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Thread: Skin Cancer worrys

  1. #1

    Skin Cancer worrys

    Im in a terrible state at the moment, I keep googling skin cancer symtoms an images an getting myself more scaried.. so many pictures an storys of what look like spots, that turn out to be cancerous. My problem is that i have this what looks like a spot on my leg, it is red an raised, about the size of a pea.. but its been on my leg for well over a year now ( i know i shouldnt of left it this long without seeing a doc , i ment to go earlyer in the year.. but then the covid stuff happened an the doctors was closed for a while because of it ). Until now i had just thought it was a ingrown hair causing the spot, an had been treating it as such.. but shouldnt it have cleared up by now if it was a ingrown hair? but i do not know how long ingrown hairs can last, since this is new for me. The spot has never caused me any problems, no pain , no itching , no bleeding .. just now an then i get a prickleing sensation from it. I look at the ABCE of skin cancer as a guide, asymmetry - my spot is perfectly round. Border - its not irregular.. it sort of fades into my naturel skin tone. Colour - its all the same colour just red. Diameter - its about the size of a pea. So basicly it just looks like a spot, but it still worrys me greatly that maybe it isnt a ingrown hair, what if it is skin cancer? have i left it to long now.. if it is cancer an ive had it on my leg all this time wouldnt it changed somewhat in all this time? because it hasnt, since it came up it hasnt changed or grown any. The spot has got dry an slightly crusty skin on it , but i think thats just because i put neat tea tree oil on it an this dried my skin out. I want to get to my doctor to have it looked at, but i doubt ill be able to see him until next week, an im not sure i can take a week of stressing over this. Does this spot sound sinister to you? id post a pic of it , but i wasnt sure if it was allowed here.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    1,979

    Re: Skin Cancer worrys

    I think melanomas do not come in red? By all means get it checked out but it really does not sound like skin cancer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    84

    Re: Skin Cancer worrys

    I have a red spot like you describe on my leg, it was what triggered my health anxiety over 5 years ago as like you I had googled and convinced myself that it was skin cancer. I went to the doctor and after a close look she said it was just a harmless cyst. I presume it's from an ingrown hair but it could be a whole host of innocent reasons.

  4. #4

    Re: Skin Cancer worrys

    Hi Crow,

    Hopefully you are doing a lot better now then when you posted this a few weeks back! Did you end up seeing a doctor?

    I wish I could diagnose it for you, but unfortunately I am not a doctor and nor am I an accurate judge of things as I went through a bit of panic of my own recently.
    I recently had a skin cancer worry of my own a couple of weeks back (probably similar time to you) when I noticed that a mole of mine had changed colour and felt like a lump. I went through the classic ABCDE rule that they use as a framework for screening and mine ticked them all. Asymetrical, Borders were uneven, Colour had changed and was black in one section and brown in another, Diameter was large and Evolving in that it changed over time. Additionally it was a lump under the skin. I was convinced after googling images of that I had a Stage 2 maybe Stage 3 Melanoma because mine looked exactly the same as the photos and no one could tell me otherwise. It didnt help that when I went to the doctor and he mentioned that he wanted to biopsy it because it didnt look normal that it sent me into even more into a panic which lasted about a week until the results came back. During that week, If I could tell you the amount of photos, articles I read about skin cancer, I would honestly have been a millionaire. I took some solace in the fact that I read that Hugh Jackman has had skin cancer 6 times and thought, if he can bounce back that many times from it then I could be okay.

    Anyways after a week I was advised that it was just an abnormal growth, reaffirming you should never diagnose yourself through Google.

    What I will say is that having this worry can also be a positive in that it is directing you to what needs your attention and your desire to protect yourself. Stay positive, take action and I would highly recommend just going to the doctor and getting it examined if you haven't already for peace of mind, if it is giving you worries.

    If like me they do want to examine it further, just know its normal.

    Good luck, stay healthy and sending you good vibes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    330

    Re: Skin Cancer worrys

    Unfortunately, I happen to know someone that had a melanoma that was red. That does not mean you should panic though. It just means you should probably go see your doctor.

    I have hundreds of moles. In fact, I have so many moles that I am at high risk of melanoma. I’ve had over 20 moles removed and biopsied. That all stopped when I got mole mapped. Now, I just see my doc every six months and they look to see if my moles have changed.

    I mention the above because I have dozens of moles that look like melanomas but are just irregular moles. The ABCD guide is good. It tells you when to see a doctor. It doesn’t mean, though, that you have cancer. And, even though my friend’s red mole was melanoma. It is super rare. I actually have a few red spots from sun damage on my body. They’re all benign.

    I bet you’ll feel a lot better after seeing your doctor.

    Hugs to you

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