It's back - skin cancer fear

[Mogwog]

Urgh I'm so cross with myself for being like this. I've been ok for a while but the health anxeity is slowly returning.

I have a freckle /mole on my lower leg, it's small evenly shaped, clear borders etc but it seems irritated. Almost like a blocked hair follicle over it but I'm convinced it's melonoma , it's quite red instead of normal light brown.

My rational mind is desperately trying to give me reasons it's not..... My legs never see the light of day, not even in the summer and I've had quite itchy legs and was scratching in that area quite hard (wearing tight skinny jeans always makes my legs itchy) so wondered if I just caught it. I will go to the drs to get it checked if it doesn't go back to normal but was wondering how long that should take and if there is anything I can do to speed up the process.

Anyone who who has experienced similar I would greatly appreciate your advice.


Happy holidays

L.xxxxxx

[hanshan]

I come from New South Wales, Australia, probably the melanoma capital of the world. Everyone in NSW my age seems to be having skin cancers (mostly not melanoma) chopped out or burned off, all the time. Like everyone else, I grew up on the beach under strong sun every summer with no sun protection.

I'm not qualified to give medical advice, but a small, even, reddish mole is unlikely to be melanoma. Although occasionally melanomas are not dark, a key point to look for is darkness. A second point is an irregular contour. Your mole does not qualify on either count.

Another sign that doctors look for is tiny white inclusions in the mole (you need a magnifying glass to see them). They are a sign that it is not melanoma.

[Worryingsobad]

Going through EXACTLY this right now!
My mole looks like an nodular melanoma!
SO worried and distressed and in torment.
:-(

[hanshan]

Hi Worryingsobad,

As you are from my part of the world, I can say that both diagnosis and treatment for skin cancer in Australia are the best that you will get anywhere.

If you don't want to go the normal GP/dermatologist route to check out your problem, there are clinics around that are set up just to diagnose skin cancer. The doctors aren't qualified dermatologists, but they spend all day looking at possible cases of skin cancer, so their judgement is probably correct.

Regardless of location, if any doctor is not sure, they will refer you to a further test, if possible.

Don't diagnose yourself. Do the docs. If they say it's all okay, believe them. The alternative is to sink into chronic health anxiety.