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 Skin growths are accumulations of various types of cells
that look different than the surrounding skin. They may be raised or
flat and range in color from dark brown or black to flesh-colored to
red. Skin growths may be present at birth or develop later.
When the growth is controlled and the cells do not
spread to other parts of the body, the skin growth (tumor) is
noncancerous (benign). When the growth is uncontrolled, the tumor is
cancerous (malignant), and the cells invade normal tissue and even
spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. Noncancerous skin
growths are often more of a cosmetic problem than anything else.
Doctors do not know what causes most noncancerous
skin growths. Some growths, however, are known to be caused by
viruses (for example, warts), systemic (bodywide) disease (for
example, xanthelasmas or xanthomas caused by excess fats in the
blood), and environmental factors (for example, moles and epidermal
cysts stimulated by sunlight).
Our skin is the largest organ of the body and
subjected to many internal and external abuses. So it is not
surprising that over time the skin develops a variety of innocent
lumps and bumps, some of which may be cysts and tumors. The variety
of lumps and bumps are many and varied and are often tagged with
long names which are impossible to pronounce. Suffice to say that
you do not have to live with white, brown, or red appendages that
may protrude from your skin. They are usually easy to remove,
particularly now that target specific lasers have been
developed.
If they are lumpy they may be cut out or vaporized
with a carbon dioxide laser. Red lesions are often removed with
vascular removal lasers and pigmented (brown) lesions are treated
with bleaching agents or removed with pigment removal
lasers.
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