Thank Your Lucky Stars That You Avoid The Sun

[Brenda Starrr]

Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 500,000 new cases are reported each year - and the incidence is rising faster than any other type of cancer. While skin cancers can be found on any part of the body, about 80 percent appear on the face, head, or neck, where they can be disfiguring as well as dangerous.

The primary cause of skin cancer is ultraviolet radiation - most often from the sun, but also from artificial sources like sunlamps and tanning booths. In fact, researchers believe that our quest for the perfect tan, an increase in outdoor activities, and perhaps the thinning of the earth's protective ozone layer are behind the alarming rise we're now seeing in skin cancers. Anyone can get skin cancer - no matter what your skin type, race, or age, no matter where you live or what you do. But your risk is greater if

Your skin is fair and freckles easily.

You have light-colored hair and eyes.

You have a large number of moles, or moles of unusual size or shape.

You have a family history of skin cancer or a personal history of blistering sunburn.

You spend a lot of time working or playing outdoors.

You live closer to the equator, at a higher altitude, or in any place that gets intense, year-round sunshine.

You received therapeutic radiation treatments for adolescent acne.

By far the most common type of skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma. Fortunately, it's also the least dangerous kind - it tends to grow slowly, and rarely spreads beyond its original site. Though basal cell carcinoma is seldom life threatening, if left untreated it can grow deep beneath the skin and into the underlying tissue and bone, causing serous damage (particularly if it's located near the eye). Squamous cell carcinoma is the next most common kind of skin cancer, frequently appearing on the lips, face, or ears. It sometimes spreads to distant sites, including lymph nodes and internal organs. Squamous cell carcinoma can become life threatening if it's not treated. A third form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, is the least common, but its incidence is increasing rapidly, especially in the Sunbelt states. Malignant melanoma is also the most dangerous type of skin cancer. If discovered early enough, it can be completely cured. If it's not treated quickly, however, malignant melanoma may spread throughout the body and is often deadly.

Two other common types of skin growths are moles and keratoses. Moles are clusters of heavily pigmented skin cells, either flat or raised above the skin surface. While most pose no danger, some - particularly large moles present at birth, or those with mottled colors and poorly defined borders - may develop into malignant melanoma. Moles are frequently removed for cosmetic reasons, or because they're constantly irritated by clothing or jewelry (which can sometimes cause pre-cancerous changes). Solar or actinic keratoses are rough, red or brown, scaly patches on the skin. They are usually found on areas exposed to the sun, and sometimes develop into squamous cell cancer.

Basal and squamous cell carcinoma can vary widely in appearance. The cancer may begin as a small, white or pink nodule or bump; it can be smooth and shiny, waxy, or pitted on the surface. Or it might appear as a red spot that's rough, dry, or scaly a firm, red lump that may form a crust a crusted group of nodules a sore that bleeds or doesn't heal after two to four weeks or a white patch that looks like scar tissue. Malignant melanoma is usually signaled by a change in the size, shape, or color of an existing mole, or as a new growth on normal skin. What for the "ABCD" warning signs of melanoma: Asymmetry - a growth with unmatched halves; Border irregularity - ragged or blurred edges; Color - a mottled appearance, with shades or tan, brown, and black, and sometimes mixed with red, white, or blue; and Diameter - a growth more than 6 millimeters across (about the size if a pencil eraser), or any unusual increase in size. If all these variables sound confusing, the most important thing to remember is this: Get to know your skin and examine it regularly, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. (Don't forget your back..) If you notice any unusual changes on any part of your body, have a doctor check it out.

Skin cancer is diagnosed by removing all or part of the growth and examining its cells under a microscope. It can be treated by a number of methods, depending on the type of cancer, its stage of growth, and its location on your body. Most skin cancers are removed surgically. If the cancer is small, the procedure can be done quickly and easily, in an outpatient facility or they physician's office, using local anesthesia. The procedure may be a simple excision, which usually leaves a thin, barely visible scar. If the cancer is large, however, or if it has spread to the lymph glands or elsewhere in the body, major surgery may be required.

The treatments mentioned above have good cure rates for most basal cell and squamous cell cancers - and even for malignant melanoma, if it's caught very early, before it's had a chance to spread.

