Society has assimilated many myths in reference to skin cancer, so it is important to establish key points for the prevention of this pathology. Dr. Guillén, an expert in Dermatology, provides eight important points on skin cancer that must be taken into account throughout our lives:
- Removing a mole makes it bad: removing a mole or a skin tumor does not make it bad, since if it is done in early stages it is the best way to prevent skin cancer.
- The skin has memory: sun exposure causes alterations in the nuclei of cells that are repaired naturally during the night. This especially affects people with light phototypes: blondes, light eyes,… If these exposures are prolonged and burns occur, the repair may fail and the faults will accumulate resulting in skin cancer.
- Ultraviolet rays are carcinogenic: the sun’s rays, like tobacco, are carcinogenic. Abusive exposure to the sun is the main cause of skin cancer.
- Use sun creams with high protection: it is very important to use the right cream for each type of skin, as well as to respect its proper application. It is estimated that the minimum amount of sunscreen with a protection factor (SPF) greater than 15 that should be applied is 2mg per square centimeter of skin.
- Prevention campaigns: it is very important to pay attention to these prevention campaigns, since it is necessary to make patients aware of the risks of skin cancer. In these campaigns, importance should also be given to regular check-ups in order to detect suspicious lesions in time.
- Alarm symptoms: the word change is the key, because if there is any new appearance of a skin lesion in the form of bumps, skin that bleeds when rubbed, change of texture or changes in existing lesions.
- Exposing children to the sun at the beach is maltreatment: that was the words of the College of Physicians at the time because sunburn has a cumulative effect. Exposing a child to the sun means that we do it when their skin is thin and unprotected, which brings forward the oncological process that ends up causing skin cancer in adults.
- Banning tanning booths: the FDA considers exposure to UV rays as a carcinogen at the level of tobacco. It is important to inform, in the same way as is done on tobacco packs, of the risks associated with UV exposure.