Most people assume that only areas of the body that are exposed to the sun are primarily where we are vulnerable to skin cancer. However, there are some surprising skin cancer spots that could appear that you should be aware of. Though I don’t want to frighten you, knowledge is also empowering as a preventive measure.
The first place that you may not have thought skin cancer can possibly occur is in your nails and the skin around them. Not only can you develop this disease there because of sun exposure, but also from a past injury to the nails. Another factor that could increase your risk for developing skin cancer in this area is if you ever had a wart on your hands or feet.
The good news about this type of skin cancer involving the nail area is that it is typically the squamous cell variety, which is better being a slower spreading form than the deadlier and faster form of melanoma. This skin cancer is also the second most common form. Signs of trouble are dark brown, reddish-brown or black vertical streaks on your nails or any odd spots in the area. A prime place to pay particular attention to is the thumb and big toe nails. Regardless, if you see any of these suspect changes, then please have a dermatologist check them out.
Something that many do not give much thought to is the eyelids and skin around the eyes. You may apply sunscreen like you should, but there is always a chance of missing a tiny area, especially if you are using a nonwaterproof formula that could leave that skin vulnerable from sweating. Do yourself a favor and make it a point to always wear sunglasses with thick sides over thin ones.
Hair helps protect the scalp from skin cancer more than one that is bald or a head that is thinning. The problem with skin cancer of the scalp is that everyone can suffer from it because most of us don’t examine our scalps. This cancer often goes unnoticed in its early stage because it is so hard to spot through our hair.
A good idea is always wear a hat when outdoors, especially one with a wide-brim. If the hat is made of fabric composed of sun protective material, the better odds for your scalp of avoiding skin cancer and another vulnerable area such as your ears. After all, a large brim shades the ears much more than merely wearing a hat such as a baseball cap that can leave them exposed.
Ears are another of these surprising skin cancer spots that could appear that we often forget about when utilizing sunscreen. Even if we remember, some of us may tend to overlook using it on our ears because we don’t want to ruin our hairstyle with how the grease from that product can slick the hair up.
Another of these surprising spots that skin cancer could appear is on your lips. You may think that wearing lipstick or lip balm is protection enough, but only if those cosmetics happen to have SPF ingredients in their SPF makeup formulas. All that you have to do if you wear plain lipstick with sunscreen is applying an SPF lip balm over it, which will make up for that protection.
One thing that you don’t want to do is go out into the sun wearing shiny lipsticks or lip glosses because they reflect light to draw in those harmful rays more than you need too.
Believe it or not, another of these surprising place skin cancer could appear is in your private parts. Researchers suggest a link between HPV (human papillomavirus), a sexually transmitted virus and skin cancer. The body is able to use its immune system to defend itself from skin cancer in most cases. On the other hand, there is a small segment of the population with a weaker or compromised immune system that can’t fight the HPV infection and develop skin cancer in the genitals. A sign could be genital warts as well as other warts on your hands, feet and face that the HPV infection is present. Visit your dermatologist and gynecologist or a medical doctor for men regularly for HPV screenings as a part of the exam.
Hearing that you have skin cancer is a scary thing, but this piece I shared here isn’t intended to frighten or diagnose only just to inform. Therefore, you need to be vigilant about this disease to get to it as early as possible by knowing the uncommon skin cancer spots where it could appear.