The different techniques used in treating skin cancers can be life saving, but they may leave a patient with less than pleasing cosmetic or functional results. Depending on the location and severity of the cancer, the consequences may range from a small but unsightly scar to permanent changes in facial structures such as your nose, ear, or lip. Reconstructive techniques - ranging from a simple scar revision to a complex transfer of tissue flaps from elsewhere on the body - can often repair damaged tissue, rebuild body parts, and restore most patients to acceptable appearance and function.

After you've been treated for skin cancer, your doctor should schedule regular follow-up visits to make sure the cancer hasn't recurred. Your physician, however, can't prevent a recurrence. It's up to you to reduce your risks by changing old habits and developing new ones. (These preventative measures apply to people who have not had skin cancer as well.)

Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and during the summer months. Remember, ultraviolet rays pass right through water and clouds, and reflect off sand and snow.

When you do go out for an extended period of time, wear protective clothing such as wide-brimmed hats and long sleeves.

On any exposed skin, use a sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15. Apply it liberally, about an hour before you go out, and reapply it frequently, especially after you've been swimming or sweating.

Finally, examine your skin regularly. If you find anything suspicious, consult Dr. Weiss as soon as possible.

[ManicQueen]

Your skin is fair and freckles easily.

You have light-colored hair and eyes.

You have a large number of moles, or moles of unusual size or shape.

You have a family history of skin cancer or a personal history of blistering sunburn.

You spend a lot of time working or playing outdoors.

You live closer to the equator, at a higher altitude, or in any place that gets intense, year-round sunshine.

You received therapeutic radiation treatments for adolescent acne.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great info! I most of those above statements apply to me so I better be careful. Plus my family has a Hx of skin cancer

I hate being in the sun.. I always burn no matter what. What really sucks is that for the most part, I work outdoors.. how ungoth is that? I always get the farmers tan on my arms. GROSS!

[Brenda Starrr]

I'm pissed because my left arm is so tan. I have a friggin' trucker's tan. I don't want to be tan. I use a sunblock, and I still get tan.....

Damned Italian genetics.

[Homicidalheathen]

My dad has melanomas removed every year. He won't listen to us and stop gardening......and now I have been bitten by the bug.

I sweat to much to wear hats and long sleeve shirts.

I do wear self tanner, but he won't listen to us and use that or any sun screen.

This, after seeing his moms face practically rot off with cancer before she died.

I really do with he would do something.....his bald head has had at least 20 spots burned off.

[pharoh]

Damned Italian genetics.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well if you don't have any german genetics in ya that can be aranged roflmao

Thank you I'll be here all week!!!!

[Moonlight_Phantasy]

When I was a kid my father and stepmother used to lock me out of the house and make me stay outside. No sunblock. They didnt care. All they wanted was to be left alone. When I had just turned seventeen and started my first job at Wendy's, a hole the size of a quarter and about 3 inches down formed under my right armpit. My stepmother rushed me to urgent care and then I found out that I had a genetic skin disease called Hydradenitus Suppertiva. Its not contageous. The disease causes my sweat glands to swell and form cists all over. They form tracks in the skin where they can reform again and again. There I three stages. I am at stage two. The disease prevents me from being exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. If my parents wouldnt have kept me outside all those years without protection, I wouldnt have gone to stage two. Stage one is just rashes that form on the body. But its not a well studied subject. There are still alot of things they dont know about it. They put me on antibiotics but I refuse to take them for a long period of time. Birth control can also control break outs. I know this has nothing to do with skin cancer but I felt I needed to talk about it.

[Hellion]

:devil Avoid outside careers like Construction,Landscaping,I did construction for awhile,but I made sure to have lots of sunblock.

[Brenda Starrr]

Well if you don't have any german genetics in ya that can be aranged roflmao 

Thank you I'll be here all week!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, there's a little German in me, too.

[pomba gira]

Good advice Brenda. I did a temp job at a skin cancer specialist's office once & spent a lot of time filing before/after/during surgery photos. Not pretty. If I were caucasian I'd have gone out & bought a tanker load of sunblock after some of the things I saw there.

[Brenda Starrr]

Despite using sunblock, I still have "trucker's arm." It pisses me off to be even remotely tan at this point in my life.

[Homicidalheathen]

Do get your moles checked, I had one removed already. It was 'changing', not cancerous....but mutating non the less. And, it was in a spot where I had a 2nd degree burn yrs ago on a camping trip gone awry in AZ.

And, it hadn't even changed much really......just got hard, raised....and the edges were like fadded lipstick all the sudden.

[Scary Guy]

http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?af...1&productID=484

I just put the sticker version of this on my CD case filled with goth/industrial music.

