We have a high quality minor surgical facility in our Treatment Suite. We can remove moles, cysts, lumps and bumps from most parts of the body, including the face, scalp and neck. First, the surgeon marks your skin to show where cuts are to be made. Next the skin is cleaned with antiseptic, usually chlorhexidine. Most of our surgery requires you to have a local anesthetic. In almost all cases, this is injected directly into the skin where the operation is to take place. This stings a little but the discomfort does not last long. Once the anaesthetic has set, the surgery is performed and the skin closed. You will usually have a dressing over the wound afterwards, though some wounds may just need an ointment to be applied. You can usually return to all normal activities in less than 2 weeks, though some wounds are best covered with tape for up to 6 weeks. After your surgery, you will need to keep the wound dry for 2-3 days. Your surgeon will tell you if stitches need to be removed. Most of our surgery (except on the face) is performed with stitches that dissolve and do not need to be removed. Complications: Surgery is medicine, not magic and all medical procedures carry risks: Infection - the most common avoidable risk, occurring in 1% or less of our procedures. Redness, heat pain and swelling may be signs of infection. This is usually treated with antibiotics and is rarely serious. Scarring - Every cut will leave a scar. Darker skin tends to have a higher risk of a thickened scar. Some areas, especially near joints, are at high risk of stretched scars. Numbness or discomfort - during surgery, tiny skin nerves may be divided which may leave some areas of your skin near the cut numb, or with altered sensation. This usually cannot be avoided and is unpredictable. It may be permanent, though usually recovers in time. Blood Clot Collection - a rare complication, occurring in 0.2% of operations, sometimes blood may pool inside your wound, occasionally requiring further surgery. This is usually only a problem for very large wounds. Additional Surgery - we send your sample of tissue to the laboratory for analysis. This is to confirm the diagnosis and to ensure that a sufficient margin of normal tissue surrounds any malignant cells. Sometimes it is necessary to remove additional skin to ensure safety guidelines for cancer removal are met. This may be performed by us (at additional cost) or sometimes may be referred to Burwood Hospital (usually for Malignant Melanoma) Other risks are rare or specific to certain areas of operation - for instance: Wounds below the mid calf, especially in older people have a very high risk of failing to heal properly. Neck surgery may carry a risk to the accessory nerve. Your surgeon will discuss specific risks with you. The fee below is indicative, but almost all surgery we perform can be done for this price or less. You will need to see the doctor before surgery is booked and a normal consultation fee applies for this appointment. You may be eligible for a subsidy which covers just over half of this fee if you cannot afford to pay and there is a high suspicion that the lesion being removed might be a cancer of some kind. Other conditions and eligibility criteria apply. 'One Fee Guarantee' There is no charge for suture removal, dressings or consultations to discuss complications of the surgery after it has been done. Further surgery may incur additional costs.