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The Melanoma Action Coalition produced the message above as a reminder for 2022, along with thoughts on essential protection.
Routines change over holiday periods and once again, we have additional changes to life due to Covid-19. Not letting Covid, or the end of a break make us feel despondent will help, along with keeping to plans that support our health.
Exercise and diet often figure in New Year thinking, which is good news but don’t forget your skin. An area at risk from a common disease, skin cancer, which the right decisions can help to prevent:
- The shade is your friend, especially between 10am and 4pm.
- Don’t get sunburnt and never use tanning beds, or lamps.
- Wear protective clothing, including a hat and sunglasses.
- Use a good quality, broad spectrum sunscreen every day.
- Reapply this every 2 hours & after swimming, or sweating.
- Carry out a skin self examination every month (just 10 mins).
- Visit a dermatologist at least once a year, for a skin check.
These core rules should apply to all our skin, regardless of ethnicity, or age. Protecting young skin from the sun is vital for life but the same applies whatever your age and whether or not you have suffered from skin cancer before.
Timely Visits Reduce Care
The message we began with from a unique charity is the last on our action list but not the least. Professional skin cancer screening is a key weapon in our fight against a condition which has grown exponentially.
Prevention matters and so do self checks but a consultant dermatologist specialising in skin cancer can pick up subtle, early signs. They are aided by knowledge, along with digital photography and dedicated software to map small changes.
State of the art screening is the best way to reduce treatment, by catching skin cancer at an early stage. Any intervention needed will normally be briefer, less troublesome and more likely to succeed in the long term.
Our team are here to provide personal screening programs, which are quite painless. Please find the time and follow the other guidance on keeping safe in the sun. Skin cancer need not be a devastating disease, if we all work together.