Cuts after shaving: what to do and how to stop the bleeding

A mole is a benign formation that appears on the body for various reasons. Usually nevi, as moles are also called, do not cause any inconvenience to people. But large tumors that rise above the skin can be accidentally injured by getting caught in clothing or some object. Many people do not know what to do if a mole is damaged and make standard mistakes, which sometimes lead to the development of melanoma.

What is the danger of damaging a mole?

There are a large number of myths about injured moles. People often think that if a mole falls off, it will definitely lead to cancer. But this is not entirely true. In fact, of course, there is such a risk, but a mole after an injury can develop into a malignant one only in 30% of cases.

Of course, this is also a significant figure, so damaged moles cannot be ignored and it is better to consult a doctor as soon as possible. Children need to be monitored with special care, because they often do not tell their parents about subtle wounds, and sometimes they themselves do not pay attention to them.

What to do?

To avoid tearing a mole until it bleeds, you must follow the following principles:

1. Select wardrobe items in such a way that they do not put pressure or rub the formation.
2. When bathing, be careful not to rub hanging moles or areas with an increased number of flat ones.
3. Monitor hand hygiene and, in particular, nails. Because there are many bacteria under the nails that infect the wound if a mole bleeds. If a woman nevertheless injured the formation and began to bleed, it is important to visit a doctor.
4. Monitor the condition of moles on the baby’s body and consult a doctor if they change. Explain to children over 3 years old that moles on the body are dangerous to pick and tear.
5. If there are moles that are in an area of ​​increased friction or contact with clothing, for example, on the bridge of the nose (if a person wears glasses) or under the armpits, then you need to think about removing them. Your doctor will determine the correct way to get rid of a nevus.

Nevi that are often injured and bleed are best removed.

Actions to take if a mole is damaged

Actions to take when a mole is injured depend on the nature of the damage. If the mole is slightly scratched, but there is no blood, then it is enough to wash it with an antiseptic solution. It is not necessary to see a doctor.

If there is bleeding from a mole, the following measures must be taken:

• treat the wound with an antiseptic (excluding iodine);
• moisten a cotton swab with hydrogen peroxide and apply to the mole;
• When the bleeding stops, apply a bandage.

If the mole is severely torn, then you need to go to the clinic and have the tumor completely removed. After this, it is advisable to submit the biomaterial for histological examination. If the mole has fallen off completely, then it should also be sent for histology. But melanoma does not develop so quickly, and its first signs appear about a month after the mole is injured, so it would be best to undergo a re-examination.

Why does blood come from a mole?

Injury to nevus

Most often, bleeding from a mole occurs when a person has injured a nevus. This can happen either mechanically or chemically. According to statistics, women and children are most susceptible to injury from moles. Chemical damage can occur when a person uses cosmetics that contain toxic and aggressive ingredients. A nevus can also be injured by contact with chemicals.

Mechanical damage to a mole in a woman occurs if she has long nails and scratches the formation with them. Injury to a mole also occurs when bathing, when you press hard on a washcloth, or use abrasive cosmetic products (scrubs). Nevi also bleed due to rubbing with clothing or jewelry. Injury to a mole in men occurs when it is cut with a razor. The child independently combs or rips off the nevus when exploring his own body, damages it accidentally in his sleep or while playing with animals.

A nevus can bleed even without injury, which indicates an inflammatory process.

Pathological causes

If a mole bleeds, but there was no damage, this indicates inflammatory processes in the tissues that resulted in bleeding. In addition, the nevus can come off completely, which indicates tissue necrosis. If bleeding occurs, it is important to immediately contact a dermatologist, oncologist and surgeon, who will determine the cause of the bleeding and prescribe the required treatment.

Monitoring a mole

Once a mole is damaged, you can monitor it yourself. Measure it once a month, and if there are no changes within six months, then there is no reason to worry. Otherwise, see an oncologist.

In addition to the size, pay attention to the shape and color of the mole, and watch to see if liquid is oozing from it. If there are changes, this indicates that the mole has begun to degenerate into a malignant formation.

If the mole is located in a place where there is a risk of injury, then it is better to get rid of it for preventive purposes. Modern equipment allows you to remove tumors quickly and painlessly, using different methods.

The Medicenter clinic network provides safe removal of moles on both the face and body.

How to reduce the risk of damage and malignancy of moles?

Every damage to a red or brown mole increases the risk of it becoming cancerous. That is why experts recommend removing benign tumors that constantly rub against clothes and interfere with shaving. You can only trust the removal of vascular tumors to a qualified dermatologist. The doctor will choose a method that will avoid excessive bleeding when blood vessels are damaged, and will develop a program to prevent complications. Modern techniques allow you to remove any mole without a trace. After the wound heals, no scars form.

Are you looking for where to remove a mole on Bratislavskaya? Contact our clinic. To carry out such procedures, our doctors use the Surgitron radio wave knife. The dermatologist will tell you more about the benefits of its use at a preliminary consultation.

