: Does a skin exam with a dermatologist make sense for somebody who is brown skinned?
I am brown-skinned and would like to know if a dermatology skin exam makes sense for me. I know that brown-skinned (and black-skinned) people are less prone to skin cancer but nevertheless it is possible for them to get skin cancer. If this kind of screening is useful, how frequent should it be for somebody like me?
Answers and Views:
Answer by curator
Yes, dark skinned individuals can get skin cancer. Get screened once and ask that provider how often you should repeat it. They will answer based on your skin.
You’re right – darker skinned people are less prone to skin cancer. But, they can and do get it and unfortunately it’s less likely to be caught early in the easily curable stages.
This is for 3 reasons:
(1) darker skinned people don’t have the perceived risk and so generally don’t take as many precautionary actions as more at risk groups may (like using sunscreen, regular skin exams, or getting new spots checked early)
(2) many skin cancers appear as dark lesions which are harder to spot against dark skin
(3) darker-skinned individuals are more prone to the type of melanoma that grows under finger and toe nails and on the feet (which are harder to catch for everyone).
So – is screening useful? Absolutely! A derm is going to be helpful in spotting things that are tricky for you to, and I promise they won’t think it’s weird that you’re asking. I’d think that frequency would be the same as recommended for most people (once per year), but I’d suggest going ahead and having and exam now to see what the derm recommends for you.
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