Examine Yourself: The Skin Nerd - Holy moley! Skin damage simply not worth the risk
The unfortunate reality is that skin cancer remains to be the most common cancer in Ireland, with nearly 12,000 people being diagnosed per year according to the Irish Cancer Society.
As a nation not often blessed with sunny weather, we simply don’t protect our skin properly and we need to get better at checking our skin for signs of change.
Skin cancer is caused by damage from UV rays, both the UVB we associate with heated sunlight and the UVA that reaches us through windows and through rain, hail or snow.
Although our skin can repair a certain amount of this damage, it can’t repair it all, and these damaged skin cells can become cancerous over time.
The good news is that when skin cancer is caught early, it is usually very treatable.
This means that outside of being sun-safe, your main mode of defense is checking yourself on the regular and being checked by a professional once yearly, especially if you are mole-y or a pale, fair individual.
Genuinely, the stereotypical Celtic genes are considered to be the most susceptible to skin cancer - however, anyone of any skin tone can have skin cancer.
When you think of checking yourself, you probably imagine yourself spread eagle, door locked and armed with a magnifying glass for an hour and a half. You need to take care to check carefully but you won’t need to book a two hour appointment with yourself in your diary.
You are looking for changes in your skin, so the frequency of your checks is important.
When it comes to are checking your moles, the key changes you are looking for are new ones, changes in the size of moles, whether the borders have changed, uneven shaping (one edge is not the same as the other, or a mole with jagged edges), changes in colour, inflammation or redness surrounding them, bleeding, oozing or crusting, or moles that aren’t feeling how they used to. Interestingly, flat moles are the main culprit even though we are often told to keep a particularly close eye on raised moles!
It’s important to note that moles aren’t the only way skin cancer can develop.
Small lumps or red spots, scaly patches or ulcers are important to watch for, especially if they do not heal in a week or two or are causing you discomfort such as itchiness, scabbing or bleeding. You can find much more information on what to look out for on the Irish Cancer Society website, cancer.ie.
If you find a change in your skin or a mole, book in with your GP as soon as you can.
Personally, I opt for mole mapping. I asked Edel from Molescan, the clinic I attend: “Mole mapping involves visual assessment by our screening nurse, educating the patient about normal lesions and marking those which warrant a closer examination. Highlighted moles are then imaged using a dermascope (e-Derm™).
When dermoscopic images are captured, the lesion is magnified in high definition using a number of different lighting conditions. This provides an extremely detailed view of the lesion, ensuring Dr Gursharan Bedi, our dermatologist, has the necessary data and views to carry out an accurate diagnosis.
"Should she deem a lesion to be of concern, we then refer the patient for biopsy or excision biopsy. As nothing is 100% accurate, the only way of confirming or ruling out skin cancer is by way of biopsy and histology.
"However, our screening service is aimed at detecting precancerous moles or skin cancer and melanoma at an early stage as skin cancer is 90% curable if detected early,” she says.
In general, protect yourself by wearing SPF, avoiding sun-bathing (sorry) and covering up when you’re in the sun.
You probably are aware of the dangers of sunbeds, but even using sunbeds just once increases your risk of developing squamous skin cancer by 67% and basal cell skin cancer by 29% (source: Irish Cancer Society).
It’s simply not worth it.
THE NERDIE PICK
Dr Danne Montague King is the cosmetic and botanical scientist who realised the skin powers of vitamin C back in the 60s and his range, DMK, is grounded in the ingredients that are proven to work.
This is a large 180ml mild chemical exfoliant that can be used on both the face and body. Ideal for helping to reduce the appearance of pigmentation and dullness across your body and as your weekly facial exfoliating treatment
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■ DMK Micro Peel Face and Body Exfoliating Gel. €57, available from selected salons and to Nerd Network members at theskinnerd.com.
