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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Assessment only. A doctor risk-assesses a specific mole from clear photos and your history, and arranges urgent in-person dermatology referral when it looks suspicious; melanoma cannot be diagnosed or ruled out from a photo, and diagnosis needs dermoscopy and a biopsy.
- What it is: a cancer of melanocytes, the cells that make skin pigment; about 7 in 10 melanomas appear as a new spot rather than in an existing mole, most often on the back in men and the legs in women, and it spreads if not removed early.
- Warning signs: ABCDE (Asymmetry, irregular Border, more than one Colour, Diameter over 6 mm, Evolving) plus the ugly duckling sign, a spot that looks different from all your other moles; a firm, raised, fast-growing lump (EFG) can be nodular melanoma even without colour.
- Outlook: found at the earliest stage, melanoma is cured by surgery in the great majority of cases, with more than 9 in 10 people alive at 5 years; outcomes fall as the tumour thickens, so a changing mole is seen within 2 weeks, not watched.
- Risk factors: fair skin that burns easily, red or blond hair, more than 50 moles, blistering sunburns especially in childhood, sunbed use before 35, a family history of melanoma, a weakened immune system and age over 50.
- Emergency: a changing mole is urgent but never a 112 emergency; call 112 only if someone with known melanoma has a sudden seizure, severe headache with confusion, or collapse, which can mean spread to the brain.
An online consultation is a fast way to have a worrying mole risk-assessed and, if needed, referred urgently. It is not a diagnosis. If a mole is bleeding, ulcerated or growing quickly, arrange in-person dermatology promptly rather than waiting, and use the consultation to get the referral moving. Melanoma is never treated online. See the referral pathway below.
Can an online doctor diagnose melanoma?
No. Melanoma cannot be diagnosed, or safely ruled out, from a photo or video. A firm diagnosis needs a dermatologist to examine the mole with a dermoscope and usually remove it for a biopsy.[1] What an online doctor can do is assess how suspicious a mole looks, weigh your risk, and arrange an urgent in-person referral so nothing is left to drift.
How an online consultation helps if you are worried about a mole
- Fast risk assessment: the doctor reviews your photos and the story of any change against the recognised warning features, and tells you honestly how concerning the mole looks.
- An urgent referral, quickly: if the mole warrants it, you leave the consultation with a referral to in-person dermatology, and an urgent one where the features call for it, rather than a long wait to be taken seriously.
- Clear about the limits: a camera cannot dermoscope or biopsy a mole, so a suspicious lesion is always sent for hands-on assessment, never reassured away online.
- Reassurance with safety-netting: where a mole looks stable and low-risk, the doctor explains what to watch for and when to come back, so you know exactly what change would matter.
📷 Photograph the mole in daylight: one wider shot showing where it is, and a sharp close-up with a ruler beside it for scale. If you have an older photo of the same mole, share it, because change over time is one of the most useful signals. Note any bleeding, itch or recent growth. A photo supports a risk assessment; it cannot diagnose melanoma, so examination may still be needed.
What the doctor checks in an online mole assessment
The assessment is structured around the features that decide how urgently a mole needs in-person examination. In a mole consultation, the doctor will typically assess:
- The ABCDE features: asymmetry, an irregular border, more than one colour, a larger diameter, and above all any evolution or change, judged from your photos.[2]
- The story of change: whether the mole has grown, changed shape or colour, become itchy, or started to bleed or crust, and over what timeframe.
- The “ugly duckling” sign: a mole that simply looks different from all your others, which can matter more than any single feature.
- Your risk profile: fair skin that burns easily, a history of sunburn or sunbed use, many moles, a previous skin cancer, a family history of melanoma, and any condition or medicine that weakens the immune system.
- Where it is: including hard-to-see sites such as the back, scalp, soles and nails.
- The honest limit: because the doctor cannot dermoscope the lesion, any suspicion is routed to urgent in-person assessment rather than settled online.
How to check a mole: the ABCDE rule
The ABCDE rule is a simple way to spot a mole that needs checking. Any one feature is a reason to have it looked at, and change over time is the most important signal of all:[2]
- A is for Asymmetry: one half does not match the other.
- B is for Border: edges are irregular, ragged, notched or blurred.
- C is for Colour: more than one shade, or an uneven mix of brown, black, red, white or blue.
- D is for Diameter: larger than about 6 mm, though melanomas can be smaller.
- E is for Evolving: any change in size, shape, colour or height, or new itching, bleeding or crusting.
Alongside these, trust the ugly-duckling instinct: a spot that looks unlike your other moles deserves a look. A new pigmented mole appearing in adulthood, a mole that bleeds or will not heal, or a dark streak that appears under a nail are all reasons to get checked promptly.[2] None of these features proves melanoma, and most turn out to be harmless, but they are exactly what an examination is for.
Pigmented spots that are usually harmless
Most pigmented marks on the skin are not melanoma, and it helps to know the common harmless ones so worry is proportionate. Ordinary moles are even in colour, symmetrical and stable for years. Freckles and sun-related flat brown patches (lentigines) come with sun exposure and stay flat. Seborrhoeic keratoses are warty, stuck-on brown growths that are very common with age and can look alarming but are benign. Cherry angiomas are small bright-red spots, not pigment at all.
