Some small operations can be carried out in the surgery without the need for referral to hospital.

Please make an appointment with the doctor of your choice for an initial assessment. If suitable the proposed procedure will be discussed with you, also allowing you to ask any questions about the proposed surgery. Assuming you are happy we will ask you to make a follow up appointment to carry out the surgery. Procedures generally take longer than a normal 10 minute appointment and we may need to have an assistant to help.

For the procedure we normally inject local anaesthetic to numb the area, and allow pain free surgery. However, once the anaesthetic wears off you may need some mild pain killers.

If the procedure has involved cutting the skin then there will be a scar. Some scars will need stitches inserting. The wound may be covered with a dressing initially and further instructions will be given about care of the scar. The length of time the stitches will be recommended to stay in will vary, we will advise you at the time. Removal of stitches is very simple, is carried out by the practice nurse and is generally pain free.

If we have removed something it is usually sent for histology. This is where the piece of tissue is sent to the laboratory and a Consultant Pathologist will analyse the specimen, allowing a diagnosis to be made. Normally we will write to you informing you of the result but we ask that you contact the doctor who performed the surgery at least 4 weeks after the procedure to check the histology result if you have not already heard from us.

Complications are thankfully rare, the commonest one is infection. Should there be redness with increasing pain and possibly a smelly discharge then you may have developed an infection. If you think the wound is infected please make an appointment for the wound to be examined.

Please note we no longer offer cryotherapy to treat warts, verrucae or other skin lesions.