A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day that her mother literally saved her life. Her mom had been bugging her to go in and get a skin cancer exam. My friend had been putting it off and thought her mom was over-reacting, but finally gave in and went in. She found out she had a form of skin cancer and had it removed. I was terrified as I read her post and started to panic because I never really checked myself out or seen a dermatologist…….and honestly I didn't think I needed to.
My friend is pretty fair skinned with red hair and she has always had a lot of freckles. So for her I'm thinking- yes you should get examined. But what about me? I have always had darker skin and not a lot of moles so I'm fine, right? No not necessarily. Her post got me a bit scared and opened my eyes to the fact that ANYONE can get skin cancer. It's the most common of all cancers and it is also the easiest to cure- if caught early on. I started looking at every bump and imperfection on my body thinking maybe I should make an appointment.
If you don't know a lot about skin cancer that's ok. Neither do I. But after reading a little bit more about it I am convinced that everyone should be doing monthly self exams and should get professionally checked once per year. The spot on my friend was not even one that she had spotted so without the dr.'s "fine tooth comb" exam she could have missed it. So start with a dr. exam to rule out everything you notice now, and then begin self exams once a month, not only on yourself but your kids.
If you are not sure what to look for during a self exam ( I sure wasn't!) Here is an article that explains how to spot it, how to do the exam, and how to make the most of a professional exam.
