Start Skin Cancer Awareness Month with a Checkup

This month is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and, as such, perhaps we should all do a checkup on ourselves to see whether sun exposure so far has caused any damage to our skin, damage that could potentially lead to more serious complications. In the context of increasing concerns about skin cancer, and with the hot season being just around the corner, it’s essential we check our skin, FitSugar insists.

Using sunscreen is a good way to combat the negative effects of sun exposure, as also is using self-tanning lotions for a great looking bronzed skin instead of hitting the beach and exposing ourselves to direct sunrays. Nevertheless, the exposure we’ve had so far could be detrimental to our health, which is why today is just as good a day as any other to do a through check, specialists say.

What we’re looking for is signs for anything that we know hasn’t been there before. In other words, as FitSugar puts it, we should keep an eye out for “suspicious moles and markings, which could lead to skin cancer,” especially on those parts of our body we don’t see constantly, like the back. If we’re not sure we can identify that something is wrong, or for any other reason, we may consider asking a friend to help us out. The scanning should be done in a well-lit room, preferably the bathroom, in front of a large mirror and with no clothes on, so as to make sure we’re not missing anything.

According to the US National Cancer Institute, we must carefully examine all moles and beauty marks and see whether there is any asymmetry, blurred borders, change of color or in diameter since the last time we checked. If, for instance, one half of a mole does not match the other half, the edges are irregular, the color is faded in some portions of the mole, or the diameter of the beauty mark is larger than a pencil’s eraser, then we should see a dermatologist as soon as possible.

Experts draw attention to the fact that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US, so performing this checkup is probably not to be postponed, they urge. The Skin Cancer Foundation is also offering free screenings of this type all throughout the country. For more information, please see here.