Hearing “we need to biopsy that” tends to trigger more anxiety than the procedure itself deserves. So what happens during a skin biopsy, exactly? It’s one of the quickest, most routine procedures in dermatology, most types take less than 15 minutes, use only local anesthesia, and are done right in the office on the same day your dermatologist spots something worth checking. Knowing exactly what happens during a skin biopsy before, during, and after tends to remove most of the dread. Why Your Dermatologist Ordered One A biopsy is the only way to confirm what a lesion actually is. Visual…
Author: Isreal Olabanji DST, RN
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If you’ve been told you might be comparing basal cell carcinoma vs squamous cell carcinoma and aren’t sure what that actually means, you’re not alone, the two get lumped together constantly despite behaving very differently. Both fall under the umbrella of nonmelanoma skin cancer, both are driven mainly by cumulative sun exposure, and both are highly treatable when caught early. But they start in different layers of your skin, grow at very different speeds, and carry meaningfully different risks if you leave them alone. Knowing which one you’re looking at changes how urgently you should act. Where Each One Starts…
Most people don’t look closely at their moles until something already looks obviously wrong. By then, you’ve lost the exact advantage that makes melanoma one of the most treatable cancers in the world: catching it early. When melanoma is found while it’s still confined to the top layer of skin, the five-year survival rate is around 99%. Once it’s spread to distant parts of the body, that number drops sharply. The difference between those two outcomes usually comes down to one thing: whether someone noticed a change early enough to act on it. The ABCDE rule for melanoma is the…
Skin cancer on Black skin often looks nothing like the pale-skin examples most health content shows you. A new dark mole standing out against fair skin. A pink, scaly patch after years of sunburn. If you have brown or black skin, following that same mental picture can actually work against you, because it sends you looking in the wrong places for the wrong signs. Skin cancer on Black skin is real, and when it happens, it’s often caught far later than it should be. Not because it grows any faster. Because it tends to show up in places nobody thinks…
Most people check for skin cancer symptoms by looking for abnormal growths or changes in the appearance of the skin. However, there are some other, less obvious signs that can indicate the presence of skin cancer. These include changes in the size, shape, or color of a mole, and the development of new moles. If you notice any of these changes, you must see a doctor as soon as possible for a diagnosis. Read more about how to check for skin cancer symptoms and diagnosis in this article. What are the first skin cancer symptoms? The first sign is the…