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Traci French thought she was only dealing with an ordinary stubborn stain, when she noticed the stain on her lip five years ago.
"It was very scaly, it looked like dry skin," French French, who lives in Monrovia, California, told TODAY. "It would blush a little, then it would be like a button started. Then it would disappear and the drought would recur. "
French, 50, was worried that the spot would come back all the time, so she showed her dermatologist, Dr. Shirley Chi, in Arcadia, California, during her annual skin exam.
"From the habit, I know right away that it's a skin cancer. But in this case, it really looked like a button, "said Chi. "It looked like a bump of skin color."
She recommended that the French wait a few months before seeing if it would go away. When that was not the case, Chi took a sample for a biopsy. Diagnosis: Squamous cell carcinoma, a common skin cancer that develops most often on areas of the body exposed to the sun, including the head, neck, back of the hands and lower legs, according to the. American Academy of Dermatology.
French had spent a lot of time in the sun from the 8th to the end of high school playing sports like football and softball. She used sunscreen, but not all the time on her face, she said.
Each year, about 700,000 new cases of squamous cell carcinoma are diagnosed in the United States. Chi called the second type of skin cancer after melanoma because it can spread to other parts of the body and become potentially fatal.
But if it is detected early, noted the American Cancer Society, squamous cell carcinoma is considered highly curable.
People may not think so much about the area around the lip when they put sunscreen, Chi says, so lips can be vulnerable. The type of sunscreen they use can also determine the degree of coverage obtained. A recent study found that people were applying less of an SPF moisturizer to their face than traditional sunscreen, thus missing more skin.
After his diagnosis, French simply wanted the post removed. Thus, in the summer of 2016, she underwent the micrographic surgery of Mohs, a procedure aimed at eliminating all cancerous tissue while preserving as much as possible the health of the skin. The doctors had to make a quarter injury, and then rebuilt this area of the face.
French "panicked" when she saw how much flesh had to be removed and the recovery was painful. But she is happy with the result of the operation, relieved that the cancer has disappeared and pleasantly surprised by the healing of her lips. There remains only a small scar difficult to see.
She now puts on more sunscreen and wears a hat every time she spends time outdoors in the sun, she said.
What does squamous cell carcinoma look like?
Look for a new lumpy or flaky area on your skin that does not go away, Chi advised.
People with weakened immune systems, such as patients who have had organ transplants, who are infected with HIV, or who are taking medications that suppress their immune systems, are at increased risk of skin cancer with squamous cells.
How to protect your entire face from the sun:
Dr. Chi offered this advice:
- To protect your lips, wear SPF lip balm every day, even in cloudy weather and especially if you like sports and outdoor activities. "On cloudy days, people forget that they need protection and that's when they are burned," she said.
- To protect the eye area, try using a sporty sunscreen, which tends to be less effective than the usual preparations. Always wear sunglasses when you are outdoors or driving on a sunny day, as you also get a lot of ultraviolet light through the windshield. Some make-up powders also contain SPF.
- Do not forget to apply sunscreen on your ears, including lobes and spikes.
- Be careful: if your skin does not heal, consult your dermatologist.
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