Can melanoma be rubbed off by hand or appear overnight?
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Can melanoma be rubbed off by hand or appear overnight?

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Can melanoma be rubbed off by hand or appear overnight?

  • Post
    • March 20, 2018 at 1:35 am
    mwang122
    Participant

      Hi All, 

      i just noticed a spider like “mole” on my hand today. It looked so shallow but still a little bit brown. I never noticed it before. I had three atypical moles before and panicked at once. However, when I rubbed it really hard with my finger and soap. It was almost gone. I am on a business trip today and cannot call my dermatologist and I am so stressed now. Can melanoma appear overnight or rubbed off by hand? I thought it might be some ink stick to my hand, but still so hard to wash it off. Thanks 

       

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        • March 20, 2018 at 1:52 am
        Janner
        Participant

          Unlikely on both counts.  Melanoma is IN the skin and it isn't going to be rubbed off.  Can you rub of any of your moles?  And appearing overnight, extremely unlikely.  Also, melanoma on the palm is a different type of melanoma and even rarer.  6 week rule.  You need to learn to give things a chance to heal and go away on their own.  In that time, is it getting better on its own or is it getting worse.  Continuing to get worse, call your derm.  Most things are NOT melanoma.  

            • March 20, 2018 at 2:31 am
            mwang122
            Participant

              Thanks so much Janner. I feel a little bit better now.

              • March 20, 2018 at 11:14 am
              mwang122
              Participant

                Hi Janner,

                it does not bleeding at all or even seems need healing? It just looks like normal skin after I scratched it off, maybe only slightly redder. There is still some pigment left since I did not scratch all the area. How can I tell whether it is melanoma or not?

                • March 20, 2018 at 3:26 pm
                Janner
                Participant

                  All I can say is leave it alone.  I don't understand why you immediately think something is melanoma?  If, over time, it continues to grow and develop – have it checked by a derm.    But I personally would not be running to a derm at this point in time.  Remember about 98% of things biopsied are NOT melanoma.   I'll state my derms rule again – give something 6 weeks.  If it continues to grow and look worse after 6 weeks, get it checked.  If it heals or looks better, then good for waiting.  You have to do what makes YOU comfortable – I'm only telling you that something I could wash off / scrape off is unlikely to be melanoma.  Something like a seborrheic keratosis that has a "top" to it would be much more likely in my book.  I've peeled the top of a keratosis off before that got raised/irritated before.  No one here can tell you if you have melanoma or not, we can only tell you generally what makes sense.

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