Procedure

Surgical Excision

The growth is cut out along with a measured border of normal-looking skin, and the wound is stitched closed. The whole piece goes to a laboratory and the result comes back in about a week. The scar is a line, and it is longer than the spot was.
Dr. Schwarz, MD · Board-certified dermatologistLast reviewed September 8, 2026
16:9 hero for Surgical Excision. Never cropped: the tone strip and the corner logo depend on the full frame.

Start here

An excision is what most skin cancers on the trunk, arms and legs get — numbing, a cut, stitches, a dressing, and home within the hour.

Why the scar is longer than the spot: To close a round hole flat without a pucker at each end, the piece taken out has to be an ellipse about three times as long as it is wide, so a spot the size of a pencil eraser becomes a scar an inch or more long.

The specimen goes to a laboratory and the result takes several days to a week. Most come back with clear margins; sometimes they do not, and a second procedure is needed — which is exactly what Mohs surgery avoids on the face.

— Dr. Schwarz, Board Certified Dermatologist

Key Facts

−
Also calledExcisional surgery, elliptical excision, fusiform excision, wide local excision, standard surgical excision
DowntimeHome the same day. About 2 weeks of no lifting, straining or strenuous exercise
SessionsOne visit for the surgery and one short visit for stitch removal. A second procedure only if a margin comes back involved
Typical costMore than a scrape-and-burn, less than Mohs. Generally covered by US health insurance when treating a diagnosed skin cancer. The laboratory bills separately
Results timelinePathology in about 3 to 10 days. Stitches out at 5 to 14 days. The scar keeps improving for about a year
PainThe numbing injection stings for under a minute. Afterward the site feels tight and sore for a few days
MarginsExamined by a pathologist afterward, by taking slices across the specimen. Thorough, and not the same as examining every point along the edge
Cure rateCommonly quoted around 95 percent at 5 years for a previously untreated basal cell carcinoma
Skin tone safetyThe surgery is identical on every skin tone. Keloid and thickened scars are more likely and are the main thing to plan around

What It Is

−

Cutting the growth out and stitching the skin back together. After local anesthetic, the surgeon draws an ellipse — a long pointed eye shape — around the growth, including a border of normal-looking skin measured in millimeters and set by the type of cancer. The ellipse is cut through the full thickness of the skin, sometimes into the fat beneath, and lifted out in one piece. Bleeding is stopped, the edges are freed slightly so they meet without pulling, and the wound is closed in layers: dissolving stitches underneath, then a line of stitches on the surface. The whole piece is sent to a laboratory, where a pathologist slices it, examines the slices, and reports whether the tumor came out fully and how close it came to the edges. That takes several days. The direction of the ellipse is chosen deliberately, along the natural lines of the skin, so the scar sits in a crease or fold and pulls as little as possible. It is used for essentially any skin cancer that does not need Mohs surgery — basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas on the trunk and limbs, melanoma — and for harmless growths such as cysts, lipomas and moles that need to come off.

How It Works

−

Two ideas make an excision work.

The first is the margin. These tumors grow outward from a visible center, with microscopic extensions reaching further than the eye can see. A measured border of normal-looking skin captures those extensions without knowing exactly where they went. The width is not arbitrary: a small low-risk basal cell carcinoma is usually taken with a few millimeters, squamous cell carcinoma with a little more, and melanoma margins are set by how deep it reaches on the biopsy.

The second is the shape. Cut a circle out of skin and close it and you get a pucker at each end, because the edges are different lengths. Extending it into a long ellipse with pointed ends, roughly three times as long as it is wide, lets the edges meet evenly and lie flat. That is why the scar is much longer than the growth, and no technique avoids it.

The pathology is a sampling method: The specimen is cut into slices at intervals, rather like a loaf of bread, and the cut faces are examined. It reads the margin thoroughly without displaying every point along it, which is the specific gap Mohs surgery closes. For the tumors an excision is chosen for, it is highly reliable.

Healing is by direct closure. The edges are held together while the body rebuilds collagen across the gap. Surface stitches hold for the first days; the buried dissolving stitches carry the tension for weeks, which is why lifting and straining are restricted long after the visible stitches are gone.

Skin is about two millimetres thick on the face. How deep a treatment reaches decides what it can change, and whether it treats all of the skin or scattered columns of it decides how long you take to heal.