[Brenda Starrr]

I want one.

[FarrIL]

Well, it's almost July and I've still retained my paleness.

I got lightly pink over Memorial Day weekend but that's long since gone kaput.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

i only lived in florida and AZ for a few years... and it was enough sun for me. luckily i dont mind going in for surgery every few months in the hopes that I will live a few years longer.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

PS, my stars are not all that lucky

[torn asunder]

i actually lay out in the sun most weekends - it's really very relaxing, and from my understanding, it's not the sun that causes cancer, it's the damage caused by burning, which i don't seem to do...

[BillyDeath]

:devil Avoid outside careers like Construction

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bull fucking shit!!!!!!!!!!! just wear tan lotion as long as you you are pasty white. When you are a little dark then you will be safer. What should we do if we have those careers, just go unemployed? :devil

[Onyx]

i actually lay out in the sun most weekends - it's really very relaxing, and from my understanding, it's not the sun that causes cancer, it's the damage caused by burning, which i don't seem to do...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually that is not true. Tanned skin = damaged skin = wrinkles and eventually likely will turn to cancer.

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/..._You_Can_Do.asp

http://www.cdc.gov/ChooseYourCover/qanda.htm#a

I don't avoid the sun completely though. I wear sunblock. I lived in Florida for years and went to the beach often and never ever tanned.

Sunblock works if you use the high SPF and reapply often (and don't forget the part in your hair - that skin will burn also). Not all brands work well for me. I experiment to find the ones that do. Also apply it at least 30 minutes before you go out to give it time to soak in and start to work.

[torn asunder]

Actually that is not true.  Tanned skin = damaged skin = wrinkles and eventually likely will turn to cancer.

so, which vitamin is it that we synthesize from sunlight? to my way of thinking, we need sun to be healthy, which is borne out by the fact that our bodies use sunlight to create a nutrient needed for us to be healthy... i need to research this a bit more i guess, but tanning is just the body's natural melanin reaction to sunlight, it gets darker to protect us. if we're designed/have evolved this way, why should just being exposed to sun cause cancer? i won't argue about wrinkles, but those aren't exactly life-threatening!

[Onyx]

My skin is very sun damaged because of the tanning I did in my early teens so I've researched it well.

My doctor said that 10 minutes of explosure twice a week will give you all the vitamin D you need (assuming you don't drink milk or get any vitamin D any other way). You are likely to get that much exposure just walking to your car and back daily. You can also make vitamin D through sun exposure while wearing protective sunscreen, but it takes a bit longer than 10 min. twice a week. Most of us probably get at least that.

I only wish I could go back in time and undo what I've done to my skin. I hate having this crap removed and the scars it leaves and the worry about if and when I'll develop cancers. I'll never intentionally tan again.

[Onyx]

if we're designed/have evolved this way, why should just being exposed to sun cause cancer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The ozone layer is damaged, so the UV rays are much heavier than they were. From what I have read this is a major reason for the huge increase in skin cancers even with the use of sunscreens.

More info here

[Hellion]

:devil Yeah my sister has a tanning salon addiction,she will not listen to anyone,and now my niece is getting the same way.

[torn asunder]

The ozone layer is damaged, so the UV rays are much heavier than they were.  From what I have read this is a major reason for the huge increase in skin cancers even with the use of sunscreens.

in the thousands of years people have been on this planet i'm sure the ozone layer has gone through numerous ups & downs - i'm more inclined to believe that the major cause of cancer in the world today has little to do with the sun, and a lot to do with the crap chemicals, medicines, pesticides, etc., that people are exposed to on a daily basis. to pose an honest question, has anyone done any research on remote tribes/peoples who live off the land/have little exposure to the chemically laced products we all ("civilized" society) consume? i would be very interested to see stats regarding the incedents of cancer in those communities. i'll bet it's quite low, when compared with most of the non-3rd-world nations, especially the us... i mean, seriously, what kind of chemicals are in that sunscreen people slather all over themselves? what do you think are the chances that something in that will be found to cause cancer as well?

(sorry, onyx, i'm not picking on you, just kind of venting... hope i'm not coming across too poorly!) =)

[Onyx]

It didn't used to make sense to me either until I looked at the research. (Having chunks of flesh removed tends to make you want to know more).

I believe the risk of skin cancer far outweighs any potential harm from sunscreen. (and I hate the wrinkles that are multiplying across my face also).