Seems like every clinic in Tokyo I’ve looked up/called has the same policy:
Up to 3-4 moles covered by insurance, but every extra mole costs 1000ish yen per.
If you have a lot of moles, this quickly becomes a problem…(especially if you want to do annual checkups, assuming they even take pictures to compare the potential growth/appearance of new moles). Apparently you also have to point out the moles individually as well? So if you didn’t spot it yourself…unlucky?
I haven’t contacted any hospital dermatology departments yet – not that I’d be against going. I wonder if a clinic would write a referral for something like this even if there isn’t a known medical emergency.
Any successful experiences here? Japanese-only, long travel time – both are fine. I’m just feeling pretty discouraged by how difficult it seems to find a reasonable service like this.
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I have cherry angioma and moles all over my body. I went to a good dermatologist who cut and laser zapped a few off and let me use insurance. Unfortunately, he retired and his office closed up. I went to another dermatologist and wouldn’t do anything for me.
The thing is, you have to do your own ABCD check and come in claiming that whatever on your skin is causing discomfort. If they are convinced enough, they might do something for you. You might have to go through two or three doctors until you find that one who will help you out. Most likely it will be the most popular one in the city and you’ll have to wait a long time in the lobby.
Weirdly I was wondering this myself just today!
My experience has also been doubtful with dermatologists in Japan. As you’ve observed, they’re reactive and not proactive and only check out moles that you point out. I too have a ton of moles so I feel your frustration… Last time I went to the derm was for a scar-like patch that’s appeared on my cheek. After examining it with the dermatoscope he said “It looks like it’s benign but I don’t know what the cause is”. I was a bit shocked that he didn’t suggest a referral or a biopsy if they couldn’t figure out the cause…
The clinics I’ve found that do offer full body skin checks don’t accept NHI plus they charge by X number of minutes on top of the flat fee.
I’m planning on getting a skin check every time I’m in my home country going forward and just checking myself as best I can in the meantime.
Let me know if you find any recommended clinics though, I’d be keen to visit them myself!
There was another thread on this topic a while back. Following clinic offers a full body skin cancer check for 25,000yen, which a number of people recommended:
http://www.gardenclinic-hiroo.com/