How to tell if you have skin cancer?
Skin Cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in India. It can happen to anybody regardless of their age, daily habits, or lifestyle. Detecting Skin Cancer in your body is pretty much easier than you think. Skin cancer usually is apparent, and you can start to see differences in your outer skin. Even a small sunburn can cause the risk of developing skin cancer. That's why we say to be extra protective of your skin's outer layer so that it stays safe from the side effects of UV rays.
The article below is going to get you through the right ways to detect skin cancer at the starting stages. It shall help you to avoid any catastrophic event later saving your life. So, stay connected throughout the article to understand these measures.
How to tell if you have skin cancer?
Telling whether you have skin cancer or not is a measure of a few assessments that can be done by yourself and at the doctor's place. The following recommendations are going to be beneficial for you in detecting the depth of cancer and its existence.
Educate yourself enough to Detect Skin Cancer
Relevant education & Self-examination can help you detect skin cancer at the convenience of the home itself. All you need to learn is about the kinds of spots, color & texture changes that might happen in case you have skin cancer. Notice such changes from head to toe daily. There will be some parts of the body where you cannot reach to notice such symptoms like the backside or top inside of the hair scalp. To perform this examination better, seek help from your parents or guardians. They shall look into it & help you better understand such changes in the skin texture. You can even use a long mirror to see the backside of your body. Moreover, finding skin cancer on your body is going to be quite easy because skin cancer generally starts in front of those areas of your skin which you can easily perceive on your own like hands, nose, ears, legs, etc.
Skin cancer without any pain
Many times, you might see a weird kind of scratch, redness, peeling off the skin, and changed color or texture. But, all of these might not let you have any kind of internal pain, trouble, or problems. So, my point here is that many people who got diagnosed with skin cancer didn't have any pain due to such spots. So, avoiding these changes might get heavy on you later if not now. A basic example of this is when you have peeled off skin underneath your nail area but it didn't hurt you anyways and you end up ignoring it. It might not lead to bleeding, sudden pain, or any itching at that time but ignoring it might give a privilege to these small cancer cells to double up faster.
Spots at various parts of the body
If you find any dreadful, strange-looking scalp or pulpy area that's weird for you as you never had it genetically, then it's one of the biggest signals to know that you might be under the trap of skin cancer. Another method is to find these scratches or red/black/brown/yellowish spots at visible areas yourself when you look in the mirror or at general places. These skin cancer cells can grow anywhere in your body starting from the bottom of your feet to the middle of your hair scalp to your private parts. You need to be extremely careful of these spots and don't avoid them as much as you can.
Go for Skin Biopsy
Skin Biopsy is an effective method to detect skin cancer at an early stage. Here, you need to make an appointment with the doctor. You need to explain to him your scenario wherever in your body you are having the unusual marks. Then, the doctor might take out that part of the skin and use a microscope to check for the cancer cells. If that suspected part of the extracted skin reveals the cancer cells, then you have the sure-shot skin cancer. Else, he might suggest to you whatever he saw in that skin extracted part under the microscope and let the treatment go from there itself. He will also let you know if you're prone to catching it sometime in the future or whatever your case may be.
What to do when you find unusual spots on your skin?
Once you have pre-examined yourself at home, you shall take the necessary steps towards it. If you feel that spots are present at more than one place with some unusualness, then you should immediately book an appointment with the doctor. You can go to the dermatologist as he is the right person to access your problem & provide a solution. It's always better to get tested on time. The dermatologist can surely remove the skin cancer if treatable & somewhat the outer layer of your skin. You might see that the skin changes its natural appearance after the treatment. Yet, it's the best solution to get cancer treated from the roots of the skin. He will do some assessment tests & full body checkups to search for all the potential marks or scratches or blemishes on your skin. It will help him better detect whether it's a normal skin allergy or skin cancer.
Key Takeaways
Skin cancer can take place anytime & to anybody. Not taking care of your skin, dehydrated skin, and harmful ultraviolet rays can lead to skin cancer. Now, seeing your lifestyle, you can judge whether you are prone to skin cancer or not. Also, you will start seeing various unusual spots on your body in multiple places. These spots can lead to cancer cells, which once formed only expedite their growth to infinity. So, ignoring such signs isn't a very good idea. Educate yourself enough & look at the signs to avoid inconvenience further.
Reference
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/skin-cancer/find/know-how