What this area of the clinic is, and who it is for
Dermatology is the medical specialty of skin, hair and nails: it diagnoses and treats what appears on the surface, from an acne flare to a lesion that should be studied before anyone touches it. In this clinic it is the oldest starting point. The Clínica Dermatológica y Cirugía Estética de Puebla opened in 1971, founded by dermatologist Dr. Francisco Arellano Ocampo, and dermatology is still in its name, its origin and its daily practice.
This area serves three very different patients. The first arrives with a chronic condition —psoriasis, dermatitis, rosacea, urticaria— that needs diagnosis and follow-up rather than one isolated session. The second arrives with a specific lesion: a mole that changed, a wart, a cyst, a lump under the skin. The third arrives with no symptom at all, simply to be checked. All three begin in the same place: the dermatology consultation.
Two different hands under one roof, and why we say it plainly
Precision matters in medicine, so let us spell it out. The dermatology consultation and the medical diagnosis of skin are a service of the clinic — the clinic a dermatologist founded in 1971. Dr. Arístides Arellano Huacuja is a plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgeon — he is not a dermatologist: his specialty licence 0002008 is in plastic and reconstructive surgery. On this site each person appears under the specialty they actually hold.
What he attends to personally is the surgical ground: dermatologic surgery —excision of lesions, biopsy, margin management, reconstruction of the resulting defect and the later work on the scar— and surgical laser work on skin. That division is not a technicality: it is the reason a case does not have to leave the building when it stops being a diagnosis and becomes an operation. Same file, same roof.
How a case is actually assessed here: diagnosis first, treatment second
The order is not negotiable, and it is what separates a medical consultation from a beauty treatment: first you establish what the lesion is, then you decide what to do about it. A new patch, an ulcer that will not close or a mole that changed are not cauterised "for cosmetic reasons" before being studied, because destroying a lesion without a diagnosis erases the information about what it was.
A typical assessment covers clinical history and triggers, examination of the skin —full-body when the reason for the visit carries risk—, dermoscopy of pigmented lesions with the ABCDE rule as a reference, and studies where needed: culture, fungal scraping, testing at the allergy unit, or analyses at the clinic's own laboratory and pharmacy. If something looks suspicious, skin cancer screening continues with biopsy and histopathology before treatment is decided, not after.
Chronic conditions are controlled, not cured
This is the honest part many pages would rather not write. Psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, chronic urticaria, vitiligo, alopecia areata and rosacea follow a chronic course: they are controlled. The aim is to reduce their extent and activity, lengthen the quiet periods and learn to manage the triggers. No serious consultation can promise you they will disappear for good.
That is why the approach here is follow-up rather than a single session. The trigger is identified —stress, climate, hygiene, a contact allergen, a medication—, treatment is adjusted according to the response, and the case is reviewed. When the extent justifies it, PUVA/UVB phototherapy is used as a control tool in cabin, with a number of sessions defined at the consultation. Comprehensive acne treatment follows the same logic: control the active breakout first, and only then work on the scarring it left. Results may vary from one person to another.
Lesions that come off: when it is an office procedure and when it is surgery
The other half of the work is physical: something is on the skin that should not be there, and it has to be removed properly. The useful question is not "which cream?" but who removes it, with what technique, and what happens to the specimen.
- Moles and warts: most are resolved in the office under local anaesthesia. A mole is excised —not burned— when its appearance makes study necessary, so the pathologist can actually read it.
- Sebaceous cyst and lipoma: these are benign lumps, and whether they come back depends on removing the capsule or the whole lesion, not merely its contents.
- Actinic keratosis: accumulated sun damage with the potential to progress. It is treated to avoid that path, and it obliges a review of the rest of the skin, not only the lesion you can see.
- Basal cell carcinoma: the most frequent skin cancer. The goal is clear margins and a reconstruction that respects facial function and lines — plastic surgery ground, not quick cauterisation.
- Fungal and nail infections: the fungus is confirmed before treatment begins. A thickened nail is not always fungal, and treating blind for months wastes both time and money.
What is not done here
Saying what we do not do is as informative as saying what we do:
- A suspicious lesion is never destroyed cosmetically before it has been studied.
- No diagnosis at a distance: no lesion is assessed from a photograph or a phone description. The in-person consultation is a prerequisite.
- No cures and no results are promised — not for chronic conditions, not for scars, not for pigmentation.
- A fashionable treatment is not prescribed just because a patient asks for it. If the case does not need it, we say so and explain why.
- This is not a substitute for hospital care: a severe or extensive skin presentation is referred to the appropriate level of care.
- Surgery is not performed on skin with an active inflammatory or infectious process: that is controlled first.
What the commitment realistically looks like
Realistic calendar expectations help. A chronic condition is measured in months of follow-up, not days: a first consultation, an adjustment a few weeks later, and more widely spaced reviews once the condition is quiet. Phototherapy and acne treatment work by accumulation of sessions and time; abandoning them halfway usually returns the problem to its starting point.
On the surgical side the timeline is different. Most small excisions are done in the office under local anaesthesia and allow a return to normal activity the same day, with wound care and suture removal at around a week. A scar takes months to mature and changes in appearance while it does, so it is judged late rather than early. Every medical procedure carries risk and requires a prior assessment; results may vary from one person to another according to phototype, anatomy and individual healing.
What it costs, and why the figure is approximate
The dermatology assessment consultation costs approximately $800 MXN. It is charged separately and is a prerequisite for any procedure or treatment in this area: nothing can be prescribed without seeing the skin, and without a prescribed plan no quotation is worth anything.
The cost of treatments and of dermatologic surgery is defined at that private consultation, because it depends on the diagnosis, on the number and size of the lesions, on whether histopathology is required, and on whether closure is direct or needs reconstruction. Any figure published on this site is approximate and does not constitute a quotation; a formal quotation can only be issued after the in-person assessment.
Who performs it, and on what credentials
Dr. Arístides Arellano Huacuja is a plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgeon, and he directs the clinic. He qualified as Médico Cirujano at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco (1986) and practises under professional licence D.G.P. 1125959 and specialty licence 0002008, both issued by Mexico's Directorate General of Professions and open for anyone to look up in the National Registry of Professionals. He trained in his specialty at Hospital General de Agudos Dr. Abel Zubizarreta in Buenos Aires (1987–1989), has been a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons (F.I.C.S.) since 1994, and holds United States patent US 5,928,158 (USPTO, 1999).
He is the second generation of this house: his father, dermatologist Dr. Francisco Arellano Ocampo, founded it in 1971. The dermatology consultation belongs to the clinic, and the surgery and surgical laser work on skin are his. The clinic is at Calle 20 Sur 2539, Col. Bellavista, 72500 Puebla, Pue., open Monday to Friday 8:00–20:00 and Saturday 8:00–14:00. You can book your assessment at +52 221 155 2228.