Dermatologic surgery refers to that subspecialty of dermatology that manages skin conditions through surgical procedures. These procedures may involve the superficial layers of the skin or extend through to the underlying layers of muscle or fat below depending on the condition being treated. All of our physicians routinely perform dermatologic surgery. Several of our physicians have received advanced training in specific areas of dermatologic surgery such as Mohs surgery, reconstructive and laser surgery.

There are many different forms of dermatologic surgical procedures. For example, for those conditions that are on the surface of the skin, our doctors may choose to remove them by simply shaving or snipping them off with a surgical scalpel or scissor respectively, by destroying them with a cold spray of liquid nitrogen or a special beam of light through our lasers, or electrical destruction with special instruments made for that purpose. Examples of conditions that might be treated would be benign problems such as moles, age spots, skin tags, or cancerous conditions where the cancer is in only the upper layers of the skin.

The surgical excision in which a growth is cut out and then the resulting wound closed with sutures allows for removal of conditions that involve potentially deeper layers of the skin. Examples of benign growths requiring excision are cysts, certain moles, fatty tumors (lipomas), and birthmarks. Excision is also commonly used for skin cancers, especially malignant melanomas.