How it works
Compare
Skin basics
EPIDERMISDERMISFAT0.05 mm — pigment0.5 mm — texture + pores1.0 mm — collagen1.5 mm — deep dermisPEELNEEDLINGNON-ABLATIVE LASERABLATIVE LASERGOES BELOW THE SKIN

This works below the skin altogether, in the fat or the muscle beneath it. Nothing applied to the surface reaches here, which is the whole reason the procedure exists — and why it is done by injection, by needle or with a blade rather than with a cream.

A peel or a scrub takes the skin off evenly from the surface down. Everything above the line goes and nothing below it is touched, which is why peels suit surface pigment and rough texture, and why the whole face flakes for a few days after.

Needles make hundreds of separate channels and leave the skin between them untouched. That untouched skin is what heals the rest, so recovery is quick — but a needle only injures the skin to start repair. It removes nothing.

The light passes through the surface and heats a column underneath it. The surface stays whole, so you leave red rather than raw — and it takes a course of sessions rather than one.

The laser removes columns of skin outright: the white gaps here are tissue that is gone, and new skin grows in from the sides. The strongest of the four, and the longest to heal.

The outer layer, and the only one anything in a jar reaches. It renews itself constantly: a cell made at the bottom takes about a month to reach the surface and flake off. Most of what a skincare product does, it does here.

The living layer underneath, holding the blood vessels, the nerves and the collagen. It is where lasting change happens and it is hard to reach: most of what is sold for the skin never gets this far.

What It Treats

−
Moles
Always
The standard for any mole that is genuinely in doubt: the whole mole is cut out under local anesthetic with a narrow margin of normal skin and sent for examination under a microscope. Taking all of it matters, because the pathologist has to see the full depth and the edges. It leaves a line scar, and results come back in a week or two.
Melanoma
Always
The treatment that cures the great majority of thin melanomas. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, a second and wider operation removes a margin of surrounding skin, with the width set by how thick the melanoma was. The scar is longer than most people expect, and that is the trade that stops it coming back at the site. Anything pigmented that is removed, anywhere, should be sent for pathology.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Strong evidence
The standard removal: the tumor is cut out with a margin of normal skin around it and the wound is stitched closed, usually in one visit under local anesthetic. It cures the large majority of straightforward tumors on the trunk, arms and legs. The margins are checked afterwards rather than during, so occasionally a second procedure is needed to clear an edge.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Strong evidence
The tumor is cut out with a margin of normal skin around it and the wound is stitched, with the margins checked by a pathologist afterwards. It is the standard treatment for most tumors away from the face, and it cures the large majority in one visit. If the report comes back with the tumor at the edge, more treatment is needed.
Keloids
Keloids
Moderate evidence
Cutting the keloid out works only as part of a plan. On its own it comes back in the large majority of cases, often bigger, so it is paired with injections at the time of surgery, pressure afterwards, or radiation. It is most useful for a big earlobe keloid or one that is limiting movement, where nothing else will get it flat.

Not the Best For

−
Plantar Warts
Plantar Warts
Weak evidence
Cutting a plantar wart out is generally avoided. There is no root to remove, so surgery takes healthy tissue with it, and it leaves a scar on a weight-bearing surface that can hurt more than the wart did. Recurrence around the scar is common. It is used for a growth that needs sending to the laboratory, not to get rid of an ordinary wart.

Pros and Cons

−
Pros
  • The whole specimen is examined A pathologist reports if it came out fully.
  • High cure rates About 95 percent at 5 years for an untreated basal cell.
  • A short, predictable appointment Usually under an hour, on a known date.
  • A neat linear scar Closed in layers along a natural line. The tidiest option.
  • It works for anything The standard treatment for melanoma and other cancers.
Cons
  • The scar is longer than the spot About three times the width taken out.
  • The result comes later Days to a week waiting for pathology.
  • The margin is sampled, not fully mapped Less than the full check Mohs does.
  • More normal skin is removed A fixed margin all the way around.
  • Two weeks of restriction No lifting, straining or hard exercise.

How to Prepare

−
1 week before1 week beforeOn the day
Smoking and vaping
1 week before
Stop for a week before and two weeks after if you can. Nicotine narrows the vessels feeding a healing wound and is the top avoidable cause of a split.
Supplements and alcohol
1 week before
Non-essential blood thinners such as fish oil, vitamin E and ginkgo are commonly stopped about a week before, and alcohol the night before.
Eating and clothes
On the day
Eat normally and take your usual morning medicines. Wear something with easy access that does not pull over your head. Ask how the pathology result will reach you.
Before the visit
No gym, no heavy lifting, no moving furniture for two weeks. Arrange help if the surgery is on your dominant hand or somewhere ordinary movement pulls.

