What Skin Tag, Mole, Cyst and Lipoma Removal Costs, and What the Price Includes

At The London Road Clinic in Newark, a skin tag costs from £100 per lesion to freeze, or from £250 per lesion to have removed by Dr Shahe Boghossian under local anaesthetic. Moles, cysts and small lipomas also cost from £250 each. Every price includes VAT.

Search further afield and you’ll find prices that differ several times over for what sounds like the same thing. They aren’t the same thing. The figure depends on what the lesion is, how it comes off, who removes it, and what else the price covers. A cheap quote and an expensive one can both be fair, for different procedures.

This sets out what we charge for each kind of removal, what that covers and what it doesn’t, and what to ask anywhere else so that two quotes can be compared.

Our prices

Every price includes VAT.

If you have more than one lesion, the cost of the others is discussed at your consultation, and the plan and the total are confirmed before anything is removed.

Why the method sets the price

The biggest difference in cost is between freezing a lesion and removing it.

Cryotherapy freezes the lesion, which then dries and sheds over the following days or weeks. It needs no anaesthetic and no cut, and it suits skin tags and some other small, harmless growths. It has a drawback worth knowing: freezing can leave the skin lighter, so it suits fair skin best.

Removal by a doctor is a different procedure. Dr Shahe numbs the area with local anaesthetic, then shaves, cauterises or cuts the lesion out, depending on what it is and where it sits. Moles, cysts and lipomas are removed this way at our clinic. The doctor’s time, the anaesthetic and the wound care are what the higher price pays for.

That is why, at this clinic, a mole costs the same as a skin tag removed by Dr Shahe: both are £250, because the method is the same. Elsewhere you will often see moles priced higher. That usually reflects who removes them and what else is in the price. Some clinics charge for laboratory testing on moles, either within the price or on top. We don’t offer it, which the next section explains.

What the price includes, and what it doesn’t

Included: the examination, the local anaesthetic, the removal itself, and aftercare advice for the wound. Dr Shahe removes every lesion himself, apart from cryotherapy, which Jaz or Laura carries out.

Not included, because we don’t offer it: laboratory testing. We don’t send removed tissue to a laboratory for analysis, which is called histology. Some clinics do, for moles or for everything they remove, and you should weigh that when comparing prices.

Because nothing is tested, the examination before removal carries the weight. Dr Shahe removes only lesions he judges harmless. If anything looks suspicious, he refers you to your GP the same day rather than removing it. And because moles can occasionally be cancerous, we recommend a GP check before any mole is removed, here or anywhere else. A mole that has changed in size, shape or colour needs your GP, not a removal appointment.

If having the tissue tested matters to you, tell us before you book, so we can talk it through with you first.

Will the NHS remove it for free?

Usually not, if the reason is appearance. National NHS guidance says removal of harmless skin lesions is “not usually offered by the NHS if it is just to improve appearance”. In Nottinghamshire, the ICB’s commissioning policy funds removal of moles, skin tags, cysts and similar lesions only where there is at least one of:

• significant disability that severely restricts daily activities
• recurrent infection, needing at least two courses of antibiotics
• recurrent bleeding or injury, with at least three documented episodes
• a risk of future cancer

Lipomas have their own rule. The NHS may fund removal of one over 5cm across, or one causing disability or repeated injury. Smaller ones are usually watched rather than removed.

Even when one of these applies, your GP has to apply for approval before the removal goes ahead. Anything suspicious sits outside these rules altogether, and your GP will refer it urgently. If your lesion bleeds, keeps getting infected, or is changing, see your GP before paying anyone.

How to compare two quotes

Ask each clinic the same questions:

1. Who removes it, and are they registered? A doctor’s name and GMC number can be checked on the GMC register, as Dr Shahe’s can. Our guide to checking who is treating you covers nurses and other practitioners.
2. By which method? Freezing, cautery, shaving and cutting out are different procedures at different prices, and not every one suits every lesion.
3. Is the consultation charged separately? Ours is £50, not charged if removal goes ahead the same day.
4. Is the tissue tested, and is that in the price?
5. What does each extra lesion cost?
6. What happens if it comes back? Skin tags don’t usually return once removed. Cysts and lipomas can, if their capsule isn’t fully removed.

Every removal carries some risk of a scar, a change in skin colour, or the lesion coming back. Scarring and darker skin are more likely on black or brown skin. Any clinic should tell you that before it quotes.

Where to go next

Each kind of lesion has its own page, with what to expect on the day and afterwards: skin tag and lesion removal, mole removal, cyst removal, lipoma removal and cryotherapy. The clinic is at 65 London Road, Newark-on-Trent, NG24 1RZ, with free parking at the front.

Frequently asked questions