.
Garner said he had personal experience with plantar warts.
"I had one as a youngster and it seriously limited what I was able to do," he said. "It took several surgeries to remove it, and the site still needs occasional attention."
Flat warts are smaller and smoother than other warts and can grow in groups of 20 to 100. They can occur anywhere on the body but usually appear on the face on children, in the beard area on men and on the legs on women. Dermatologists generally believe that the irritation from shaving may account for the adult warts.
Genital warts are among the most common types of sexually transmitted diseases. They can appear on the genitals or in the genital area, and in women may grow in the vagina or on the cervix. Genital warts can lead to serious complications, including cervical cancer.
Garner said that untreated, some warts stay while others go away.
"It is best to get rid of them as soon as possible because a mother wart can sow seeds in surrounding tissue that will develop as new warts," he said.
Warts can be removed, but the viral infection cannot be cured. There is no single, effective treatment for warts. Treatment is based on the individual, and size, number and location of warts. Warts on the skin and genital warts are removed in different ways.
Garner said over-the-counter mild acids can be used to burn off warts on the skin. Doctors also can remove warts by applying a chemical compound, and then removing the dead skin; applying liquid nitrogen to freeze the wart; using a laser; or surgically cutting out the growth.
Among the treatments administered by physicians for genital warts are cryotherapy, or freezing; electrocauterization, or burning off; laser surgery; loop electrosurgical procedure; and topical chemical applications.
The third family of skin blemishes, the birthmark, rarely presents anything other than cosmetic inconvenience.
Nobody is certain how birthmarks are formed. Experts believe most birthmarks are harmless and need no medical treatment. Sometimes they appear on a newborn's eyelids or forehead and usually disappear by age 2. Birthmarks on the neck can last into adulthood.
Three types of birthmarks need careful attention because they can, in some cases, grow into an open ulcer that can become infected.
The strawberry hemangioma is slightly raised and bright red as a result of abnormal blood vessels close to the skin.
The cavernous hemangioma is blue in color as a result of blood vessels deep under the skin.
After a growth period on a newborn or young child, cavernous hemangiomas and strawberry hemangiomas usually will shrink, leaving just a small mark.
Another type of birthmark is the capillary hemangioma, or "port-wine stain." Dermatologists say that about three babies in 1,000 have such a stain, which grows as the child grows and does not go away.
Lasers are starting to be used to treat hemangiomas, although with limited success on the capillary hemangioma.
Michael Scott-Blair is a
San Diego-based freelance writer.