The reassuring theme is stability: harmless spots tend to look like your others and stay the same. The difference that matters is change. Any of these that begins to grow, darken unevenly, bleed or look unlike its neighbours still deserves a check, which is precisely the judgement an online risk-assessment helps you make before deciding how urgently to be seen.
Protecting your skin and checking it yourself
Reducing melanoma risk comes down to limiting ultraviolet damage: avoid sunburn and sunbeds, seek shade in the strongest midday sun, cover up, and use a high-factor sunscreen on skin that will be exposed.[4] Fair skin, a history of burning and heavy sun or sunbed use all raise risk, so these habits matter most for those groups, and for children whose sunburn counts for life.
Checking your own skin roughly once a month makes change easier to catch early. Look over your whole body in good light, including the back, scalp, soles and between the toes, using a mirror or a partner for the awkward areas, and photograph any mole you want to keep an eye on so you have something to compare against. If a spot starts to stand out from the rest, that is the moment to have it assessed rather than to wait and see.
Which moles suit online assessment, and which need examining?
This is the pathway the doctors use to make sure a worrying mole is seen quickly, aligned with the cited guidance:[3]
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Presentation | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When referral or in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| A mole with one or more ABCDE features, or clearly changing | Photo risk-assessment and urgent referral to dermatology | Online for triage and referral only | Always; needs dermoscopy and usually a biopsy |
| A new or “ugly duckling” mole unlike your others | Photo assessment, with urgent referral if suspicious | Triage and referral only | Always, for diagnosis |
| A long-stable mole, no change, but you are anxious | Reassurance, a baseline photo and clear safety-netting | Usually yes, for assessment | Refer if it later changes, or if anything is uncertain |
| A bleeding, ulcerated or fast-growing pigmented lesion | Prompt in-person dermatology; do not delay | No | Always, urgently |
| Confirmed or suspected melanoma | Specialist surgical and oncology care | No | Always; treatment is never delivered online |
Worried about a mole? A doctor can risk-assess it and, if needed, refer you urgently in one consultation.
See available times →How melanoma is diagnosed and treated (in person)
It is worth being clear about what happens after a referral, because none of it is done online. A dermatologist examines the mole with a dermoscope, a magnifying tool that reveals patterns the naked eye cannot see. If the mole is suspicious, it is removed with a small margin of skin and sent for a biopsy, which is what actually confirms or excludes melanoma.[1]
If melanoma is confirmed, treatment is surgical and specialist: a wider excision to remove a margin of healthy skin, sometimes assessment of nearby lymph nodes, and, for more advanced disease, specialist therapies overseen by an oncology team.[5] Melanoma found early is very often treated successfully, which is exactly why speed of referral matters and why an honest online risk-assessment that gets you seen quickly is valuable. What no online service should do is offer to treat melanoma, or promise from a photo that a mole is safe.
When online help is enough, and when you need in-person care
This is the heart of how moles are handled online, and where honesty matters most.
What the doctor can do online: risk-assess a mole from clear photos and your history; write an in-person dermatology referral, urgently where the features warrant it; provide reassurance with specific safety-netting advice when a mole looks stable and low-risk; and set a baseline so future change is easier to judge.
What needs in-person care: any mole with suspicious or changing features; dermoscopy, biopsy and the diagnosis itself; a bleeding, ulcerated or fast-growing lesion, seen promptly; and every part of melanoma treatment, which is surgical and specialist. In all of these the consultation exists to get you to the right care faster, never to substitute for it. Moles are one of many concerns the doctors help with among skin conditions online, alongside benign lesions such as warts and cysts, though a suspicious pigmented mole always takes the urgent-referral route.
When melanoma needs urgent, in-person care
A suspicious or changing mole should be assessed in person promptly, within days rather than weeks, and an online consultation can arrange that urgent referral. A mole itself is not usually a 112 emergency. However, in someone with known or advanced melanoma, call 112 or go to an emergency department for sudden severe symptoms that can signal spread or a serious complication, such as breathlessness, coughing up blood, a first seizure, a sudden severe headache, or new one-sided weakness or confusion.
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: open daily 7am–11pm CET. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, exact price up front.
- Upload clear photos of the mole, then speak to a licensed doctor: a private video call: you describe what you feel, the doctor asks what matters, and you agree the right plan together.
- Get a clear plan: reassurance with safety-netting, or an urgent referral to in-person dermatology for dermoscopy and biopsy where it is needed, named plainly.
No sign-up needed
Not sure about a mole or skin spot? Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Not sure this is the right page? Look up any symptom in the full symptom checker, or book and describe it to a doctor.
Frequently asked questions about melanoma
What is melanoma?
Melanoma is a cancer that starts in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the skin, and occasionally in the eye or mucous membranes. It usually appears as a new dark, irregular spot or as a change in an existing mole, grows first across the skin and then down into it, and can spread to lymph glands and other organs if not removed early, which is why melanoma is treated as urgent.
