Hearing that a biopsy came back as skin cancer is hard news. The good part is that most skin cancers found early can be removed completely with a small office procedure. Skin cancer excision in Springville, UT lets you get it done close to home, often within days of your diagnosis.
Our providers remove the cancer along with a margin of healthy skin, close the wound neatly, and check the tissue in our own lab to make sure the cancer is out.
When You Need Skin Cancer Excision
Excision is the standard treatment for many basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and melanomas. You may need it after a biopsy confirms cancer, or when a spot is highly suspicious and needs to be removed in full for diagnosis.
Don’t put it off. Basal and squamous cell cancers keep growing, and a larger cancer needs a larger procedure and leaves a larger scar. Melanoma can spread, which is why it should be treated promptly. Most skin cancers are linked to sun exposure over many years, and Utah’s high-altitude sun puts residents at higher risk.
Our Skin Cancer Excision Process
Before the procedure, your provider explains the size of the margin needed and what the scar will look like. The area is cleaned and numbed with local anesthetic, so you stay awake but feel only pressure.
The cancer is removed in an oval shape with a border of healthy skin, then the wound is closed with stitches. Most excisions take less than an hour. The tissue goes to our dermatopathology lab, where the edges are checked to confirm the cancer has been fully removed.
You go home the same day with wound-care instructions. Stitches usually come out in one to two weeks. We will contact you with the lab result, and set up regular skin checks going forward, since having one skin cancer raises the chance of another.
Caring for the site is simple: keep the bandage on as directed, clean the area gently, apply petroleum jelly and avoid heavy lifting or stretching near the stitches. A little redness and tenderness is normal. Call us if you notice spreading redness, warmth, pus or bleeding that won’t stop. Once healed, protect the scar from the sun for several months to help it fade.
Skin Cancer Excision Cost in Springville
Skin cancer removal is medically necessary and is usually billed to health insurance. Your cost depends on your plan, the size and location of the cancer, and the type of closure. Our front desk can help you check your coverage before the procedure.
Why Choose Us
Your skin cancer excision is handled by a practice led by Dr. Michael Peterson, who is board-certified in both dermatology and dermatopathology and spent 12 years as an Army dermatologist. Tissue we remove is examined in our own dermatopathology lab. We offer same-day appointments at our Springville office and also treat patients in Provo, Tooele and St. George. Daily Herald readers voted us first in the Best of Utah Valley from 2019 through 2023.
Excision is one of the treatments offered by our skin cancer and surgical dermatology team in Springville.