Many subscribers have contacted me with questions about skin checks. The guidelines about how often your should get your skin examined are not clearcut. Like many disease concerns you should discuss them with your Family Doctor to determine what is recommended. As an example the timing of skin checks is dependant on sun exposure history, occupation, family history, racial background and habits.
A recent study demonstrated that people in Iceland are facing a melanoma epidemic attributed to a dramatic increase in sunbeduse and travel ‘sunbathing’ tourism over the past 30 years.
As a practicing Family Doctor I try and encourage my patients in their late teens to have a full skin check and education about what to look for, what to do to protect their skin both for damage now and in the future. Talk to your Doctor and ‘slip, slop, slap’
(Slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat!)