Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide – Follow Up, “Mole Map”

The start of the year is always about fresh beginnings and I thought it was a good idea to knock an item off my “to do” list that was overdue so I booked a mole map. I thought I would let you know how the process works and what the costs are.

First of all with Mole Map at this time of the year you won’t get an appointment in a hurry. I booked in mid Jan and the earliest appointment in Takapuna was the last week in Feb. I managed to grab an appointment in Remuera with a 3 week wait.

Your first appointment is $379.00 and it involves stripping down to your undies and standing in front of the technician for about 8 body shots. Once this is done the photos are loaded into the system. From there the technician covers off each segment of your body, checking mole by mole. When they find one that they think is of interest they take a photo from about 15cm away and then another actually pressing against your skin (it’s a fancy mole camera). These are linked on the system to the body shots and saved.

Once all the moles of significance have been plotted, you are able to go. Over the next week a dermatologist will review the images and complete a report which you can view online. Mine came back with 13 moles mapped but none needing attention, Happy Days!

When you go back in year two they will take new images of the moles highlighted in your original report, they are then able to be looked at side by side and compared for any change in colour or size.

The price for year two will vary depending how many moles they mapped at your original appointment. For my 13, I was quoted $279 for next year’s appointment.

Overall it is a pretty simple process, a little odd sitting around in your undies for an hour making small talk while some takes photos of your moles but if it keeps me here year on year I can handle it.

By the way GP’s will also check your moles, they won’t be mapped and they are not specialists. Probably a lot cheaper.