How long does surgical excision take to work for melanoma?

The operation removes the lesion and a planned border of nearby skin. The incision can remain tender, swollen, bruised, or scabbed while it heals, so its appearance is not a measure of cancer control. A laboratory examination checks features such as depth and whether the edges are clear. Your specialist uses that information, along with examination and any appropriate staging tests, to plan surveillance or additional treatment.

Follow the surgical team’s dressing, bathing, activity, and pain-relief instructions. Protect the wound from friction and do not remove stitches unless specifically told to do so. Keep every appointment to inspect healing and discuss the pathology report. Ask how to protect the scar from sunlight once the wound has closed, and learn how to check nearby skin and lymph-node areas. Report new concerns rather than waiting for a routine visit.

Contact your team promptly for spreading redness, worsening pain, increasing swelling, pus, wound separation, or fever. Seek urgent help for bleeding that does not settle with firm pressure. After healing, arrange assessment for a changing spot, a persistent sore, a new lump near the scar, or a swollen area in a nearby lymph-node region. These findings need examination; they cannot be interpreted reliably from photographs or wound appearance alone.

Ask when the pathology report will be reviewed, whether the edges are clear, whether staging is needed, and how often your skin and lymph nodes should be checked.