Unfortunately, in today’s world, many people don’t seem to think that skin cancer is just as harmful as other types of cancer. It’s a serious thing, yet people will willingly go to the tanning salon or out to the beach assuming they’ll be fine without sunscreen. Sadly, this just is not the case. With our Earth’s atmosphere at it’s thinnest ever, the sun’s harmful rays are one of the leading cancer causing agents that are blatantly ignored by far too many people. In an effort to help people understand just how serious skin cancer is, I’ve created this list of early warning signs and symptoms of skin cancer that you should be paying attention to in order to avoid a life-threatening battle with cancer.
To understand the warning signs and symptoms of skin cancer, it’s easy to break it down into an ABCDE method of categorizing. Being sure to watch any skin growth, mole, or freckles and keeping track of their Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter, and Evolving patters is the easiest way to know if you need to head to the doctor’s office to have things checked out. Since skin cancer is one of the easiest conditions to identify with proper checking and tracking, here is how you can follow the ABCDE rules:
A – Asymmetry: While your mole, birthmark, and freckles will have it own unique shape, it’s important to note if one half looks drastically different than the other. If it is a different shape or color, it’s time to tell the Dr.
B – Border: Watch out to the edges of a mole that may looked irregular, notches, rages, or blurred. If it’s not a clean border, get it checked out.
C – Color: While natural moles and freckles can vary in their shade of brown, black, and tan, if they start to change color to pink, red, white, or blue this could be a problem. Also, make sure they are colored evenly, if it’s different colors half way through, check it out with a doctor.
D –Diameter: Generally, moles that are less than 6 millimeter or about a quarter of an inch across are safe. If you notice a mole that is larger, it may be a melanoma skin cancer spot. While this measurement isn’t a concrete thing, it’s a safe rule of thumb.
E – Evolving: While you keep an eye on your moles and spots, it’s important to track if they are changing in any way. While most moles that appear in your childhood or early adulthood won’t change, it is important to look for new moles or small changes in existing ones. This means you should be checking the color, size and shape. You can easily take photos of your moles every couple of months, or write down what you see to track any changes or confirm that they are the same. Just a few minutes every month or so can easily save your life!
Did you know that more than 13 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year? That is not good news! But what is good news is the fact that skin cancer is the most preventable cancer. 90% of what causes skin cancer is associated with excessive exposure from the sun. The simplest measure you can take is to wear a broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) sunscreen with at least 15 SPF or higher everyday, limit your direct sun exposure, and by all means do not use the tanning beds.