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Prevention: shaving rules

In order to avoid cuts, it is enough to follow a few rules:

1. Before shaving, carefully inspect the blade - it should be perfectly smooth and there should be no chips in it.
2. Change the blade after 3-4 days - it should be sharp.
3. You should shave slowly and carefully. If you do this in the morning, you need to wash your face well and wake up.
4. The razor should be drawn perpendicular to the blade, not parallel to it. The sawing, and therefore dangerous, effect occurs at the moment when the angle of the razor is as close as possible to the location of the blade.
5. It is better to shave according to the hair growth, so as not to cause injury to the hair follicles.
6. If you feel resistance from the razor, you should not move it further in that place. It's better to try to approach it from the other side.
7. Women need to be especially careful when shaving their lower extremities, since a cut while shaving their legs can have unpleasant consequences in the form of unsightly scars that remain for life.
8. To avoid injury, it is necessary to change shaving methods, for example, alternate between using an electric razor and a conventional razor.
9. Irritation is well relieved by a cream containing hydrocortisone (1%). It is recommended to use it once every 4-5 days.
10. Before the procedure, the skin should be moistened with a special alcohol-free lotion.
11. It is important to choose the right shaving gel or foam according to your skin type.
12. If possible, give your skin a break from shaving at least 24 hours a week. Ideally, shave every other day.
13. To avoid cuts when shaving in the intimate area, it is necessary to abandon disposable razors, and it is better to use ordinary men's razors, which have the ability to change blades, and also use gels or foams for sensitive skin.

Did you know?

The razor first appeared on sale in Great Britain in 1874. The blade clamp machine was invented a little later - in 1901. It was invented by the Americans King Camp Gillette and William Nickerson.

By following all the above recommendations, you can keep your skin healthy, and in the event of such a nuisance as a cut while shaving, provide first aid in a timely manner.

Helping a child with injury

Children are known to be very active and careless. When playing in the sandbox or with a ball, they can easily injure the nevus. If your baby has injured a birthmark, you need to wash the area with soap, but do not wipe it with a towel. Blot it with a sterile bandage and pour hydrogen peroxide on the wound. Do not treat the mole with alcohol, this may cause a burning sensation and frighten the baby. A blood clot should form at the site of injury. There is no need to try to remove it with tweezers or other methods.

Do not bathe your child until the wound has healed

You should not give your child a bath until the wound has healed. You definitely need to go to the doctor and follow his recommendations. Don't panic if the doctor suggests removing a nevus from your baby. Such manipulations are absolutely safe. After such a mini-surgery, the removal site may become red and slightly swollen, but this is a natural reaction to surgery. After a few days, the redness will begin to fade.

After removing the nevus, do not let the child damage the wound. Try not to scratch the extraction site, as characteristic itching often appears as wounds heal. If any negative reactions occur, do not treat your baby at home using folk remedies. This may pose a danger to his health and life.

How to stop bleeding on the street?

A particular problem can be those moles that are on the arms, neck, head or legs. They can be injured in public transport by bags or careless movement. Hairdressers often touch nevi in ​​the hair with scissors when cutting. In this situation, it is necessary to treat the wounded area with a suitable antiseptic. Use iodine or alcohol. Hair salons usually have first aid kits with first aid supplies. A specialist must decide how to stop bleeding from a mole if the injury occurred during hair coloring.

But warm water can only increase bleeding. Therefore, it is necessary for the hairdresser to apply a cotton pad soaked in alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to the wound. And only when the blood stops flowing can you start washing your hair. People with moles on their heads need to warn a specialist about this before getting a haircut. This will prevent injury. The same rule should be followed by men when shaving.

If you don’t have a first aid kit at hand, use improvised means.

Let's look at how to stop bleeding from a mole on public transport when there are no available means. A few simple tips will help here:

• ask the driver for a first aid kit;
• use napkins if you have them in your bag;
• treat the wound with any alcohol-containing product.

Some people carry alcohol tinctures, valerian, hawthorn, and Barboval with them. You can pour alcohol tincture over the injured mole, hold it with a clean handkerchief and hold it until the blood stops flowing. Do not touch the wound with dirty hands. The main goal is to stop bleeding. When you get home, wash the wound with soap and go to the hospital. If you cannot stop the bleeding in a minibus, trolleybus or tram, get out and go to the nearest pharmacy. Employees of the institution will help or call an ambulance.

When to see a doctor

In most cases, skin damage caused by shaving is not a reason to seek medical attention. However, there are several cases when this should be done immediately:

1. When a blade splinter gets into the wound and it is impossible to remove it without deep penetration.
2. If swelling and redness develop around the wound, this indicates infection.
3. If there is difficulty moving the fingers, this symptom indicates damage to the tendons.
4. With increasing pain and swelling.
5. In case of severe bleeding and the impossibility of applying a tourniquet.
6. When the shape, size or color of a cut mole changes, or itching occurs.

