Everyone knows that the Australian sun is no joke, especially when the summer months come around. If you have been traveling around the land down under, your skin has probably taken a beating.
Now is the time to get into a clinic and check that your skin hasn’t suffered too much. Before you go in, here are a few tips on how to do a pre-appointment self-examination and what to expect when you get to the clinic.
How to Do A Quick Self-Skin Check
Find a Well-Lit Area
A sunny room with big windows and lots of natural light is the perfect place to check your skin for any abnormalities. If you are worried about further sun damage, you can also find a room that has good artificial lighting.
Starting with your arms, look over from fingertip to shoulder to see if there are any new freckles, sun spots, or other discolorations. You can also feel around these areas with your fingertips. Do the same thing with each leg and the torso. For the chest and back, you can use a large mirror to check the spots you can’t see.
Use a Magnifying Glass
If you have a magnifying glass in your home, use it to get a closer view of trouble spots. If anything looks suspicious, make a note of it on your phone or a piece of paper and bring the notes with you to your On Point Clinic skin check appointment. If you don’t have a magnifying glass, your phone camera is also useful for taking close-up photos. These are also useful to bring to your appointment.
Check For Moles
Moles are one of the most common spots where skin cancer could occur on the skin. Most of us are born with moles, but it is the ones that just show up randomly that need to be worried about. If you notice a new mole or skin spot, keep an eye on it and if it starts to look discolored or feel itchy, call up a skin check clinic and get it checked out.
What Happens During a Skin Check?
A regular skin check will usually require you to strip off your clothes and dawn a hospital gown for the doctor to get a look at all areas of the skin. A full examination means a head-to-toe check of anything unusual.
They will also examine places like the scalp with a lit-up magnifying glass to check for dark spots. This magnifying glass with the light will run across all parts of your skin from head to toe and then the doctor will likely ask you if you have noticed any trouble areas. If there are any concerning moles or sun spots, the clinic may decide to take a small biopsy to test the cells in the skin.
Having extended skin exposure means that you should be getting skin checks at least once per year. If you have any concerns in between these times, make an extra appointment. It is much better to catch something early than to wait and be sorry.
