With over 100 cancers currently identified, skin cancer falls among the most common among cancer patients. It is also the fastest to diagnose because its symptoms are visible. However, like all other cancers, discovering it early increases the chances of having a manageable and successful treatment. Therefore, you must know the symptoms to look out for.
Skin changes are expected because of diet, hormones, medications, age, or medications. However, if you notice changes or abnormalities that remain on your skin for over six weeks, ensure you see your general practitioner as soon as possible.
They will examine the abnormalities and determine whether it’s something you can treat with topical or oral medication or if you need a second diagnosis from a plastic surgeon. While most people associate plastic surgeons with only aesthetic procedures, they have extensive knowledge and training about the skin.
They will examine your medical history and the abnormalities on your skin to determine your skin cancer risk. They will then conduct a biopsy before making an accurate and formal diagnosis.
According to skin cancer treatment Sydney centres, Skin cancer symptoms can be an existing and changing or new lump on your skin. They include:
Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)
Skin cancer treatment Sydney clinics describe SCC as dry and scaly patches on the skin that do not improve or end with good skincare and moisturizers. Squamous Cell Carcinoma can occur in different body parts but mostly appears in places like the face, legs, and arms, where the sun hits mostly.
If you do not treat them for a long time, they can invade and grow through and along the nerves, bone, and lymphatic.
Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
BCCs resemble pale pink nodules that can sometimes be itchy or bleed. Basal Cell Carcinomas usually grow slowly but deeply into the skin, making it easier for them to penetrate through the bone than SCCs.
Melanoma
This is a less common symptom than Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma, which resemble dark moles that have changed colour and shape. It is considered more dangerous than SCC and BCC because it spreads to other body organs faster if you leave it untreated.
While it can occur on any skin cancer patient, some risk factors of getting it according to skin cancer treatment Sydney clinics, include a melanoma family history, previous skin cancers, many dysplastic moles, and having suffered from blistering sunburns while you were a child.
While these are the most common skin cancer symptoms, you should visit a skin cancer treatment Sydney centre if you also notice:
• Existing or new spots and moles that don’t resemble any other on your body
• Sores that don’t go away
• Colour from the border of a new or existing spot spreading into the surrounding skin
• New swelling or redness on the border of an existing mole
• Tenderness, pain, or itching in a specific place that doesn’t heal or heals and comes back
• Changes on the surface of a swelling or mole, like new bumps or lumps, scaliness, oozing, and bleeding
