Your Skin Care

The purpose of this link is to provide you with important information regarding your skin and your skin care.

Skin Cancer
It is not within our scope of practice to diagnose or treat skin cancer. However, due to skin cancer becoming more prevalent and our own personal history and knowledge, we will look for any suspicious lesions and refer you to a dermatologist if needed.

Skin cancer is the most prevalent of all types of cancers. Fair-skinned people, who burn easily , are at a particularly high risk for developing skin cancer.

There are three types of skin cancer: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and Melanoma. Also know that common lesions called Actinic Keratoses can change into skin cancer. They are found on sun exposed areas and are dry, scaly and rough.

Please know the information below is to offer you insight. Again, we cannot diagnose, but we can be an extra pair of eyes for you.

BCC
Most common type of skin cancer. Found on sun exposed areas, for example, face, hands, legs, back or chest. Small pearl like appearance, fleshy bump or red patch or pimple like growth that heals and re-appears. Rarely spreads but it can grow below the skin causing considerable damage. Curable. Frequently found in fair-skinned people.

SCC
Second most common skin cancer. Appears on chronically sun exposed areas, for example, face, ears, lips and mouth, hands, neck and arms. Also can occur on the inside of the mouth and on the genitalia. Looks like red or pink bumps, scaly patch. May resemble sores or ulcers that do not heal. May spread to other parts of the body.
early treatment is important. If left untreated, SCC can destroy the tissue surrounding the cancer. Primarily found in fair-skinned people.

MELANOMA
Very serious type of skin cancer. Can be life threatening if not detected early. Found anywhere on the skin or in places not directly exposed to sun. Usually brown or black in color, similar to a mole. Begins on surface of skin making it easy to see and treat. Typically found on individuals with a history of sun burns, including tannin beds, fair-skinned, fifty or more moles, runs in families.

The ABCD’s of Melanoma: A ( asymmetry). Meaning one side of lesion is unlike the other. Melanomas are usually asymmetric. B ( border). The border of melanomas are usually irregular. C (color). Usually vary in different colors of tan, brown black and sometimes white, blue or red. Variety of shades with the same lesion. D ( diameter) usually melanomas are larger than six millimeters ( size of pencil head eraser) in diameter but they can be smaller. If you have amole that looks different from others or changes, bleeds or is irritating, you should have it looked at by a dermatologist.

FACT- ALMOST EVERY SKIN SYMPTOM CONNECTED TO AGING IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO SUN EXPOSURE.

For example, hyperpigmentation, deep wrinkles, rough texture, sagging, broken capillaries, total destruction of collagen and elastin, leathery texture and more. The residual effects of prior sun burning show up years later and wreck havoc on the skin.

Please have a yearly body check with a dermatologist. Wear at least a sunscreen with a SPF of 25 or more. You will still get color, just not suffer the devastating damage from a sunburn.

WE MUST PROTECT TO PREVENT!

If you would like more information on skin cancer, please contact us. We have pamphlets from the American Academy of Dermatology you may be interested in reading. If you do not have a dermatologist, we are happy to refer you to ours.