Any new lesion or growing on your skin can be a crusade for concern . You might wonder if it ’s a harmless geezerhood spot ormelanoma , the most dangerous type of pelt malignant neoplastic disease . The problem is , it ’s often difficult to tell the two apart .
“ Sometimes age spots can have paint or grain , and it can be perplexing to assure the difference of opinion , ” saysTanya Nino , MD , a skin doctor at St. Joseph Heritage Medical Group in Orange , California . “ To an untrained oculus , the differences can be sluttish to miss . ”
While eld spots and melanomas frequently look likewise , there are some lineament that can help you determine if that mark on your skin is just a cosmetic result — or if it should be evaluated by a healthcare professional decent out .
What Are Age Spots?
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If you have age spots , they will likely come down into one of three category :
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Melanoma vs. Age Spots
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The ABCDE rule is just a masking tool , however , and many seborrheic keratoses fit the criteria but are harmless . “ Any kind of change should make you suspect , and you should see your doctor , ” Wolf add .
If a doctor does determine you have melanoma , it ’s very curable if care for early on . “ subsequently , it ’s one of the more difficult cancers to treat , ” says Wolf .
What Are the Signs of Melanoma?
Risk Factors for Melanoma
Can Sunspots Turn Into Melanoma?
The myopic answer is no ; a macula ca n’t sour into a malignant melanoma . But because these two skin government issue can search alike and be confused for each other , you should n’t ignore variety to what you guess is only a macula .
“ The most coarse sunspots — cherry hemangiomas , lentigines , and seborrheic keratoses — can often be confused with a malignant melanoma and look like a malignant melanoma , ” enounce Wolf .
If a mark on your cutis change in any way , Dr. Nino says you should have a doc do abiopsyto rule out melanoma .
When to See a Doctor
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“ You should see your doctor about anything that worries you , ” read Wolf . “ Peace of nous is priceless , and the best direction to get peace of psyche about a sunspot is to show it to your skin doctor . ”
How to Prevent Melanoma
The Takeaway
Jacquelyn Dosal , MD , is a circuit card - certify dermatologist at Skin Associates of South Florida in Coral Gables . She practices general , aesculapian , enhancive , and operative dermatology . Dr. Dosal provides compassionate maintenance to all her patient , listening to their concerns and create a discourse plan with each patient role ’s priorities and real life story in creative thinker .
She is a member of the voluntary faculty at the University of Miami .
Julie Marks is a free-lance writer with more than 20 year of experience covering health , lifestyle , and science topic . In addition to pen for Everyday Health , her work has been feature inWebMD , SELF , Healthline , A&E , Psych Central , Verywell Health , and more . Her destination is to compose helpful article that readers can well sympathise and practice to improve their well - being . She is passionate about healthy living and delivering important aesculapian data through her piece of writing .
Prior to her self-employed person career , Marks was a supervising producer of medical programming for Ivanhoe Broadcast News . She is a Telly award winner and Freddie prize finalist . When she ’s not publish , she relish spending fourth dimension with her husband and four fry , traveling , and cheer up on the UCF Knights .
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