Mole, Mole, Mole!

Ever since I saw that Austin Powers movie with Dr. Evil’s son and his very obvious mole, I find myself repeating the scene in my head and laughing alone. Weird, I know. But funny, even so. Setting all dumb jokes aside, moles are actually serious business. Besides being Marilyn Monroe’s, Cindy Crawford’s and Eva Mendez’ distinctive beauty mark, moles have a dark side to them every man should be on the lookout for. 

Moles are brown or black skin growths. You have likely seen these mostly roundish formations, making up for your very own personal star-studded canvas. Most of your moles are likely to appear during the first quarter of your life. Childhood and up to your early twenties cover the time span during which most moles will pop on to your birth suit. However, having more moles appear later in life is not unheard of.

As we grow older moles change with the rest of our body, sometimes growing bumpier or fading in color. There is no one particular behavior for moles. Some may darken, some may disappear entirely or even change shapes. And non of this should cause you to worry, except when moles grow larger.

A mole makes its staring appearance thanks to a bunch of skin cells growing in clusters instead of spreading around the skin, as they normally would. These so-called melanocytes give the skin its natural tone color, hence the stronger color concentration in moles. Some moles are likelier than others to develop melanomas, and therefore the relevance of their color, size and changing ways. They might be sexy on Scarlett, but they sure turn ugly when they give you cancer.

After your teenage years (much like a generic Viagra story would start), any moles suddenly entering the scene should be monitored. If you are a beach junkie and love activities in the sun, pay special attention to your moles, and place enough sunscreen with high SPF as prevention. Part of monitoring your moles is watching out for growth and color changes. Dermatologists are great specialists that can help you monitor significantly changing moles, and eventually get a biopsy of the suspicious skin mark.

Cancerous moles usually amass a number of characteristics including an asymmetric shape, an irregular border, different shades within the same mole, size (larger than the diameter of a pencil eraser) and a raised appearance above skin level. The most common known places for melanoma moles to develop in men is on their backs. If you happen to have any moles that haven’t been checked yet, you are in for a fun field trip to the dermatologist’s office. Remember we are in the era of all cancer-causing elements. Your mole might be one.

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