What Happens

−
ArrivingThe surgeryLeaving
Arriving
The site is confirmed against the biopsy report and you point to it yourself. Photographs are taken, and consent covers the expected scar length and direction. The ellipse is drawn along your natural skin lines with the measured margin around the growth, then lidocaine, usually with epinephrine, is injected around it — stinging for under a minute before it numbs. Your provider will ask about these things.
The surgery
The skin is cleaned and draped. The ellipse is cut out in one piece, bleeding points sealed, and the edges freed so they meet without tension. Closing is in layers — dissolving stitches deep, stitches on the surface. You feel pressure and tugging and hear instruments, but nothing sharp. Most take 20 to 45 minutes, and the site feels tight afterward rather than sore.
Leaving
A dressing, written wound care, a stitch removal appointment, and a plan for how the pathology result reaches you. Ask when and how you will be told, so a week of silence does not become a week of worry.

Recovery

−
First weekDays 5 to 14From week 2
First week
Keep the dressing dry and in place for 24 to 48 hours, then start daily care — gentle wash, petrolatum, non-stick dressing. Most bleeding follows doing too much on the first evening, so rest. Clear or pink ooze is expected; steady bleeding is not.
Days 5 to 14
Stitches come out — face at 5 to 7 days, trunk and arms at 10 to 14, legs and back sometimes longer. The pathology result usually arrives in this window. After removal the line is red and firm, and support strips often go on for another week or two.
From week 2
The scar is hardest, pinkest and most raised at around three to six weeks. That is normal. Numbness along one side is common, and gentle massage starts once the surface is closed. The ridge softens and redness fades over months, though chest and upper back scars stay red longer and may widen.

Aftercare

−
24 to 48 hours2 weeksAt least a year
Dressing
24 to 48 hours
Keep the first dressing dry and in place, then change daily — gentle wash with soap and water, plain petrolatum, non-stick pad. No hydrogen peroxide, no rubbing alcohol, and no antibiotic ointment unless asked; neomycin commonly causes allergic rashes.
Exercise and water
2 weeks
No heavy lifting, straining or strenuous exercise, longer for the back, shoulder or shin — it is the deep stitches you are protecting. Nothing submerged until the wound is closed; showering is fine once the first dressing is off.
Sun
At least a year
Keep the scar covered or use SPF 30 or higher over it. New scars pigment easily and the mark is slow to fade.
Bleeding
Press firmly and continuously for 15 minutes by the clock without lifting to check. That stops nearly all of it.
Smoking
None for 2 weeks after if at all possible. It is the biggest avoidable cause of a wound splitting.
Scar care
Once the surface is fully closed, daily silicone gel or sheeting and gentle massage are the two things with reasonable evidence behind them. Start when told.

Risks

−

Most excisions heal without incident. A visible scar is a certainty, not a risk. The rest below are uncommon.

A thick, raised or widening scar
A scar climbing rather than flattening after two months, or spreading sideways. Silicone, massage and steroid injections all work better before a scar is fully mature.
Numbness or a firm cord under the skin
Small sensory nerves are cut and usually recover over months, and a firm band along the line is usually healing collagen. Mention both at follow-up.
A stitch that surfaces months later
Buried dissolving stitches sometimes work their way out and cause a small red bump. Easily dealt with, and not infection.
A margin that was not clear
This comes from the report, not from how you feel, and it means a further procedure. Ask exactly what the report said rather than accepting that it was fine.
A pucker at one end of the line
A small fold of skin at the tip, sometimes called a dog ear. Many settle on their own over several months; the rest are simple to correct.

In Deeper Skin Tones

−

The surgery is identical — margins, closure, pathology and cure rates do not vary with skin tone. What differs is the scar, and it is worth planning for rather than discovering.

Keloids and raised scars: Keloids and hypertrophic scars, meaning raised scars that stay raised, are more common in people with deeper skin tones. An excision is a long line held under some tension, which is exactly the setup that provokes one, and the highest-risk sites are the chest, shoulders, upper back, jawline and earlobes. If you or a close relative has ever had a keloid, say so before the surgery. It changes the plan: the ellipse may be oriented differently, closed with extra deep stitches to take tension off the surface, kept in stitches longer, and treated preventively with silicone as soon as it closes or steroid injections from a few weeks in.