What to do if the nevus begins to grow after removal?

Why did it happen?
Maybe I should have chosen a different removal method? Maybe you need to change doctor? First of all, contact the doctor who performed the mole removal procedure. It is he who has the most reliable information about the nevus itself and his actions with it. What to do next? This is already a matter of trust. If trust in the doctor is retained, correct him; if not, you need to choose another specialist. But any intervention, especially a surgical one, should be approached soberly, balancedly and without unnecessary emotions.

With laser or radio wave removal, the risks of relapse arise not so much because of the lack of nevus cells horizontally, but because of the lack of vertical removal, that is, deep into the skin.

In different types of moles and in different areas of the skin, nevus cells can lie deep enough in the dermis and at different levels, which can cause local relapse.

If a mole recurs, you can resort to excision of the scar with recurrent growth, but in my opinion this is an overly aggressive approach. It should only be used if histological examination was not performed at the time of removal, and the recurrence looks suspicious regarding the growth of melanoma.

Is it dangerous for moles to appear at the site of removal?

No, it's not dangerous!
This is not my subjective opinion, this is data from many studies conducted. There is no evidence of an increased risk of melanoma at the site of a removed nevus. Another thing is that the removal of the mole itself was carried out as a preventive measure against the formation of melanoma, which means that if a local relapse occurs, this risk remains. Since the desired result has not been achieved, it is necessary to carefully remove the nevus.

Typically, additional removal is carried out using the same method that was used during the patient’s initial treatment. That is, as a rule, resurfacing of a recurrent nevus is carried out using a laser or radio wave method.

Is it necessary to perform a histological examination of recurrent nevus?

This can be done, but is not always necessary.
If a removed nevus has been examined histologically, then a recurrent one should be examined only if there is a suspicion of malignancy. If histology of the removed nevus was not carried out, and the primary removal was not carried out in our clinic, we will definitely send the material for histological examination. In conclusion, I want to say that, of course, the occurrence of a recurrence of a mole is an unpleasant situation for both the patient and the doctor. But it is very simple to correct this situation without any harm to health and appearance - contact a specialist to remove the recurrence of the nevus.

We professionally care about the beauty and health of your skin. If you are concerned about the appearance of moles after removal, make an appointment with an oncodermatologist

by phone, +7 (812) 318-59-90, and we will help you solve this problem.

Prevention

Moles rarely transform into melanoma, even when they have been injured more than once. However, if there are additional symptoms, in addition to bleeding, degeneration is possible. To prevent serious consequences, it is important to pay close attention to nevi and try to protect them from subsequent damage. When taking a bath or shower, you need to use the washcloth carefully and do not press it with increased force, so as not to catch the growth. You also need to be careful when removing hair, whether through waxing or razor removal. If the formation is located on the head, then the combing procedure is carried out as carefully as possible, and the comb is changed to a softer one.

You will also need to avoid aggressive exposure to sunlight. They have a particularly adverse effect on moles that are injured and bleeding. Doctors recommend that such patients not sunbathe without using special sunscreens. In addition, if the nevus is located on the face, it would be useful to use cosmetics with an SPF filter. They are recommended to be used not only on the beach or when going to the solarium, but also in everyday life. This is due to the fact that ultraviolet radiation reaches people in the city, even in cloudy and rainy weather.

What should you not do?

If, during the process of removing excess hair on the body, a nevus was accidentally cut, then it is strictly forbidden to take the following actions:

• try to remove the growth yourself;
• apply any non-traditional methods of treatment;
• pick out frozen blood;
• peel off the crust formed during healing;
• wash the wound with running water;
• treat the cut with healing ointments or creams;
• leave the wound open.

If a mole or part of it was cut off during shaving, then you do not need to throw away the torn tissue, but rather place it in a rag soaked in saline solution and take it to the clinic for histological examination. Also, damage to the nevus should not be left unattended. Improper care of the affected growth and negligent attitude towards one’s health can cause the formation of a cancerous tumor and other serious complications.

How to identify a malignant mole?

A simple reminder called “ACORD of melanoma” will help to identify signs of degeneration of a benign mole:

• A – asymmetry ;
• K – contour (fuzzy, blurry, uneven);
• O – color (any changes);
• P – size (changes in size in adulthood);
• D – dynamics (appearance of crusts, cracks, peeling, bleeding, sudden disappearance of a mole).

The detection of even one of the five signs listed above is a reason for a visit to a dermatologist, who, through a survey and examination, will help make the correct diagnosis.

Melanoma, located at the level of the superficial layers of the skin, is not dangerous and is completely curable, but if it is allowed to grow deeper, tumor cells will spread through the blood and lymph throughout the body, forming metastases in the internal organs. Mortality in such cases reaches 50%.

Removal of nevi

There are several ways to get rid of moles:

After removing the formation, you need to carefully care for it. It is forbidden to tear off the crust covering the wound; it will fall off on its own.