View Full Version : Basal Cell worry
Hi everyone
I'm typing my fears here again :(
I have a small lump on my cheek which has been there for at least 3-4 years, I think I noticed it in my mid-20s (I'm 32 now). It hasn't changed, doesn't bleed or itch...nothing. It's just there. Just a small flesh coloured bump. My manager in work has the same thing.
My dermatologist looked at it and used Cryotherapy lightly on it, but it's not gone. I'm also worried about a patch of skin on the side of my nose which looks odd to me under specific lighting but can't be seen under makeup and my husband can't see it either, with no make up on! Somehow I've convinced myself it's an early basal cell. Sometimes though I have trouble seeing it myself and think I've lost the plot. :(
I've seen the derm 3 times in the past two months and worried now that I might be doing this to myself. I've been an anxious wreck over skin cancer in the past 2 months and although I'm doing better now, I worry I've missed something, my derm has missed something and it's always there in the back of my mind. I'm tired of it.
Any help is appreciated. :(
WiseMonkey
29-10-19, 22:07
Hi everyone
I'm typing my fears here again :(
I have a small lump on my cheek which has been there for at least 3-4 years, I think I noticed it in my mid-20s (I'm 32 now). It hasn't changed, doesn't bleed or itch...nothing. It's just there. Just a small flesh coloured bump. My manager in work has the same thing.
My dermatologist looked at it and used Cryotherapy lightly on it, but it's not gone. I'm also worried about a patch of skin on the side of my nose which looks odd to me under specific lighting but can't be seen under makeup and my husband can't see it either, with no make up on! Somehow I've convinced myself it's an early basal cell. Sometimes though I have trouble seeing it myself and think I've lost the plot. :(
I've seen the derm 3 times in the past two months and worried now that I might be doing this to myself. I've been an anxious wreck over skin cancer in the past 2 months and although I'm doing better now, I worry I've missed something, my derm has missed something and it's always there in the back of my mind. I'm tired of it.
Any help is appreciated. :(
Dermatologists are specialists and used to looking at all sorts of skin lesions so you will have to trust him/her. I have something similar above my cheek and it's fine. Skin changes over the course of time and you haven't got Solar Keratosis or BCC, your dermatologist would have spotted it. Even if you did, it wouldn't be serious as it moves so slowly, SK/BCC is a sore patch that keeps crusting over and sloughing off then it begins again.
If it has not changed, it should be fine. I had basal cell cancer, and to complicate things I also have sebaceous hyperplasia in a few places 9n my cheeks. The two can look similar. The dermatologist did not think it was basal cell cancer, but to be sure they took a picture of my sebaceous hyperplasia so we could make sure it wasn't changing. It's not changing, which means it's not basal cell cancer.
Thank you both so much for your replies. I just have to accept that if my derm has seen my face he'd know if there was anything out of place on it. :(
If you don't mind me asking, when did you notice you had BCC?
I feel like I'm looking for problems on my skin all the time. :( I can't even see this patch on my nose that's worrying me. Like I have to really, really search for it and only in certain lighting can I see it. But when I do catch it I feel like it's slightly shinier than the rest of my skin and worry it's early BCC.
LJay, not sure whether you want to hear from anybody else, but I left a very, very obvious bcc for several years without getting it dealt with. It started as a scabby patch of skin that I picked at a lot, then grew into a lump with clearly visible blood vessels and an ulcerated dent in the centre. I worried vaguely about it for years, and eventually decided to get something done about it once it was obvious it wasn't going to heal no matter how long I left it alone for.
Hi BlueIris,
I'm sorry yours was a BCC :( I remember you saying though that you have recovered well. My guess is that if I can barely even see the patch on my nose (my husband can't see anything either) then...there's nothing there. Idk why I'm so frightened, this anxiety around skin cancer has followed me for 3 months now.
If you don't mind me asking was the scabby patch of skin obvious? How long was it like that before it turned into a lump?
I get quite confused by the stories I read online, and I know everyone is different. Some say it's what you describe, others say it's a tiny dot/pimple (in that case how would you even know to get it seen to?), others say a discoloured patch of skin but I've seen lots of people with these and they're fine. They're all so different :(
I'm guessing it was like that for a year or two? Basically it was a scab that didn't heal up.
BCC takes a lot of different forms, but mine was one of the classic varieties.
Sorry you're having such an awful time, but I have a feeling you're going to be okay.
Thank you xx
Mine isn't even a scab it just looks shiny but I have to really look for it. :( I feel so pathetic feeling like this when people who have experienced these conditions are doing so much better than me in terms of keeping their emotions under control.
It's like I'm looking for problems. I've been checked three times in 3 months by my derm who said I'm fine. I had some cryotherapy for solar lentigos on my face and forearm but that's it. I have some freckles but hardly any moles. I got freaked out by one though (after being told it's fine) and tried cutting it off with nail clippers. It wasn't even that big! Now I have a little red patch where it was on my arm.
My DR put me on anxiety tablets and I feel better than I was, just wish I could forget it all and stop obsessively checking when there's nothing obvious there.
Unfortunately, checking is something you have to train yourself out of; it's hard, but it works in the long run.
To answer your question, my basal cell cancer was a like a little white bump about half way between my upper lip and my nose. Aside from being new, it wasn't like a regular mole or pimple. If you've ever had a plantar wart, you know that they are kind of tough, like a callous. That's the way this bump felt. That's why I knew it was different. I spotted it very early so it hadn't developed the classic "rolled edge" yet.
If you've been checked by a dermatologist, then I wouldn't worry about it at all.
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