Dark marks along the line: Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, a brown or gray line where the skin was inflamed, is common in the first months and usually fades over six to twelve months. Sun makes it darker and slower to clear, so cover the scar or use SPF 30 or higher over it for a year.

A permanently lighter line: The other possible outcome, and it contrasts more against deeper skin tones. Less common than the darkening, and less likely to fade.

Not a reason to avoid surgery: It is a reason to raise the subject early, while the choices about closure and scar prevention are still open.

Separately: Skin cancer is less common in people with deeper skin tones, is more often found late, and appears more often on skin that gets little sun. Acral melanoma, on the palms, soles and nail units, is the one most often diagnosed late. A sore that will not heal, a spot that bleeds and reopens, or a new dark streak under a nail should be examined regardless of skin tone.

If You Stop

−

There is nothing to stop taking. An excision is a single treatment and it does not wear off.

Stopping too early: Two things get stopped too early. The first is the activity restriction in the first two weeks — lifting, straining and hard exercise pull on a line whose deep stitches are still carrying all the tension, and the result is a wound that widens, stretches or occasionally splits open. A stretched scar cannot be un-stretched, and it is the most avoidable poor outcome here. The second is sun protection over a fresh scar, which leaves a darker line that takes a year or more to fade.

Stopping the follow-up is the larger one. Cure for a previously untreated basal cell carcinoma is commonly quoted around 95 percent, so a small number recur, usually within a few years and usually at the edge of the scar. The bigger reason to keep going is a new cancer somewhere else, substantially more likely after the first.

Skipping a recommended re-excision: If the pathology showed a margin that was not clear, not having the further procedure is a different matter entirely. Tumor known to be left behind keeps growing, and the surgery to remove it later is bigger than the one now.

Combining Treatments

−
Same day
Your medicines
No interaction with an excision, and blood thinners are usually continued.
Same day
Cryotherapy
Often done at the same visit for scattered precancerous spots on untreated skin.
Same day
Nicotinamide
Some dermatologists use this vitamin B3 to lower the rate of new skin cancers.
Same day
Cancer team treatments
Sentinel node biopsy, imaging, radiation or drugs for high-risk cases.
Until healed
Field treatments
5-fluorouracil, imiquimod or photodynamic therapy on the skin around it.
Wait 2 weeks
Nearby skin
Wait at least 2 weeks for treatments on the skin next to the wound.
Wait 1–2 weeks
Silicone
Start once the surface has sealed, a week or two after stitches come out.
Wait 4–8 weeks
Steroid injections
Typically started around 4 to 8 weeks for a thickening scar.
Wait 3 months
Laser, peels or needling
About 3 months before any of these over the scar itself.
Wait 1 year
Scar revision
A full year, since most scars improve enough on their own.

Insurance Coverage

−

In the US the surgical charge is priced by the size of the excision and the body site, with a separate charge for a more complex layered closure. The pathology arrives as its own bill from the laboratory. Done to treat a diagnosed skin cancer, it is generally covered by health insurance, and your share is your plan's deductible, copay and coinsurance.

Removing a harmless growth for appearance alone is billed as cosmetic and generally not covered. A benign growth removed because it is painful, repeatedly infected, or catching on clothing is often a different story, and worth asking about rather than assuming.

Without insurance the range is wide and depends on size, site, complexity of the closure, and whether the office is hospital-affiliated. Ask for a written estimate with the specific codes, and ask separately what the pathology laboratory charges, because that bill arrives independently.

Dressings and petrolatum are out of pocket and cost very little. Silicone sheeting is not usually covered and is worth budgeting for if the scar is somewhere prone to thickening.

