Skin Cancer Epidemic

When a lot of us were in our teen years, we thought that "sunscreen" was a dirty word.   We would smear all kinds of potions (like baby oil, iodine, crisco)  on our skin and lay out for hours in the hot, hot, sun to see just how burned we could get.   Tan was in.  The goal was to have the deepest tan around.   Well...now we're paying the price for that little bit of vanity.  We know that the skin cancers that are showing up now are a result of sunburns that we got before we were 20 years old.  It's really important to be vigilant in watching for changes in lesions that we might find on our skin.  Changes in size, shape, coloration, bleeding, itching are all things that we need to be aware of.  A mole doesn't have to be huge and scary looking to be a problem.  A dangerous melanoma can be a small , benign looking lesion.  There is a strong family genetic influence in the occurrence of melanoma.   If you have a blood relative with a history of melanoma that is another reason to be alert.   Problems that are spotted early can be dealt with relatively quickly and easily.   Basal cell, squamous and melanomas that have been ignored for a long time can be quite problematic to take care of requiring major excisions, and tissue reconstruction procedures to close.   Be aware of your skin.   Make it a regular practice to examine moles and funny patches on your skin.   You are the best judge of what is normal and what is not.   Do not wait until a lesion becomes a major problem.  If you have concerns, see a dermatologist and have him map your moles and determine if he thinks something needs to go.   If you've had a skin cancer previously you need to be doubly aware.