Mohs Surgery

CSC Steil Dermatology

Medical & Cosmetic Dermatology located in Hinsdale & Downers Grove, IL

Getting skin cancer makes you feel nervous about the future of your skin and overall health. At CSC Steil Dermatology in Hinsdale and Downers Grove, Illinois, Rachel Bognet, MD, carefully performs Mohs surgery to remove all of your cancerous tissue without harming your healthy skin. To learn more about the procedure and find out if it’s right for your case, call your nearest location today.

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Mohs Surgery Q & A

What is Mohs surgery?

Mohs surgery is the gold standard of skin cancer surgeries. It’s been around since the 1930s, and physicians continue to use it frequently today. It’s especially useful for cancers that:

Appear on your face or other areas where you don’t want a lasting scar
Are particularly large or growing quickly
Have hard-to-define borders
Grew back after prior treatment

At CSC Steil Dermatology, Dr. Bognet often performs Mohs surgery to remove basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. The surgery is minimally invasive so she can perform it in the office with a very low risk of complications.

What should I expect at my Mohs surgery appointment?

You should plan to be at the clinic for up to the remainder of your day. When you arrive at CSC Dermatology for your Mohs surgery appointment, Dr. Bognet starts by using a local anesthetic to numb the area of your skin around your cancerous tissue.

Once the area is numb, Dr. Bognet uses a scalpel to carefully peel away the surface layer of your cancerous tissue and places a bandage over the procedure site. Then, she takes the tissue to the laboratory to test it for cancer. You’ll sit comfortably for roughly an hour as this occurs.

Dr. Bognet repeats the process when she returns, carefully removing a very fine layer and testing it for cancer each time. She cuts each sample into several pieces to distinguish areas of cancer from areas that are cancer-free.

In doing so, she can precisely remove all of the cancerous tissue while leaving as much healthy skin and tissue intact as possible. Depending on the size of the procedure location, she may give you stitches afterward.