A mole, cyst, skin tag or lipoma can usually be examined and removed in one visit, under local anaesthetic, in about 30 minutes. Anything excised goes to a laboratory and a doctor gives you the result. Expect a small scar. Fees run from £395 for a skin tag to £695 for a lipoma.
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Any of these needs to be seen the same day. If you are severely unwell, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
A skin lesion is any lump, spot or growth on the skin. Most are moles, seborrhoeic keratoses, skin tags, epidermoid cysts or lipomas, and almost all of them are harmless. People have them removed because they catch on clothing, because they sit somewhere visible, or because they want to know what they are.American Family Physician Zuber, 2002
A small number are skin cancers. Melanoma is diagnosed in around 17,500 people in the UK each year and the number has risen faster than for most other cancers, so the examination before removal is where the decision is actually made.Cancer Research UK CRUK statistics, 2024
Moles are collections of pigment cells and most appear before the age of 30. A mole that changes when the rest of your moles are not changing is the one worth showing a doctor. Sun exposure, fair skin, a large number of moles and a family history all raise the risk of melanoma.British Association of Dermatologists BAD guideline, 2022
Cysts and lipomas are not caused by anything you did. A cyst is a sac lined with skin cells that keeps filling. A lipoma is a soft collection of fat cells under the skin, and it grows slowly over years rather than weeks.American Family Physician Salam, 2002
Send us what you are seeing and we will tell you what it is likely to be.
The appointment starts with a look at the lesion under dermoscopy, a lens with a light that shows the pigment pattern under the surface. That is what separates a mole a doctor is happy about from one that needs to come out with a margin. Bring anything else you want checked, because looking at the rest of your skin costs nothing.
Where a lesion has features suggesting cancer, the referral thresholds in national guidance apply and the pathway changes from a removal to an urgent specialist opinion. The doctor tells you which one you are on before anything is done.NICE NG12, 2015
Leaving it alone
The right answer for most benign lesions. A lipoma that is not growing and does not hurt can stay. A mole a doctor is confident about can be photographed and watched.
Photography and review
For a mole that is slightly unusual but not suspicious, a dated photograph and a look again in 3 months tells you more than any test on a single day.
Cryotherapy
Freezing works for viral warts and some superficial lesions. It does not produce a specimen, so it is not used where a diagnosis matters.
Shave, snip or curette
Takes the lesion off flush with the skin. Quick, leaves a flat pale mark rather than a line, and still produces tissue for the laboratory.
Excision with a margin
The whole lesion cut out and the skin closed with stitches. This is what a lesion with any suspicious feature gets, and it is what everything sent for histology at The Wellness has.NICE NG125, 2020
A small excision on the arm or trunk takes 20 to 30 minutes. Stitches come out at 7 days on the face and 10 to 14 days elsewhere. The scar is red and firm for 6 to 8 weeks and then fades over 6 to 12 months, and it is at its worst around 2 months rather than on day one.Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Mustoe, 2002
Histology takes 1 to 2 weeks. Wound infection after clean minor skin surgery is uncommon and does not justify routine antibiotics, so none are given unless the wound shows signs of infection.NICE NG125, 2020
Photograph anything you are worried about beside a ruler, in the same light, once a month. Change over 3 months is worth more than appearance on any single day, and it is the most useful thing you can bring to the appointment.
Use the same test a dermatologist uses. Look for asymmetry, an irregular border, more than one colour, a diameter over 6mm, and any change over time. A lesion that looks different from all your others is worth showing someone even if it fails none of those.British Association of Dermatologists BAD guideline, 2022
If you take a blood thinner, keep taking it and tell us at booking. Most minor skin surgery is safely done without stopping anticoagulation, and stopping it carries its own risk.
Do not buy mole mapping as a first step if you have fewer than 50 moles and no family history of melanoma. It photographs everything and changes nothing about the lesion you are actually worried about.British Association of Dermatologists BAD guideline, 2022
Do not have a cosmetic removal on a flat mole on the face without seeing what the scar will look like. For a flat mole in an area that shows, the line is sometimes more noticeable than the mole was. We will say so when we think it, and that costs us the fee.General Medical Council GMC guidance, 2020
Step 1
Under dermoscopy, in the room. You hear what the doctor thinks it is, whether it needs to come out, and what removing it leaves behind.
Step 2
The options, the scar and the price, before anything is done. Nothing is removed until you have said yes to it.
Step 3
Under local anaesthetic in the same appointment where that is safe. Tissue goes to a laboratory and the doctor who removed it gives you the result and what it means.
Ask before you book if you are not sure this is the right appointment.
Often, yes. Most moles, cysts, skin tags and lipomas are examined and removed under local anaesthetic in the same appointment, in about 30 minutes. Some need a photograph over time or a specialist opinion instead, and you are told which before you commit to anything. Mole removal is £495.
Any excision leaves a mark. A shave leaves a flat pale patch, an excision leaves a line roughly three times the width of the lesion. The doctor tells you where it will sit and how it is likely to settle before starting, and picks the technique partly on that basis.
Where there is any doubt, and always for a full excision, the tissue goes to a laboratory for histology. The report takes 1 to 2 weeks and the doctor who removed it gives you the result and explains what it means for you.
Most lesions people bring in are not. The examination under dermoscopy is how that is judged. A lesion with suspicious features is excised with a margin and sent to the laboratory rather than shaved, and where a specialist is the right next step we arrange it and book it.
Here it is £395 for a skin tag or a biopsy, £495 for a mole, £595 for a cyst and £695 for a lipoma. Each includes the consultation, the local anaesthetic, the procedure and the aftercare. The price is confirmed before anything is done and does not change afterwards.
The local anaesthetic stings for about 10 seconds. After that you feel pressure and movement but not pain. Most people take paracetamol for a day afterwards and many take nothing.
Keep the wound dry for 48 hours. Avoid swimming and heavy lifting until the stitches are out, which is 7 days on the face and 10 to 14 days elsewhere. Walking and desk work are fine the same day.
Removal for a medical reason is sometimes covered and cosmetic removal is not. You receive an itemised receipt together with the histology report, which is what an insurer asks for. Check your policy before you book, because a rejected claim after the procedure is harder to argue than a question asked beforehand.
This page is general information about a condition and it is not a diagnosis. Treatment depends on what a doctor finds when they examine you, and no outcome is guaranteed. If you are severely unwell, or if any of the warnings at the top of this page apply to you, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
American Family Physician, American Academy of Family Physicians
Minimal excision technique for epidermoid (sebaceous) cystsZuber, 2002
American Family Physician, American Academy of Family Physicians
Lipoma excisionSalam, 2002
British Association of Dermatologists
Guidelines for the management of people with cutaneous melanomaBAD guideline, 2022
Cancer Research UK
Melanoma skin cancer incidence statisticsCRUK statistics, 2024
General Medical Council
Decision making and consentGMC guidance, 2020
NICE
NICE
Surgical site infections, prevention and treatmentNG125, 2020
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
International clinical recommendations on scar managementMustoe, 2002
Written and reviewed by the clinical team at The Wellness. Last reviewed 8 September 2026.
Tell us what is going on and a doctor will say what to book, or whether you need to be seen today.