Skin and Mole Checks
Why have a Mole / Skin Check?
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, for both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. It therefore makes sense to ensure we are active in getting our skin / moles checked.
Certain risk factors do increase the risk of a person developing skin cancer. These include:
- Fair skin type
- Past history of chronic sun exposure
- Repeated history of bad sun burns or sun bed use
- Previous history of melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer
- Family history of melanoma skin cancer
- Age – elderly people are more prone to get skin cancer
- Immunosuppression
- Certain medical conditions – for example, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia may supress the immune system and increase the risk of skin cancers developing
- Patients with organ transplants are at high risk
- Any patient on immunosuppressive drugs is also at higher risk of skin cancer
Patients who are at higher risk of developing skin cancer should have a baseline mole check, and if appropriate, ongoing regular mole checks. It is important that this is done in a thorough fashion and not just a quick look.
Get your mole check done in Wellington
At Wellington Dermatology we undertake a large number of regular skin cancer checks on patients who are at high risk of skin cancer. This involves 15-20 minutes being set aside for a total body examination to identify possible at-risk skin lesions / moles. As well as using magnifying loops, dermatoscopes are used to give greater magnification of these skin lesions.
Where necessary, photographs of individual moles can be taken for monitoring, or whole body photographs for whole body mole monitoring can be arranged if necessary.
Wellington Dermatology specialists will advise you of your risk factors and advise the necessity for further regular mole checks. If you have some of the above listed risk factors, come in and see us – book an appointment now.