Remove Skin Cancer

Most surgical wounds will heal within 1-3 weeks. For larger surgeries, or areas which don’t have sufficient surrounding skin to close the wound, a skin graft may be needed to adequately close the wound, thus resulting in a subsequent surgical site to obtain the skin graft. This is generally taken from a nearby non-conspicuous location and will be discussed with you prior to surgery. The donor site will heal in the same time frame.

All our surgeries are performed under local anaesthetic. The doctor will administer this via a small number of injections around the site to effectively numb the area. You will remain awake throughout the procedure. For patients that suffer from needle phobia, your doctor can prescribe medication to alleviate stress prior to surgery.

The area to be removed will include the lesion and a small amount of surrounding tissue in order to create clear margins between the lesion and surrounding healthy tissue. 5mm is the standard measurement of clear margin for most skin cancers.

All skin surgeries require stitches to close the wound. Dissolvable stitches will be placed internally and/or externally. Although the stitches will dissolve over time, any remaining stitches will be removed at your aftercare appointment one week post-surgery. If a skin grafts was needed during your procedure, your stitches may remain for an additional week.

Due to the use of local anaesthetic, you will feel minimal discomfort of the injections, however you shouldn’t feel any pain during the procedure. A few hours after surgery the anaesthetic effect will begin to wear off. At this stage you may experience some pain for the first few days which is manageable via taking paracetamol.

The tissue removed during your surgery will be sent off to pathology to be analysed. A report will detail if clear margins were achieved during your procedure, specifying if any further surgery will be required. These results will be discussed with you at your aftercare appointment 7-10 days following your procedure.

Your dressing will be applied on the day of your procedure. This dressing is to remain in place and dry for the first 3 days. You can then change the dressings at home and clean the wound with antiseptic. This secondary dressing is to be changed every 2 days until your aftercare appointment. If the dressings becomes blood soaked or wet you will change the dressing again as required. After 1 week sport tapes will be placed on the wound. This is waterproof and can be removed after one week.