jad n rich

Went in before going away, wasnt concerned about anything, just annual check up, dah de dah, do ALL the sunmart stuff....

Now have 4 scars from surgical removals of moles, one between big toe and next toe, shows how far the sun rays will reach. Looked like nothing but a freckle, the biopsy back on wednesday.

One on hand and eyebrow, however he thinks they are harmless freckles but just to be sure....

One on the area between nose and lip, this was a tiny tiny raised mole white in colour, like a tiny pimple, never gave it a thought, doc thinks its basal cell carcinoma so took 1 cm chunk out.

He said what people dont realise is on fair haired, skinned green or blue eyed people, melanomas and the like may not be brown at all, most people think it has to be a brown mole to be bad, not at all if your fair.

UV rays get you in the shade, house, car... dont forget it!! Ironic one thing we moved here for was the flaming climate

ABCDiamond

Are you sure about that.. in the 'House' ?

themerlin

Wife had one removed, biopsy showed it was nothing.
I think they just like to be careful.

jad n rich

Of course you get UV radiation while at home.

Unless you dont have glass, let alone open windows.

People can get UV radiation in classrooms, offices, homes, cars, shade.


Anyway people this was hopefully a serious thread, lets hope it not going to be made trivial by nit picking, stat posting, and the revalation Moscow or Swindons sun is more potent than that in Queenlands

BTW I see the Sunday Mail in QLD is having a riot on the lack of sun safety in qld schools the last 3 weeks, like our kids school, white shirts offering no protection and a one size only bucket hat with a brim not wide enough offer shade to the average 4 year old let alone teenager.

jad n rich

Thats what I am hoping for but last one was a Dysplastic Naevi.

Has anyone moved back to a cool climate after living in OZ. The Doctors here are well up on skin cancer, even though you often end up with loads of ( real and just in case ) scars. What happens in europe or north america, if your skins been exposed to the aussie sun for 10 years. The avg GP is not going to be up on the sort of mole that looks like a freckle or is white but is really cancerous, and if they dont pick it up once the cells move down to the dermis the cancer cells spread to other organs.

Gems

Thanks for the info,
Im pale, freckly with blue eyes so your description will be of use to me.

Thanks
Gems

Fly Away

Scary stuff! Glad to hear your annual check was well worth doing. I will definately be going for mine.

Lord_Farquar

Where is Queenlands?

Deutschmaster

I have to admit the stats of skin cancer are scary and it has crossed my mind if I will have the hassle of mole removal sometime in my life.

I have to say, I work indoors, always wear suncream with hat and shades while outside. I think it would be most unfair if I got skin cancer and those unclad types on the beach every day didn't

moneypenny20

I think that's a problem in cooler climates. I was reading some online news thing where people reply (no idea what it was now) and there was a pic of someone who'd done lots of sunbed sessions over the years and they did that skin damage photo thing. The number of replies from UK people who poo pooed the findings, saying they had pics like that and they didn't have skin damage, they were just freckly, was frightening. They seriously had no idea.

I can't imagine going into a doctors in the UK or Canada, Russia etc and asking for a skin analysis because of worries about skin cancer is going to get the results you'd automatically get in a hotter climate. May be wrong but they're just not set up for it.

I have to say, I must be a total numpty but it never occurred to me that I could get sun damage in the house or office obviously common sense would tell me that unless I live and work in a cave the sun's rays are around me, just never considered it.

jad n rich

Thanks guys for the serious replies.

Another myth/belief ( for want of a better word ) is the 10 am to 2 pm thing. Sure sun is extreme then, however look at a site like www.arpansa.gov.au and in QLD as an example, the sun goes into high protection needed type levels very early in the morning By 10 am you could have done enormous damage. Ditto for the afternoon.

ABCDiamond

Nice aren't you ?
Ask you a serious sensible question, and you don't half throw one...

Cheetah7

Good luck with your results Jad n rich

I had one of those dysplastic thingies, I have had a couple removed in the UK as well.

I truly believe that although the climate is against our skin here, the doctors are far more aware of it. I had one removed from my back in December last year that my GP would not have even bothered with.

I had my check up a few weeks ago with Dr Lester at Level One Melanoma at Hamilton Hill, WA (if anyone would like his number send me a PM), and he was pleased enough with me and told me he didnt want to see me for another year.

This is a huge improvement from when he first saw me and said to prepare myself for twice yearly checks.

I have had the mole mapping done and the scan, he also does a yearly blood test to check for vitamin D levels as sometimes we can go overboard in staying out of the sun and some sun is actually good for you.

Good luck with your results.

themerlin

True but the stats cover older people who didn't have the slip slob slap message when younger.

It would be interesting to see the stats for each age group, I bet the younger people have much better skin.

ABCDiamond

As you mentioned stats.... some info from my site, not from Google, JAD.

There are two main types of skin cancer, and skin cancer is almost totally preventable.

• malignant melanoma - cancer in moles
• the non-melanoma group - basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma

Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, with over 380,000 people diagnosed every year.

Deaths from Skin Cancer

• Australia = 1,678 deaths from 380,000 + reported cases : 4.4 per 1,000
• UK = 2,300+ deaths from 72,000 + reported cases : 31.9 per 1,000

Why the lower number of Deaths, per 1,000 population, in Australia ?
Because most people have an annual skin check to try to detect sun cancer early, and then have it treated before it becomes a major problem.