Medical & Surgical Dermatology

Medical Dermatology

Medical dermatology includes the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the skin, hair, and nails. Providers in this specialty receive training to spot skin cancer and other disorders, manage chronic conditions impacting these areas and address discomfort due to skin infections, rashes or other concerns. Treatments may include topical or oral medications, surgical procedures or other therapies. A plan is formulated with your dermatology provider to determine the best course of action to address your specific concerns.

It is recommended that patients visit a dermatologist at least once a year to undergo a complete skin check as part of their routine care.

Surgical Dermatology

Surgical procedures may be required to remove benign skin growths such as cysts, moles, and fatty growths called lipomas, as well as some skin cancers. These procedures are performed in-office under sterile conditions and require little or no topical anesthetic.

• Cryosurgery is the use of liquid nitrogen to destroy a wart or pre-cancerous lesion.
• Curettage and electrodesiccation is a treatment for skin cancer that involves the removal of a cancerous lesion with a sharp, round instrument called a curette, followed by the cauterization of the remaining cancerous skin cells to destroy them.
• Excision involves using a scalpel to remove an abnormal growth which is then sutured closed.
• Grafting is the process of transferring skin from another part of the body to repair a defect caused by the surgical removal of a lesion.
• Scar revision can be accomplished by surgical means, but often non-invasive treatments are more appropriate.
• Mohs Micrographic Surgery is a highly specialized surgical procedure and has the highest cure rate of any treatment for the most common skin cancers. Performed under local anesthesia, the doctor removes only the cancerous skin and leaves all the healthy skin so that the final cosmetic result of the repair is optimized.