Know the skin you are in
Dr Tom Mulholland is an Emergency Department Doctor and GP with over 25 years’ experience in New Zealand. He’s currently a man on a mission, tackling health missions around the world.
Iwas on the way to the operating theatre to fix a fractured hip when I was stopped in the corridor by a colleague. ‘‘Dr Tom, I have lump in my neck, can you take a look at it?’’ A quick corridor consultation resulted in me doing a fine needle aspiration of the lump. As I pulled back on the syringe barrel, the chamber was filled with black nasty tissue. I felt sick not because of syringe, but because I knew it was metastatic melanoma and 20 years ago that was a death sentence. Melanoma is the nastiest of the skin cancers. It burrows deep through the skin into blood vessels, and spreads to other parts of the body, such as the brain, where cancerous skin tissue then takes hold. That’s what killed Bob Marley and may kill you or your loved ones if you are not vigilant. Melanoma can occur anywhere on the skin, even in traditionally shady areas of your body, so know the skin you are in. Diagnosing melanoma is not an easy business sometimes. Not all are obvious in changing size, colour, or shape. They can be red and nodular and a variety of types, that’s why it’s important to consult a skin doctor as well as your GP or local nurse who has experience in skin cancers. About 69,000 Kiwis get diagnosed with skin cancers every year, but sadly only 3.9 per cent of us get the recommended annual skin check-up, according to a new study from Melanoma NZ. So why, when NZ has the highest rate of melanoma in the world, have only half of us had a skin check in the last 10 years? Some reasons given in this study are cost, inconvenience, and not knowing if a mole or a skin lesion is worth worrying about. You can go to melanoma.org.nz to find out more about early detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
There are a number of other services such as molemap.co.nz and now a new skin app called First Check. You take a photo of any skin concern and it gets sent directly to a New Zealand skin doctor for advice via the app.
Over the years working in hospitals, and in my role as an ambassador for Melanoma NZ, I have seen a few instances in which patients have been reassured that a mole, lesion, or lump is OK – it wasn’t. The only sure way to diagnose a melanoma is to look under a high-powered microscope once it has been removed from your skin. It’s better to have a scar than malignant melanoma spread.
New treatments are showing some success but are expensive and it’s really early days. It’s best not to get sunburnt in the first place and be vigilant in checking skin. If you get melanoma diagnosed early and taken off your skin before it spreads, it will save your life.
It's best not to get sunburnt in the first place and be vigilant in checking skin.