Eight Steps for a Self Skin Check

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Jennifer Garner has teamed up with Neutrogena® and Self® magazine to encourage women to examine their skin once a month. It’s a great campaign — if you find a melanoma, a simple skin check could save your life.

Why is it important for everyone to do self skin exams, even young women?

Skin cancer is there for everyone to see — including you. Everyday patients come to me having already found their skin cancer. It only takes a few minutes and a mirror.

For a full body skin check, you will need:

Here are eight steps for a complete skin check:

  1. Start with your scalp. Use the hair dryer to blow the hair apart to see your scalp section by section.
  2. Examine your face, especially your nose and lips; basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas favor these areas.
  3. Examine your hands and arms. Start with your fingertips and work up your arms to your trunk. Look at your fingernails as well; brown or black spots or streaks can be melanoma.
  4. Use the full mirror to check your back including the back of your arms and legs.
  5. Examine the front of your neck, chest and abdomen. Women should lift each breast to check underneath.
  6. Use the hand mirror to check the back of your shoulders, arms, underarms, buttocks, and legs.
  7. Sit down to exam the front of your legs.
  8. Check your feet including the bottoms, between the toes, and toenails (like you do your fingernails).

Remember you are looking for a mole that has:

In addition, any spot that bleeds or doesn’t heal over two weeks should be examined by a physician. Post by Jeffrey Benabio, MD

Is it normal for a mole to change during pregnancy?

Are you over-scrubbing your face?

Why do celebrities have cellulite?

Lip gloss might increase risk of skin cancer

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May 16, 2008 | Filed Under Melanoma, Women's Skin Care | 1 Comment 

The Tragic Death of a Marine from Misdiagnosed Melanoma

By now most of you have heard about the US Iraq war veteran, Marine Corps Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez, who died from melanoma at 29-years old. Read more

March 16, 2008 | Filed Under Dermatology News, Melanoma | 2 Comments 

Melanoma Skin Cancer Website

hm_logo.gifHere is an excellent melanoma skin cancer website for patients as well as physicians. It provides good information about risk factors, moles and nevi, development of melanoma, diagnosis, staging, and treatment.

See also:

Think that mole is too small to be a melanoma? Think again.

How far away is your dermatologist? Farther distances lead to thicker melanomas.

Is it normal for moles to change during pregnancy? No.

January 9, 2008 | Filed Under Melanoma, Moles and Nevi | 1 Comment 

Too Small to Be a Melanoma? Think Again.

A common screening measure for determining if a mole is skin cancer is if the size is larger than 6 mm in diameter. This corresponds to the size of a pencil eraser.

However, new research has shown that at least in one study 55% of the melanomas were actually smaller than 6 mm in diameter. Although the commonly cited ABCDE (asymmetry, border, color, diameter, and evolving) guide to determining if a mole is suspicious is helpful, it is imperfect.

Unfortunately, melanoma is actually becoming more common; in fact, according to the National Cancer Institute:

In the United States … the percentage of people who develop melanoma has more than doubled in the past 30 years.

The good news is that melanoma is the only deadly cancer that can be diagnosed just by examining the skin. If you have a new, changing, or suspicious mole, even if it is smaller than a pencil eraser, then have it checked as soon as possible by your dermatologist.

Even a small melanoma is a melanoma.

December 18, 2007 | Filed Under Melanoma, Moles and Nevi, Skin Cancer | 1 Comment 

Farther Distances Lead to Thicker Melanomas

How far away is your dermatologist?

A recent study from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill published in the Archives of Dermatology showed that the farther a patient had to drive to get to a dermatologist, the thicker the melanoma at the time of diagnosis. They reviewed 615 cases of melanoma from patients in 42 counties in North Carolina and found that the thickness of the tumor (measured as the Breslow thickness) increased by 6% for every 10 miles traveled.

This is important because in melanoma, thicker cancers are more dangerous and more likely to have spread. Thin melanomas are usually cured by surgery alone; thick melanomas or metastatic melanomas are difficult to treat and can be life threatening.

Don’t let distance deter you. If you or a loved one has a new, suspicious, or changing mole, then hop in the car and have it checked. Even if you have to stop for gas on the way there.

December 16, 2007 | Filed Under Melanoma, Skin Cancer | Leave a Comment