Having clear and beautiful skin is a priority for many — but what if your life depended on it? Making sure your body is free of cancerous moles and other signs of skin cancer is essential to leading a long and healthy life. Here are 3 more things you need to know about skin cancer:
Skin Cancer is Deadly
Each year, more than 3.5 million individuals are diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancers, and current estimates report than one in five individuals will develop skin cancer throughout the course of their lives. According to livescience.com, around 100,000 of these cases are melanoma — which contributed to 8,000 deaths each year. And what’s worse, the rate is growing quickly. Between the years of 1975 to 2005, melanoma cases shot up a whopping 84%.
The Sun in Not Your Friend
Despite the rampant onslaught of claims that sun exposure is healthy in some way, shape or form, research and cancer rates suggest otherwise. UV rays literally fry the inner layers of your skin. This prompts your body to release more melanin pigments, while increasing your risk of melanoma. In fact, the sun causes 90% of all skin cancer. This is especially true for individual with moles; if you have more than 50 moles, or unusually shaped moles, you may have a substantially larger chance of getting cancer.
Sun Screen Isn’t Everything
While sun screen helps to reduce your sun exposure, it cannot completely protect your skin from melanoma skin cancer. Instead, avoid excessive sun exposure whenever possible. To supplement any preventative measures, perform self checks regularly and visit your dermatology specialist once a year to get checked for irregular moles. Just one small diligent act can help save your life.
Treatment For Skin Cancer Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
There are many skin cancer treatment methods available, and they depend on the patient’s wants and needs and the stage and kind of cancer. Talk to dermatology and skin cancer specialists to see which kind of treatment is best for you.
