Skin Cancer Screening

The key to detecting skin cancers is to notice changes in your skin. If you see any of these signs, schedule an appointment with Dermatology & Skin Health’s medical professionals for a more comprehensive skin check:

• Large brown spots with darker speckles found anywhere on the body
• Dark lesions on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, fingertips toes, mouth, nose, or genitalia
• Translucent pearly and dome-shaped growths
• Existing moles that begin to grow, itch, or bleed
• Brown or black streaks under the nails
• A sore that repeatedly heals and reopens
• Clusters of slow-growing scaly lesions that are pink or red

Regular preventive care visits are an important part of your overall skin health. We generally recommend that you visit us for a skin cancer screening once a year if you have no prior symptoms or warning signs. However, if you have a family history of skin cancer, experience significant sun exposure, or have any other risk factors, we may recommend that you visit us more often. We’ll work together with you to determine a schedule that works for you.

Even if it’s not time for your routine check-up, if you notice a new blemish or concern across your skin, you’re always welcome to visit us for a screening. Moles, lesions, bumps, rashes, and painful areas can all be warning signs for many potentially dangerous conditions.

We offer personalized care for every patient. We’ll base your skin cancer screening off of your health history and previous visits to identify any issues and monitor your changes from past appointments.

When you come in for your screening, we’ll examine any problem areas that you’ve noticed and search for additional signs of disease as well. If we do discover any issues at your screening, we’ll let you know and plan future treatments to correct your skin issues.

The first step after we identify a skin concern is usually to conduct a biopsy. During a biopsy, we’ll make sure the skin is numb, and then take a small sample from the target area and send it to a lab for examination. They will conclusively diagnose skin cancer or other diseases and let us know. Then we’ll schedule a follow-up session with you to talk through your results and plan additional treatment if needed.