Ask Your Doctor

−
If you take a blood thinner
Usually continued through skin surgery. Never stop one on your own — that decision belongs to the doctor who prescribed it.
If you have ever had a thick raised scar
A keloid counts. Say so before the surgery, not after. It changes how the wound is closed and whether the scar is treated preventively.
If you have a pacemaker or defibrillator
The cautery used to stop bleeding needs different settings. Mention it when you book.
If you smoke or vape
Nicotine is the leading avoidable cause of a wound splitting. Ask for help stopping around the surgery, even if not permanently.
If you have diabetes or leg swelling
Poor circulation counts too. Wounds below the knee heal slowly and are more likely to break down. Ask what the plan is and whether a different approach would be safer.
If you take immune-suppressing medicine
Or have had an organ transplant. Skin cancers behave more aggressively and margins are often taken wider, and the plan is usually made with the team managing that medicine.
If your job or sport involves lifting
Stretching and heavy movement count too. Ask specifically how long to stay off it. Two weeks is typical; the back, shoulder and shin often need longer.
If your growth is on the face
The ear, nose, eyelid or lip too. Ask whether Mohs surgery is the better option for that location.
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding
Local anesthetic is used for necessary skin surgery in pregnancy. Discuss timing and urgency with the doctor managing your pregnancy.
If the pathology result has not come
Call and ask after about 2 weeks. Results do occasionally sit unreported, and this one matters.
If you have a latex allergy
Say so. Diabetes and poor leg circulation are worth mentioning too, since both change how the wound is planned.

At-Home Versions

−
There is no at-home version
Bad alternative
There is no home version of cutting out a skin cancer, and no home version of the pathology that confirms it was removed. Attempting one means no anesthetic, no sterility, no control of bleeding, no closure, and no laboratory answer. This row exists to say that plainly rather than to suggest an alternative.
Black salve and escharotic pastes
Bad alternative
There is no evidence of benefit and clear evidence of harm. Bloodroot paste counts too. Marketed online as natural cancer removal, under names including black salve, Cansema, bloodroot and sanguinaria, and sold as pastes, salves and drawing ointments. They are corrosive and destroy tissue with no control over how deep or how wide they go. Reported outcomes include large disfiguring wounds and scars and destroyed cartilage on the nose and ear. The greater harm is quieter: the surface scabs and heals over while tumor keeps growing underneath, so the cancer presents again later and larger, and the operation it then needs is bigger than the one it would have needed. The US Food and Drug Administration has warned about these products repeatedly. There is no safe brand, strength or protocol, and no version of this that treats a skin cancer.
Home cautery pens and freeze-off kits
Bad alternative
Mole removal devices count too, and there is no evidence for any of them on skin cancer. They are sold for harmless tags and small growths. Used on a cancer, they destroy the surface, leave the deeper part behind, and remove the tissue a pathologist would have needed. A mole burned or frozen off at home that was in fact a melanoma is the worst version of this.
Cutting or tying off a growth yourself
Bad alternative
It causes bleeding and infection, leaves tumor behind, and destroys the specimen that would have given the diagnosis. Any growth worth removing is worth having read by a laboratory.
What is worth doing at home
Good alternative
Daily broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher, sun-protective clothing and shade lower the rate of new skin cancers. Checking your own skin monthly, and knowing what to look for, is how the next one gets found early. After the surgery, wound care and silicone on the closed scar are the two home tasks that change the result.

How It Compares

−
Mohs surgeryDiagram: how Mohs Surgery works in the skin
Mohs surgery
Better
The highest cure rate available. Commonly quoted around 99 percent at 5 years for a previously untreated basal cell carcinoma, against around 95 percent for an excision. It examines the entire margin during the appointment and removes the least normal skin. The trades are a four-to-eight-hour day, a much higher cost, and more process than a small low-risk trunk tumor needs.
A gloved clinician treating a small dark spot on a patient's shoulder with a fine handheld instrument16:9 hero for Electrodesiccation and Curettage. Never cropped: the tone strip and the corner logo depend on the full frame.
Electrodesiccation and curettage
The same
For low-risk tumors only. Quicker, cheaper, no stitches, and no activity restriction. The trades are no margin check at all, an open wound for three to six weeks, and a round pale scar rather than a line.
Radiation therapy
Worse
Moderate to strong evidence. No cutting, which is useful for people who cannot have surgery or where surgery would be disfiguring. The trades are many visits over weeks, a lower cure rate than surgery, and a permanently altered patch of skin. It is generally avoided in younger people.
Topical imiquimod or 5-fluorouracil
Worse
Only for superficial basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in situ. No cutting and no scar, done at home. The trades are weeks of a red, inflamed and uncomfortable course, meaningfully lower cure rates, and no confirmation that the tumor is gone.
A rectangular LED panel in a white frame, angled on a white background, its face filled with a dense grid of several hundred small blue lights all lit, casting a blue glow onto the surface beneath it.Diagram: how Photodynamic Therapy works in the skin
Photodynamic therapy
Worse
Usually leaves the least visible mark of any of these, and useful when a whole area is sun-damaged. Painful during treatment, several visits, and cure rates below surgery.
CryotherapyDiagram: how Cryotherapy (Liquid Nitrogen) works in the skin
Cryotherapy
Different job
For very superficial lesions and strong evidence for precancerous spots. Fast and needs no injection. Depth is hard to judge, there is no margin check, and it leaves a pale mark. It is used for actinic keratoses far more than for a diagnosed cancer.
Watchful waiting
Worse
Weak as a plan for a diagnosed cancer, and occasionally reasonable for a very small, slow-growing, low-risk basal cell carcinoma in someone frail or very elderly, where the surgery would cost more than the tumor will. That is a decision made with a doctor, never a default.

