@samanthaschneidermd What is Mohs surgery? 🤔✨ It’s the gold standard for treating skin cancer—precise, effective, and tissue-sparing! 🏥 Here’s how it works: We remove skin cancer layer by layer, checking each one under the microscope until we reach clear margins. ✅ This means highest cure rates (up to 99%) while preserving as much healthy skin as possible. Have questions about Mohs? Drop them below! 👇 #MohsSurgery #SkinCancerAwareness #DermApproved #HealthySkin ♬ original sound - Samantha Schneider, MD

Understanding Mohs Surgery: A Precise Approach to Skin Cancer Treatment
By Dr. Schneider, Board-Certified Dermatologist & Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeon

Have you recently been diagnosed with skin cancer? If so, you're not alone—and you have treatment options designed to give you the best possible outcome with the least amount of disruption to your skin and appearance. One of the most effective methods for treating certain types of skin cancer is Mohs micrographic surgery.

What Is Mohs Surgery?

Named after Dr. Frederic Mohs, this specialized surgical technique is designed to remove skin cancer with extreme precision, while preserving as much healthy skin as possible. It is especially ideal for treating cancers on the face, ears, hands, and other areas where tissue preservation is important for both function and appearance.

As a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon, I perform this procedure in a way that allows for both thorough cancer removal and optimal cosmetic results.

How It Works

Mohs surgery is performed in stages, often during a single visit:

1. Step 1: A thin layer of cancerous tissue is carefully removed.
   
   
2. Step 2: That tissue is processed in an on-site lab and turned into microscope slides.
   
   
3. Step 3: I examine the slides under a microscope to check for any remaining cancer cells.
   
   
4. Step 4: If cancer is still present, another layer is removed from the precise area where it remains.
   
   

This process is repeated layer by layer until all cancer cells have been removed. Because we only remove tissue where cancer is detected, Mohs surgery has one of the highest cure rates and results in the smallest possible wound.

What About Scarring?

Any time the skin is cut, a scar is inevitable. However, because Mohs surgery is so precise, we’re able to minimize the size of the scar by removing the least amount of healthy tissue necessary. Our goal is to ensure that the cancer is fully removed while also keeping your skin looking and functioning its best.

Is Mohs Surgery Right for You?

Mohs is often recommended for:

• Basal cell carcinoma
  
  
• Squamous cell carcinoma
  
  
• Skin cancers in high-risk or sensitive areas
  
  
• Cancers that have recurred after previous treatment
  
  

If you've been diagnosed with skin cancer, I encourage you to talk with your dermatologist to find out if Mohs surgery is the right approach for you. As always, early detection and treatment are key.

Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to your dermatologist or a Mohs-trained skin cancer specialist for more personalized guidance.

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Want the transcript for this video instead?  

 Have you been diagnosed with skin cancer? I'm Dr. Schneider, and I'm a board certified dermatologist and a board certified and fellowship trained MO surgeon. Let's talk about Moss Micrographic surgery. Moss is an effective treatment for removing certain types of skin cancer. It's named after Fred mos.

This technique removes the cancer precisely to preserve as much healthy skin as possible. During the procedure, your MOS surgeon removes a thin layer of skin. It is then taken to an in-house laboratory where it's processed. After processing the tissue into microscope slides, the surgeon examines the slides under the microscope.

If any skin cancer remains, another layer is taken, and this process continues until all of the skin cancer is gone. Moss has a very high cure rate and removes the cancer with the smallest area possible. It is ideal for the face, ears, and hands where there is not a lot of extra tissue to close the area left after the cancer is removed.

Anytime anyone cuts the skin, there will be a scar, but because the moss technique minimizes the amount of skin removed, the goal is to keep the scar as small as possible while still removing all of the cancer. If you have questions about moss, contact your dermatologist for more information.