Recently my sister noticed a mole on the side of my face. We looked at a few old pictures and no mole. After convincing myself that the start of ‘The Blob’ was growing below my eye, I made a dermatologist appointment.
I have lots of moles. My Mother called them beauty marks, which I agree sounds much better than moles. Beauty marks sound pretty and certainly nothing of concern. Moles, on the other hand, sound ugly and concerning.
I had seen this dermatologist for a skin check about 10 years ago so I was due. She looked at the “suspicious” mole and said it was OK. She eagerly volunteered to burn it off. I passed since I didn’t want to wear a band-aid so close to the Holidays with picture taking opportunities or have to explain about ‘The Blob’.
The Doctor asked to see the back of my legs. She explained this is the area where many women develop skin cancer. The reasons are:
We can’t see the back of our legs easily so growth is not detected early
We baby boomers didn’t use sunscreen when we were tanning as kids
We rarely cover well with sunscreen the back of our legs
Women start wearing skirts and shorts at a young age
Men happen to develop skin cancer more often on top of their ears.
The reasons are:
Men usually don’t have hair covering their ears
Men rarely put sunscreen on their ears
Even baseball cap wearing men often have their ears exposed
Baby boomer men never used sunscreen growing up while playing out doors
Skin Cancer is very treatable when detected early. Have you had a recent skin check?