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Dr. Brian Weeks discusses three ways a woman can prevent skin cancer.
Dr. Weeks:
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer that we deal with in the world. It’s seen on a regular basis, and most people in their lifetime deal directly with skin cancer either with themselves or a loved one. It’s very common to have a small non-serious type of skin cancer on your body in some point of your life, and so it’s very important to understand what you can do to prevent that.
The first and foremost thing is to understand that a patient needs to have sun protection on their skin, and especially on their facial skin, whenever they leave the house every day, and for women in particular, this is very easy. When you are putting on your facial moisturizer or your makeup you should always use a product with sun protection factor built into it. Almost all high-end brands now carry their cosmetic lines with SPF and a minimum of SPF 15 is necessary.
Number two, understand that sun exposure is not what you are doing now, but it is accumulative exposure. So what you did when you were a teenager with baby oil at the beach will come back to haunt you. It doesn’t mean that what you are doing now is not important; what it means is that you need to be even more attentive now because of what we all did when we were younger.
And thirdly, you need to understand that as I emphasized in many other areas, any abnormality or blemish or irregularity on your skin that doesn’t heal, that bleeds, that’s painful, that changes, must be investigated further. Often that’s just showing it to your physician, having a small little biopsy done in the office – that alone can prevent you from being diagnosed with a more serious type of skin cancer such as melanoma, years down the road. Those are helpful tips for skin cancer.
About Dr. Weeks, M.D.:
Dr. Brian Weeks specializes in diseases of the ear, nose, throat, as well as tumors of the head and neck region, including thyroid, parathyroid, and skull base tumors. He has advanced specialty training in endoscopic sinus surgery, and is a national/international leader in balloon sinuplasty surgery. Additionally, Dr. Weeks has expertise in minimally invasive surgeries of the head and neck, as well as head and neck reconstruction. His role in reconstruction of the head and neck includes management of skin cancers, facial defects and blemishes, and cosmetic imperfections. He also provides extensive knowledge in skin care, facial peels, and facial care products.