How to Do a Skin Self Exam

You know how serious skin cancer is, and you're diligent about protecting yourself. But do you know how to do a thorough skin self exam to check your moles on the ABCDE mole check? Remember that you are looking for:

Asymmetry: When half of the mole does not match with the other half in size.

Border: When the edges or borders of a mole are irregular, blurry, and jagged.

Color: When the color of a mole is not the same, has a shade of tan, brown, black, blue, white, or red.

Diameter: When the diameter of the mole in question is over the size of a normal pencil eraser.

Elevation: When part of the mole is raised or becomes elevated from the rest of the skin on the mole.

To do your skin self exam you will need both a full length mirror and a small, more compact, hand mirror. Stand in front of the full length mirror and go over where your usual birthmarks are. Make sure that they haven't changed in size, color, or diameter. Check for the ABCDE rule. Make sure you raise your arms, look at the back of you, and look on all sides. You want to see a thorough bit, even the inside of the thighs.

Check your elbows, the inside of them as well, the underarms, the upper arms, the palms, and the forearms. Look between your fingers and toes. And yes, as embarrassed as you may feel about it, look between the genital area and buttocks, between the buttocks, and all around the genital area. Skin cancer knows no bounds.

Next sit down in front of the mirror and use the handheld again to check the bottoms of your feet, the sides, and the heel area. Check your face closely, even the neck and the ears. Get a comb and look at the scalp. Check for any raised areas or sore looking spots.

By giving yourself a skin self exam every six months you will see what is normal for you and what isn't right. You will see new spots sooner and be able to better communicate with your doctor when you see something wrong. It won't be "well I wonder when that popped up", you will have clear and concise answers to questions your doctor may ask you. The quicker you find skin cancer the easier it is to rid yourself and your body of it. It is very treatable, and when found quickly, it won't impact your life too severely.