What causes melanoma?
Melanoma is caused mainly by ultraviolet light damaging the DNA of pigment cells: intense, intermittent sun exposure with blistering sunburns, especially in childhood, and sunbed use, which raises melanoma risk substantially when started before 35. Fair skin, red or blond hair, many or unusual moles, a family history, a previous melanoma, a weakened immune system and older age add to the risk; a minority of melanomas arise without sun damage.
What does melanoma look like?
Melanoma most often looks like a new or changing spot with the ABCDE features: Asymmetry, an irregular or blurred Border, more than one Colour (brown, black, red, white or blue), a Diameter larger than about 6 mm, and Evolving, meaning change in size, shape or colour or new itching, bleeding or crusting. Nodular melanoma breaks the rules: a firm, raised lump growing over weeks, sometimes pink or skin-coloured.
Can an online doctor check a mole for melanoma?
An online doctor can risk-assess a mole from clear photos and your history, and arrange an urgent in-person referral if it looks suspicious for melanoma. What no online doctor can do is diagnose or rule out melanoma from a photo, because that needs dermoscopy and usually a biopsy. The value of the consultation is speed: the mole is sorted and the referral written the same consultation.
Can melanoma be treated online?
No. Melanoma is diagnosed by removing the spot and examining it under a microscope, and treated by surgery, sometimes with lymph node assessment, immunotherapy or targeted drugs, all of which happen in person under a specialist. Any service offering to treat melanoma online, or to clear a mole as safe from a photo or an app, is not acting safely, and the doctor says so directly.
My mole itches and has bled. Is that serious?
Itching and bleeding are among the changes taken seriously in melanoma assessment, so a mole that has started to itch, bleed or crust should be examined promptly. It is often something harmless, such as an irritated seborrhoeic keratosis or a mole caught by a strap, but it fits the pattern that warrants in-person examination within two weeks, and an online consultation gets that referral moving.
What is the ugly duckling sign?
The ugly duckling sign is a spot that looks different from all your other moles: darker, larger, a different shape or colour, or the only one that is raised or changing. Most people's moles resemble each other, so the odd one out deserves a closer look even when it passes the ABCDE checklist, and it catches melanomas, including nodular melanoma, that the checklist misses.
How fast does melanoma grow, and what happens if it is found early?
Superficial spreading melanoma, the commonest type, can change slowly over months to a year or more before growing downward; nodular melanoma can thicken within weeks. Found at the earliest stage, melanoma is removed under local anaesthetic and cured in the great majority of cases, with more than 9 in 10 people alive at five years; survival falls as the melanoma thickens, which is why change is acted on within weeks.
Is it melanoma or a harmless mole?
Harmless moles are usually symmetrical, one even colour, under 6 mm, and stable for years; seborrhoeic keratoses are waxy, stuck-on brown patches that multiply with age; freckles fade in winter; a blood blister under a nail follows an injury and grows out. Melanoma stands out by change and difference. When any doubt remains, the only safe answer is dermoscopy in person, not reassurance from a photo.
How do I check my own skin for melanoma?
Check your whole skin about once a month in good light with a full-length and a hand mirror, including the back, scalp, soles, between the toes, under nails and the genital area, asking someone to check the places you cannot see. Photograph any mole you are unsure of beside a ruler, compare it after a month, and arrange examination for anything new, changing or odd-looking rather than waiting to see.
How can I prevent melanoma?
Prevent melanoma by avoiding sunburn: stay in shade between 11am and 3pm in strong sun, wear a hat, sunglasses and covering clothing, use SPF 30 or higher broad-spectrum sunscreen reapplied every two hours and after swimming, never use a sunbed, and protect children above all, since childhood burns carry the most risk. Regular skin checks do not prevent melanoma, but they catch it early, when it is curable.
Who is most at risk of melanoma, and is it different in pregnancy or darker skin?
Risk is highest in fair-skinned people with many moles, a history of sunburn or sunbeds, a family history, or a weakened immune system, and it rises with age. In pregnancy, moles can darken slightly but should not change shape or grow; any change is examined as usual. In darker skin, melanoma is rarer but often found late because it appears on the palms, soles or under nails, so new dark streaks there need examination.
Do you offer full skin or mole-mapping checks online?
No. Total-body skin examination and mole mapping are in-person services using dermoscopy and specialist imaging. Online, the doctor assesses specific moles you are worried about and arranges referral; if you have many atypical moles, a previous melanoma or a strong family history, the doctor can refer you for regular in-person surveillance, which is how high-risk skin is best watched.
- Melanoma: assessment and management (NG14), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2015 (updated 2022).
- Melanoma, DermNet New Zealand Trust, reviewed 2023.
- Suspected cancer: recognition and referral (NG12), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2015 (updated 2023).
- Ultraviolet radiation fact sheet, WHO, World Health Organization, 2022.
- Skin cancer (melanoma), HSE, Health Service Executive (Ireland), accessed August 2026.
- Melanoma skin cancer, NHS, National Health Service (UK), accessed October 2026.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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