Yes. You can develop skin cancer without ever being sunburnt. Some cancers can also develop in areas that have never been exposed to sunlight. These are two different situations. UV radiation can damage skin without causing visible sunburn, while some cancers develop through pathways that are not driven by UV exposure. Genetics and changes to […]
Being told you need more skin removed after a biopsy can be unsettling. You may wonder whether something went wrong, whether the cancer has spread or why another procedure is necessary when the spot has already gone. Understanding excision margins helps explain why the first biopsy and the next operation can have different purposes. What […]
A rough patch that keeps returning can be easy to dismiss as dry skin. Perhaps you moisturise it, pick off the scale or assume it is simply part of getting older. But a persistent patch on sun-exposed skin may be an actinic keratosis, also called a solar keratosis. Understanding what this means can help you […]
Tattoos are a form of personal expression, and for many people, they carry special meaning. But when it comes to skin cancer, one question I’m often asked is whether tattoo ink can hide a suspicious lesion. My response is simple: skin cancer doesn’t necessarily hide in the ink. A tattoo may change the appearance of […]
When most people picture skin cancer, they imagine a dark or unusual-looking mole. While changes in pigmentation can certainly be an important warning sign, not all skin cancers are brown or black. Some can be pink, red, pearly, translucent or almost the same colour as the surrounding skin. This is one of the reasons skin […]
Melanoma is a potentially serious form of skin cancer arising from melanocytes, the cells responsible for producing pigment in the skin. There are several types of melanoma, and one that deserves particular awareness is nodular melanoma. Nodular melanoma is important because it can behave differently from the more familiar superficial spreading melanoma and may grow […]
Having skin cancer removed can bring an enormous sense of relief. However, a common question following treatment is: can skin cancer come back? The answer is yes, it can. It is important to distinguish between a skin cancer recurring at the original site and an entirely new skin cancer developing elsewhere. For people who have […]
Hearing that a rash is ‘probably eczema’ is common, but some skin cancers can resemble eczema, particularly in their early stages. While eczema itself is not skin cancer, persistent or changing patches that don’t behave as expected deserve assessment. At Skin ChX, we perform comprehensive skin cancer screening using dermoscopy and refer suspicious lesions to […]
Hearing that a skin biopsy has come back positive can be an anxious moment. Whether you’ve been waiting days or weeks for your results, it’s natural to wonder what happens next and what it means for your health. The good news is that many skin cancers are highly treatable, particularly when they are detected early. […]
Many people ask how accurate a skin cancer check really is. A comprehensive examination performed by a suitably trained clinician using dermoscopy is one of the best ways to detect skin cancer early, but no screening examination can detect every skin cancer with complete certainty. Understanding what a skin examination can and can’t detect helps […]
