Summer in the Ozarks means lake days, gardening, and a lot more time in the sun. It is also a good moment to talk about the most common cancer in the country — and one of the most preventable.
About 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. The good news is that when it is caught early, it is highly treatable.
Protecting your skin
- Use sunscreen daily. Broad-spectrum, water-resistant, SPF 30 or higher on any skin your clothes don’t cover. Most people use far too little — about a shot glass full covers an adult body. Reapply every two hours, and after swimming, sweating, or toweling off.
- Seek shade when UV is strongest, roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. An easy rule: if your shadow is shorter than you are, find shade. Note this is about ultraviolet light, not heat — UV still reaches you on cool and overcast days.
- Skip the tanning bed. Indoor tanning is classified as a known human carcinogen, and starting before age 35 is linked to a substantially higher risk of melanoma. There is no such thing as a safe tan.
- Hats, sunglasses, and long sleeves do more work than people give them credit for.
Checking your own skin
Look yourself over about once a month and learn what is normal for you. For moles and spots, remember the ABCDEs:
- A — Asymmetry. One half doesn’t match the other.
- B — Border. Irregular, scalloped, or poorly defined edges.
- C — Color. More than one shade, or unusual colors.
- D — Diameter. Larger than a pencil eraser — though melanomas can be smaller when found.
- E — Evolving. Changing in size, shape, or color.
There is one more worth knowing, sometimes called the “ugly duckling” sign: most of your moles tend to resemble each other, so a spot that simply looks unlike all the others deserves attention — even if it passes the ABCDEs.
Don’t skip the places you can’t easily see. Check your palms, the soles of your feet, and under your nails. This matters for everyone, and especially for patients with darker skin, where melanoma most often shows up in exactly those spots. Skin cancer is less common in people of color, but it is more often found late — which is precisely why the self-check matters.
When to come in
Call us about any spot that is new, changing, itching, bleeding, or won’t heal. Don’t wait for a scheduled visit, and don’t wait to see whether it settles down.
As for routine whole-body skin exams: national screening panels have not found enough evidence to recommend them for every adult, so we don’t push them as a blanket annual requirement. But a regular skin check genuinely makes sense if you:
- have had skin cancer before
- have many moles, or moles that look unusual
- burn easily or have fair skin
- have a family history of melanoma
- have a weakened immune system
- have used tanning beds or had blistering sunburns
If any of that describes you, talk with us about the right interval — and be aware that a routine screening exam may not be covered the way a preventive visit is, so it is worth checking with your plan. You can find our accepted plans on our Insurance & Billing page.
We can look at it here
You do not have to wait months for a specialist appointment to get a concerning spot evaluated. We do skin exams and dermatology and biopsies right here in the office, and if something needs removing or sampling we can usually take care of it the same day. If it turns out you need a specialist, we will help you get there.
Call us at (417) 332-3639 and we will get you scheduled.
As always, I hope you stay healthy and happy.
Carolyn Clark, NP-C