The importance of regular skin checks
- Regular checks give you a good chance of spotting the signs of sun damage before they become serious
- Regular checks will help you get to know your own skin and gain a greater understanding of what is normal on your skin and what is not, which will help you in identifying any new or changing areas of your skin
- Extremely important for those with a higher risk of getting skin cancer (people with reduced immunity, people who have had skin cancer before, and people with a strong family history of skin cancer) to be checked regularly to avoid any cancerous spots
- Cancer can appear on parts of the body which are not exposed to the sun, so checking these regularly is also very important
The importance of early detection
- Detecting sun spots early means potentially avoiding cancer
- Sun spots and skin cancers that are identified and treated early have a better outcome than most other types of cancer
What changes to look out for
- New moles
- Moles that increase in size
- An outline of a mole that becomes notched
- Change in colour on a spot from brown to black or is varied
- A spot that develops a lump within it or becomes raised
- Rough, scaly or ulcerated surfaces begin to develop
- Moles that itch or tingle
- Moles that bleed or weep
- Spots that look different from your other spots
Different types of skin cancer
- Melanoma
- Nodular melanoma
- Basal cell carcinoma (BCC)
- Nodular and nodular-ulcerative BCC
- Pigmented BCC
- Superficial BCC
- Morphoeic BCC
Prevention of skin cancer
- Slip, slop, slap, seek, slide
- Slip on sun protective clothing that covers as much skin as possible
- Wear a shirt with a collar rather than a singlet top, when swimming, wear a wetsuit or rash vest
- Slop on sunscreen
- SPF30+ sunscreens filter out 97% of UV radiation
- Sunscreen will only filter out sun if enough sunscreen is used and it is used properly
- Sunscreen should be applied over all areas of exposed skin 20 minutes before sun exposure and reapplied every two hours (sooner if you’ve been swimming or sweating)
- Try to use water resistant sunscreen
- Apply sunscreen liberally to each limb, the front and back of the body and the face, neck, ears, hands and feet
- Slap on a hat
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect your face, back of the neck, eyes and ears
- Seek shade
- 11am-3pm is when the sun’s UV rays are their harshest, try your best to seek shade especially during these hours
- Slide on some sunglasses
- Long term exposure to UV radiation can cause cataracts and skin cancers of various tissues in the eye
- Using sunglasses which wrap around the face and are close fitting will provide the maximum protection
- There is an Australian Standard for sunglasses