Be careful...

[Charlie Wade]

Went to the dermatologist the other day, and he burned off 4 "pre-cancerous" spots on my face. If you're on this board there's a good chance you spend an inordinate amount of time on the water with all that reflected energy. Be careful out there.

[Parapapam]

Charlie,

For me it is not a question of "if" it is a question of "when?"

A Irish, English and German mutt doesn't leave a lot of room for a Bain de Soleil tan....

Mike

[clt_capt]

Great warning - Especially if you have a family history of skin Cancers.

Well worth getting a checkup at least yearly...

[Reel Fanatic]

That crap runs in my family. I have had may pre-cancerous lesions burned off my bald scalp. Be safe not sorry. Get checked.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

was their any indication you had them?

Mike

[Charlie Wade]

This was the first of what will now be annual trips to the dermatologist for me. Like Mike, my roots left me with a fairly light complexion anyway. The only thing I noticed were a few slightly redder than normal spots that tended to look more like dry skin than anything else. The doc said it's all from accumulated sun damage and better to get at them early.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

This was the first of what will now be annual trips to the dermatologist for me. Like Mike, my roots left me with a fairly light complexion anyway. The only thing I noticed were a few slightly redder than normal spots that tended to look more like dry skin than anything else. The doc said it's all from accumulated sun damage and better to get at them early.

that is all too familiar man. Thanks

Mike

[giantfan]

was their any indication you had them?

Mike

Two years ago I had what looked like a freckle on my bald head start to get a little bigger and it also started to raise up a little. It started to itch a bit too.

Went and had Moe's surgery to have it removed. Not fun! What they actually did was use a device that looked a lot like a mellon baller and dug out a little bit at a time and went into the back and looked at it under a microscope. If it looked like he didn't get a clean cut to undisturbed flesh he came back and dug in a little deeper. It took him three trips to get it all. It wasn't melanoma but some other pre cancerous condition that the doc told me was very slow growing.

Great thread as a spring reminder. Make sure to put on your suncreen and cover up as much as possible.

[clt_capt]

was their any indication you had them?

Mike

The best indication is from your dermatologist... A normal checkup takes 1/2 hr or so - and more importantly - they baseline where spots are on your body so that if there are changes, they can deal with them.

Not every freckle is pre-cancerous, but watching the changes with a trained eye makes a difference.

My mom and 2 of her 3 sisters have had melanomas removed. I'm just a time bomb... Get checked every year for sure.