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Skin Check
What are the benefits of a skin check?
- A skin check is essential for keeping your body safe and protected against disease. At our Skin Cancer Clinic, we provide the latest diagnostic tool complimented by highly compassionate and caring skin cancer practitioners to effectively assess and diagnose our patients. We have invested in acquiring an advanced software that combines mole mapping with full body photography called DermEngine. The problem is that the detection of early melanoma is a big challenge and with time science has improved the diagnostic tool used but none of them is 100% diagnostic in all cases.
For that reason having a close practitioner that knows your skin and has been able to store your full body pictures as well as your dermoscopy pictures, and learning to self-check your skin for changing or new lesions is crucial in the fight against melanoma. Sometimes we need to use time as a diagnostic tool. DermEngine allows not only mole mapping and full-body photography of your skin, but also sharing the pictures we take with you on your mobile device or with any other practitioner that may take over your care in the future. Therefore, we are even able to support the continued care for your skin if you decide to leave Queensland or Australia.
Why is a Skin Cancer Check-Up Needed?
- Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70
- About 2000 Australians die from skin cancer each year
- Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world
- Medicare records show there were over a million treatments for squamous and basal cell carcinoma – that’s more than 100 skin cancer treatments every hour.
- Basal and squamous cell carcinoma skin cancers accounted for one-quarter of all cancer-related hospitalisations in 2014–2015. The cost to the health system of these skin cancers alone is estimated to be more than $700 million annually. The costs to the Federal Government and the community from basal and squamous cell carcinomas are predicted to continue to increase in the future.
Types of Skin Cancer:
- Melanomas are the most dangerous type of skin cancer. These are often brown spots changing form and colour that can occur anywhere on the body, not just on sun-exposed areas.
- Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer. They usually occur on the face, lips, neck, or upper back. It is extremely rare for these tumours to spread through your body. However, they became locally invasive and may produce ulcerations and erosions in the centre of the face that does not heal.
- Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCC) most commonly arise from Sun Spots found in sun-exposed areas, they usually start like dry pinkish skin that keeps on thickening. They invade deeper layers and spread to the brain, lungs, and other organs. These are often rough, raised, or crusted lesions.
How can Skin Cancer be Detected?
- Self Examination – It is extremely important that you get to know your body, take pictures of your spots, moisturize them, and if the spot is pink or changing in size then immediately come to get them checked, regardless of how long ago you have had a skin check.
- Skin Doctor Check – We examine your skin with daylight, as our rooms have all clear sunlight, we also use assisted lighting, dermoscopy and a loupe that allow us to augment the lesions. Your skin will first have to be examined and scanned with a dermatoscope, which is a special portable skin microscope with light, which allows the doctor to see beneath the skin to decide regarding a suspicious skin lesion or mole. The examination is completely painless. If the doctor finds a suspicious spot, they might take a photograph to be recorded and analysed, and they may take a biopsy sample of the skin.
Time is Used as a Diagnostic Tool before Deciding if a Lesion Needs to be Excised:
- It is important to know that sometimes a lesion is not clearly benign; diagnosing melanoma is not easy and no technique is 100% accurate. We use different systems to aid diagnosis, but ultimately biopsies and time will tell the truth. If our doctors cannot be sure that a lesion is benign, a biopsy should be considered. However, when it is safe, we may consider waiting and reviewing changes over time, to reduce unnecessary biopsies, pain, and cosmetic issues. This choice will ALWAYS be decided by you.
How do we Treat Skin Cancer?
- Local Treatment – Depending on the biopsy result, cryotherapy creams and gel could be used to treat lesions that are superficial and low risk. Some local treatments may produce temporary reactions that our skin doctors will explain and demonstrate photos of to allow you to make an INFORMED DECISION.
Health Promotion and Education:
- General Practice plays an important role in promoting health and educating you about healthy lifestyle choices. Our GPs can provide advice on nutrition, exercise, and stress management, and can help you set goals for improving your health and wellbeing. By promoting healthy behaviors and providing education, General Practice can help you prevent illness and improve your overall health.
- Surgical Removal – When the skin cancer is more aggressive or requires surgical removal, My New Life Health Centre has the facilities and dedicated staff to perform skin surgery. We are an accredited practice, and our doctors have extensive surgical experience in theatre performing major surgery in Australia and overseas.
- Complex Surgical Removal – Some of the practitioners have certified advanced training in skin cancer surgery and can perform skin grafts and skin flaps. Depending on where the cancer is, how large it is and the type of skin cancer sometimes it is not possible to close with an elliptical excision which will leave a straight line scar. A skin graft is used to get skin from another part of your body donated and used to cover the defect left. Very commonly used on the nose, scalp and lower leg. Skin flaps are a less cosmetic procedure that moves skin from one place to another to cover the defect created. The resulting scar has a funny shape like a Z -H or U shape.
Plastic Surgeon, Dermatology and Radiotherapy Referral -Some lesions require specialist management. Our MOST IMPORTANT goal is your wellbeing, so there are areas of the skin and types of cancers that are better left treated by specialists. We will offer and discuss these opportunities with you as YOUR DECISION IS ALWAYS TOP PRIORITY.