Finding a Provider

+

Excisions are done by dermatologists, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, surgical oncologists, by physician assistants and nurse practitioners in those settings, and by some primary care physicians. For a straightforward trunk or limb cancer all of these are reasonable — experience with skin surgery matters more than the specialty label.

Fair questions: what the biopsy showed including the subtype, what margin will be taken and why, roughly how long the scar will be and which direction it will run, who closes the wound, when and how you will be told the pathology result, and what happens if a margin is not clear.

Ask for the scar length: The single most useful question to ask in advance, because it is the most common surprise.

Ask to see the pathology report: The tumor type and subtype on your biopsy report decide both the margin taken and whether an excision is the right operation at all.

Red flags: a suspicious growth cut out without a biopsy first, no discussion of scar length or direction, no clear arrangement for how the result reaches you, an offer to excise a facial cancer without mentioning Mohs surgery, and any suggestion that the specimen does not need to go to a laboratory.

Myths

+
  • "The scar will be about the size of the spot." Roughly three times as long, because a round hole cannot be closed flat without extending it into an ellipse. Knowing that in advance removes most of the shock.
  • "If the stitches are out, it is healed." The surface is closed; the deep stitches are still carrying the tension for several more weeks. That is why the lifting restriction outlasts the visible stitches, and why scars stretch when it is ignored.
  • "A clear margin means it can never come back." It means the tumor removed was fully contained in the specimen. Cure at 5 years for a previously untreated basal cell carcinoma is commonly quoted around 95 percent, and a new cancer elsewhere is more likely than a recurrence at the scar.
  • "I should stop my blood thinner before skin surgery." Not on your own, and usually not at all. The bleeding is manageable; a stroke or clot is not. The prescribing doctor makes that call.
  • "Keeping it dry and letting it scab over is best." Old advice. Wounds kept covered and moist with plain petrolatum heal faster and scar less than wounds left to dry and crust.
  • "Vitamin E makes a scar fade." It has not been shown to help, and it causes contact dermatitis in a fair number of people. Silicone and sun protection are the two with evidence behind them.

Questions Patients Ask

+

Why is the scar so much longer than the spot?

Because a round hole cannot be closed flat. The piece taken out is an ellipse roughly three times as long as it is wide, so the edges meet evenly instead of puckering at each end. A spot the size of a pencil eraser becomes a line an inch or more long. It is geometry, not technique, and no surgeon avoids it.

How long until I get the result?

Usually 3 to 10 days, depending on the laboratory. Ask before you leave how and when you will be told, and call if you have heard nothing after about two weeks.

What happens if the margins are not clear?

A further procedure — a re-excision with a wider border, or a referral for Mohs surgery — usually within a few weeks. It is not a mistake. It is the reason the specimen went to a laboratory in the first place.

When can I exercise again?

About 2 weeks for most sites, longer for the back, shoulder and shin. The visible stitches come out sooner, and the deep stitches are still carrying the tension. Lifting or straining is what stretches or splits a wound.

Should I have Mohs surgery instead?

On the face, particularly the nose, eyelids, ears and lips, or for a tumor that is large, has vague borders, has an aggressive subtype on the biopsy, or has come back before, Mohs is often better. For a small low-risk cancer on the trunk or limbs, an excision achieves the same result in a fraction of the time and cost. Ask which category yours is in.

Will the scar fade?

It flattens and pales substantially over about a year, with most of the change in the first six months. Keeping it out of the sun and using silicone gel or sheeting once it is closed are the two things with reasonable evidence behind them. Scars on the chest, shoulders and upper back stay red and raised longest and are the likeliest to widen.

References

+