Minor Surgery

Operations to remove benign (non cancerous) lesions of the skin and soft tissues are very common. These can often be done under local anaesthetic, however, in larger lesions typically greater than 10cm in diameter, the surgeon will recommend this done under general anaesthetic where you are asleep for the procedure. We would suggest you seek urgent medical advice should you have an abnormality of the skin which is discoloured or changing size/shape over a short period of time. 

Lipomas

A fatty benign overgrowth (tumour) under the skin. They can be noticable and occassionally can be uncomfortable, particularly if the lie over boney areas of the body or nerves.

Treatment involves an incision of the skin under anaesthetic and removal of the fatty tissue.

Pilar and epidermoid cysts

These are benign swelling of the hair follicle glands or of the skin. They are often mistakenly termed sebaceous cysts. Unlike lipomas they can become infected.

We would recommend waiting for any infection or inflammation to settle before removing these under anaesthetic by way of a small oval/elliptical shaped incision.

Skin tags / acrochorda

Also referred as papillomas and fibroepitheloid polyps these benign lesions are attached to the surface of the skin. They tend to be quite small but can slowly grom larger. They can be removed under anaesthetic by way of a small incision.

There is a large variation in the type of cutaneous and subcutaneous skin lesions. While the most common are described above should you have any questions please enquire below.