Left (before): This person has three facial moles that she wanted removed. Although she asked, most doctors were reluctant to remove them, stating the surgery would result in a scar that could be worse and more noticeable than the original lesion.

Right (two weeks after radiofrequency ablation): Dr. Enzer agreed that surgically cutting out the moles would be risky for scarring. Instead he recommended radiofrequency ablation. Like a laser, this device precisely flattens the mole, while sparing damage to the surrounding skin. This patient has almost healed, and the moles are flat. There is still microscopic residual mole remaining in the deeper skin, but with this technique, and having performed thousands of mole removals over the last 30 years, the recurrence rate is less than 1%. The skin will stay red until complete healing is achieved, usually about 4-6 weeks. Both the patient and Dr. Enzer were very happy with her results, especially for the very challenging mole on the vermillion (edge) of her lip!