How To Detect Skin Cancer
More than 1 million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every year. While that is a lot people, it is relatively low per capita when compared to Australia. Australians are 5 times more likely to get skin cancer than Americans with around 375,000 being diagnosed each year. Why is that the case? There are a number of possible reasons such as:
- being in the southern hemisphere where the sun is more intense
- lack of protection from the ozone layer
- the Australian outdoor lifestyle
How to Detect Skin Cancer
Early detection is the key to successfully treating skin cancer. Checking your skin regularly will help you to detect any skin cancers and improve your chances of being one of the 90% who survive skin cancer.
The signs to look for are:
- A crusty, non-healing sore.
- A small lump which is red, pale or pearly in colour.
- A new spot, freckle or mole changing in colour, thickness or shape over a period of several weeks to months.
- Particular attention should be paid to spots that are dark brown to black, red or blue-black.
This video explains the different types of skin cancers and what to look for when checking your skin:
This Australian Government ad shows how dangerous skin cancer can be if left untreated:
How to Prevent Skin Cancer
The best way to prevent skin cancer is to protect your skin from the sun. You can do this by:
- wearing a hat
- wearing protective clothing
- staying in the shade
- wearing sunglasses
- using sunscreen daily, even in winter
See your doctor immediately if you are concerned about any unusual spots on your skin.
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[...] How To Detect Skin CancerEarly detection is the key to successfully treating skin cancer. Checking your skin regularly will help you to detect any skin cancers and improve your chances of being one of the 90% who survive skin cancer. The signs to look for are: … [...]
It is important to carefully examine your skin for suspicious moles that could portend a deadly melanoma. The traditional ABCD criteria can help guide risk assessment. A, for asymmetric lesions; B for moles with irregular Borders; C, for colors in the lesion; and D, for diameter greater than the tip of an eraser.
More recently physicians have recognized the importance of moles that are new or getting larger in predicting high risk lesions. They have now added E for enlargement to the criteria and many recommend following the ABCDE’s.
Although dermatologists almost always ask if you have any new or changing moles most people cannot accurately answer that question (particularly those with numerous moles and the greatest risk). One way to approach this problem is to use Total Body Photography to document the moles on your body. However, this is an expensive procedure (often costing $400-$600) that most insurance providers will not cover.
There is now an inexpensive software program that allows people to use their own digital cameras at home to take their own body images at different time intervals (maximizing privacy). The images can be scaled and aligned and compared using a personal computer to allow for the efficient recognition of new or growing moles. This software was developed from funding provided by the National Cancer Institute and can be obtained by going to the website http://www.dermalert.com .
The ABCD criteria is a great way to explain to people what they should be looking for. Thanks for the info.
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