› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Some questions
- This topic has 3 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by
jennunicorn.
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- August 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm
I have some questions about screening for melanoma. I want to start by saying I always have been anxious about my health and as of late Melanoma has worried me. Melanoma does not run in my family. I have dark hair and somewhat dark skin but at 35 I never wore sunscreen and this has me bothered. I had a few decent sun burns growing up but they were rare. My main concern is that I have a good deal of moles on my body. They are pretty tiny but I worry about them. I have been to several dermatologists and none of them have ever used a dermascope on me.
I went to the University of Penn and expressed my concern with them. The first doctor examined my moles by eye and said everything looked good. He then went out and brought a team of doctors in and they examined me again. They said everything looked good. I asked them all about using a dermascope and they said it was not necessary. I asked them about mole mapping and they said that I did not need it.
The doctor told me to come back in a year and that ultimatly I was low risk for melanoma. I reminded him of my sun exposure and use of tanning beds when I was in college and he said that raises your risk slightly but more than likely you will never see melanoma. I then asked him about the number of moles I probably have about 150 tiny ones putting me at a higher risk and he said again this raised your risk minimally. He said he sees people with way more moles than me and most of them will never see melanoma.
This board is very knowledgable and I wanted to see if this was accurate ? Thank you for your time.
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- August 4, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Yes that is all accurate. Just because one has many moles does not automatically mean they will get melanoma. I have close to no moles, seeing my derm for a skin check takes less than 10 minutes because there is hardly anything to check. But, I have melanoma. There is no reason to stress your body out by worrying IF you'll get melanoma. The main thing the derm is going to look for at skin checks is a mole that stands out from the crowd. One that looks very different from all the others. If you spot a mole that looks very different from the others, take a picture. You can monitor things yourself by using pictures. Check on it once a month for CHANGE. If it doesn't change, no problem. If something starts to change: color, shape, size, itches, bleeds, etc. then make an appointment and have it biopsied to be safe. It still does not mean you'd have melanoma, but that's the main factor you'll want to keep an eye out for. Don't let it consume your life though. If you can't stop thinking about it and it's interfering with every day life, then I would advise you to seek counseling to get health anxiety under control. Our bodies need us calm and stress free in order to be healthy.
Take care,
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- August 4, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Yes that is all accurate. Just because one has many moles does not automatically mean they will get melanoma. I have close to no moles, seeing my derm for a skin check takes less than 10 minutes because there is hardly anything to check. But, I have melanoma. There is no reason to stress your body out by worrying IF you'll get melanoma. The main thing the derm is going to look for at skin checks is a mole that stands out from the crowd. One that looks very different from all the others. If you spot a mole that looks very different from the others, take a picture. You can monitor things yourself by using pictures. Check on it once a month for CHANGE. If it doesn't change, no problem. If something starts to change: color, shape, size, itches, bleeds, etc. then make an appointment and have it biopsied to be safe. It still does not mean you'd have melanoma, but that's the main factor you'll want to keep an eye out for. Don't let it consume your life though. If you can't stop thinking about it and it's interfering with every day life, then I would advise you to seek counseling to get health anxiety under control. Our bodies need us calm and stress free in order to be healthy.
Take care,
-
- August 4, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Yes that is all accurate. Just because one has many moles does not automatically mean they will get melanoma. I have close to no moles, seeing my derm for a skin check takes less than 10 minutes because there is hardly anything to check. But, I have melanoma. There is no reason to stress your body out by worrying IF you'll get melanoma. The main thing the derm is going to look for at skin checks is a mole that stands out from the crowd. One that looks very different from all the others. If you spot a mole that looks very different from the others, take a picture. You can monitor things yourself by using pictures. Check on it once a month for CHANGE. If it doesn't change, no problem. If something starts to change: color, shape, size, itches, bleeds, etc. then make an appointment and have it biopsied to be safe. It still does not mean you'd have melanoma, but that's the main factor you'll want to keep an eye out for. Don't let it consume your life though. If you can't stop thinking about it and it's interfering with every day life, then I would advise you to seek counseling to get health anxiety under control. Our bodies need us calm and stress free in order to be healthy.
Take care,
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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