Catch melanoma before it gets too serious
As mentioned above, early melanoma detection means that often a simple and painless surgical excision under local anesthetic is all that is needed to get rid of a dangerous mole. This is because melanoma generally starts out by spreading on the superficial layers of the skin. Catch it before it goes any deeper and removal is easy.
However, once the melanoma starts to penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin, especially in the subcutaneous layer, curability drops below 50 percent and procedures such as invasive surgery and chemotherapy will usually be needed.
As a consequence, checking your moles regularly, noting any changes and going to the doctor or dermatologist if anything is worrying you is the key to early melanoma detection and the easy treating of any melanoma moles that are found.
Melanoma detection is simple if you know what to look out for
Be reassured that most moles are benign, even new ones. However, for proper melanoma detection, it is important to take note of any changes in moles as soon as they occur. Ragged, irregular borders, a diameter larger than a pencil eraser, a mottled mixture of different colours and an asymmetrical shape are all distinctive signs of melanoma.
These are things you can spot with the naked eye or a magnifying glass. However, there are a few more characteristics of melanoma that you can look out for, and it can be hard to remember what a mole used to look like.
Using an app on your phone to track the progress of moles is a great, simple way, to assist yourself in the task of early melanoma detection.
Read more: How to Prevent Melanoma
