Benefits of MOHS Surgery as a Skin Cancer Treatment

Mohs surgery is used mostly on non-melanoma skin cancers due to its high failure rate with melanomas. However, there is also use on other types of skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma or Merkel cell carcinoma. The performance of the procedure is on a patient who has an affected skin area. Here are the benefits of Mohs surgery as a skin cancer treatment.

1. Low Risk of Post-Operative Complications
   Mohs surgery is not a very invasive procedure. It means that it has a low risk of complications. Most of the time, the only side effects are some mild skin redness, stinging and swelling, and minor pain in the area where there is scraping.
2. One Treatment for Several Different Types of Skin Cancer
   Mohs surgery can be used to treat more than one type of skin cancer at once. There is also useful when the tumor is uncertain about what type of cancer it is, so the MOHs plastic surgeon can eliminate any risk of leaving one type of tumor behind and letting a potentially more serious one continue to grow.
3. It Lets a Surgeon Get Closer to the Actual Tumor
   This type of facial plastic surgery allows for much more precision when removing cancerous skin than alternative treatments like excision, done using sutures and stitches.
4. It Is Less Painful
   Because Mohs surgery has less trauma to the skin and does not involve stitches, it is less painful than other skin cancer treatments, including excision and radiation.
5. It Leaves a Scar, but Ranges from Minimal to None
   The scars from Mohs surgery usually heal faster than other types of skin cancer treatments. Most scars are less than 3 inches above the area where there is making of the wound, and they can be just a small line or a patch of dull skin.
6. Older Patients Can Use It
   In some cases, it is possible to use Mohs surgery on patients older than 40 if they have never had any surgeries before. Their skin may be thicker and less sensitive to the warm knife used for the procedure.Mohs surgery is a minor outpatient procedure used to treat several types of skin cancer. It leaves no scars, and in most cases, patients only require a week or two of recovery time before resuming their normal lives. It means that it is often an ideal treatment for younger patients who want to get rid of their skin cancers and prevent them from turning into more dangerous tumors in later life.