What is Melanoma?
Melanoma is a cancer of the melanocytes, cells in your skin that produce pigment. These cells start rapidly dividing which give you the appearance of darkened skin.
What to look for?
Here are the ABCDE’s of Melanoma and ABCD’s of melanoma for children
Adult:
- Asymmetry
- Border irregularity, meaning it’s not a perfect circle or oval
- Color change
- Diameter greater than 6mm, or the size of a pencil eraser
- Evolving, meaning your mole has changed
Pediatric:
- Amelanotic, meaning it is losing its color and turing red or pink
- Bleeding
- Color uniformity
- De novo, this is a new mole
Melanoma can also be found in your fingernails. It can present as a dark longitudinal line in your nail. Over time this line may widen at the bottom.
It is very important to check your moles, especially new moles. Here at Moksha Derm we offer full body skin exams to check on your moles and any moles that look abnormal we will biopsy and send to a pathologist to make sure it is not cancerous. Please come and see us to have your moles checked. If you have any new moles or moles that are growing rapidly, it is very important you come and see us!
It is very important to check your moles, especially new moles. Here at Moksha Derm we offer full body skin exams to check on your moles and any moles that look abnormal we will biopsy and send to a pathologist to make sure it is not cancerous. Please come and see us to have your moles checked. If you have any new moles or moles that are growing rapidly, it is very important you come and see us!
