Melanoma worry

[HA200021]

Been seeing so much about skin cancer recently so I thought I would take a look at some of my old moles I’ve had since a teen. I have one particular one on my back that obviously because it’s on my back I rarely look at it/wouldn’t know if it has changed. It’s raised (always has been) soft and wobbly to the touch. I decided to take a photo of it as it’s difficult to see myself in a mirror and was shocked. There’s a shadowing around the raised mole on the skin…I have seen on so many websites that if the boarders have started to stain the skin around the mole then it’s most certainly cancer! I am so stressed and scared as I have no idea how long it’s been like that , all my family members say it looks normal but to me it really doesn’t. I have an appointment with the GP but couldn’t get one until September (great) so by then it could’ve spread. I hate this , I hate my health anxiety and I hate how there’s always something I have to worry about.

Never used a sun bed , never really had serious sunburn but obviously have burnt in the past and it’s an old mole!

[NoraB]

Been seeing so much about skin cancer recently so I thought I would take a look at some of my old moles I’ve had since a teen. I have one particular one on my back that obviously because it’s on my back I rarely look at it/wouldn’t know if it has changed. It’s raised (always has been) soft and wobbly to the touch. I decided to take a photo of it as it’s difficult to see myself in a mirror and was shocked. There’s a shadowing around the raised mole on the skin…I have seen on so many websites that if the boarders have started to stain the skin around the mole then it’s most certainly cancer! I am so stressed and scared as I have no idea how long it’s been like that , all my family members say it looks normal but to me it really doesn’t. I have an appointment with the GP but couldn’t get one until September (great) so by then it could’ve spread. I hate this , I hate my health anxiety and I hate how there’s always something I have to worry about.

Never used a sun bed , never really had serious sunburn but obviously have burnt in the past and it’s an old mole!

You've triggered yourself. This is what happens when you read the news... (and I dare bet you Googled too)

[ErinKC]

I've been down the mole hole a few times. But, one thing I've learned is that there's just as good a chance of an existing mole developing cancer as the rest of your skin. So, if you've had a mole for many, many years it's unlikely that it's just "become" cancer. Also - your family can get a much better look at it than you. The camera can definitely be playing trick on you, making the showering seem bigger, etc... September is not that far away. I know waiting can be interminable, but you'll be alright!

I've started scheduling annual skin checks for my moles and it really set my mind at ease that I don't have to be on such high alert all the time. I'll take a look now and then, but I know I have a regular appointment to check in so it kind of gets me off the hook about worrying so much. I'm not sure how it works in the UK, but I'd definitely recommend doing that!

[Magic]

Hi HA, It won't be long until September. Surely they won't get any bigger before then. Try not to get worked up about them.
I have for years, been a worrier, but i don't worry about myself now, i am past caring.
My husband has big moles on his back, had them for years. Calm yourself down now and be positive.

[Fishmanpa]

I hate my health anxiety and I hate how there’s always something I have to worry about.

Thing is, there really isn't always something to worry about. This post clearly illustrates a HA universal behavior of impulsive self checking and googling and the consequences of such. I think its good to hate your HA. It can be a motivating factor to fight back against the dragon. Do you hate it enough to stop the self destructive behaviors when the dragon starts breathing fire down your neck?

FMP

[bin tenn]

It's wild how accurate your description of your back mole is compared to the mole on my own back. I worried about it for several years. Then a few years ago my doctor saw it during a physical, asked if I knew it was there. I said yes and that I knew it had looked exactly the same way for as long as I've known about it, she never mentioned it again.

I highly recommend not allowing yourself to go down the rabbit hole of self checking moles like this. It's no fun, I did it for a long time. Now, I do check once in a long while, but how? I actually take my glasses off, raise my shirt, glance around from a bit of a distance in the mirror, and put my shirt down and replace my glasses. I can still see, things are just a bit blurry. So I figure if I can't see a change with not quite perfect vision, it's not enough to matter. I would guess I do that no more than once every couple of months.