Procedures

A biopsy is a procedure whereby a small piece of your skin is surgically excised (cut out) and sent to a specialist laboratory that Dr Adib trusts, in order to provide as accurately as possible, a diagnosis for your problem.

Biopsies are usually performed for both, rashes and skin cancers, to confirm a diagnosis. You will be given a local anaesthetic injection to numb the skin area before the biopsy is performed. Depending on location, a biopsy takes approximately 5-20 minutes.

The piece of skin taken varies from 3-8mm. Usually it will require a stitch and a dressing/bandaid that you will go home with.

The purpose of a biopsy is to obtain just a sample of the rash or skin cancer for the purpose of diagnosis, so that a plan of definitive treatment can be devised. A biopsy is not a means of treatment, therefore it cannot be relied upon as being curative, especially regarding skin cancers.

A skin scraping is usually performed if a fungal infection is suspected. Your skin surface is scraped and abraded in order to obtain the surface layer (stratum corneum). The scrapings are then sent to a laboratory where it is examined under a microscope and grown on a culture plate to ascertain any species of fungus, if it was to grow. This is not an invasive procedure, not requiring any stitches.