Glen I had the same story, mole on my ear , started to bleed a bit, finally I went in and my skin doc cut a 1/2 in. off my ear my first visit ( Dr. Miller) Westhills ca. glad he did it was stage 4 melanoma . Next stop more surgery they cut my ear off and laid open my neck about 8 in. and took out my salivery gland and my lymp nodes , and put my ear back minus a bit. Its been 15 yrs I AM VERY LUCKY!!! everybody get checked , be mindful, dont just blowit off like I did so many years till it almost killed me. I also have 2 good friends in my circle that have had very bad skin cancer both have been cut on a few times. This is a growing problem, better to just go get checked out , I still go every 6 mo. and thank Dr. Miller.
That’s the ONE thing about skin cancer, it’s mostly visible. Keep an eye on yourself. For places like your middle back, have a wife, girlfriend, or family member check it for you. Scabby places that don’t heal, places where the skin thickens a bit with scaliness, discoloration to name just a few, are things to have a dermatologist look at. Don’t take this to a family doctor, go to a specialist. I’ve had numerous moh’s surgery over the years, and trust me, it isn’t fun. I had a scab on my lower lip that I ignored for a year or so, and at my mom’s insistence, I had it checked, sure enough the biopsy came back as squamous cell carcinoma. Ended up getting a pretty good chunk of lip removed, mostly because I ignored the warning. Keep an eye on it, like I said, that’s the one good thing about it, you can see it, learn what to look for and take care of it early.
Howzit Keith, Yep it’has a lot to do with acculative amount of sun we get over the years and we all need to stay on top of this and get regular check ups from a dermatologist. Have had a few spots burned off down through the years. Back in the late 70’s I noticed I was getting more sunburnt and it seemed it was deeper and would last for a couple of days. Started wearing a rash guard and a shortie all the time and that helped.Aloha,Kokua
“I have plenty of examples of friends who rarely protect themselves, and even in their fifties or sixties have no apparent problems due to either sun or chemicals. But since you don’t know until you do develop something, better to head it off. I’m 37, and that feels pretty young to be dealing with this crap.”
It’s a combination of factors…age means little other than less chance when younger statistically when spread over all ages and populations. Nobody rides for free…the guys who’ve got away so far may pay later. And there are a million little factors you may not think a lot about. Driving is one of them…think about that a bit, the sun coming in on one side of the face more than the other by how many hours you spend behind the wheel?
Nels- that sounds about right. I’ve got the typical Dublin-type Irish features- not a great place to start in regards to the sun. That, combined with a lot of time outside: surfing, sailing, on dive-boats… a year in West Africa without sunscreen (couldn’t find it in the villages… sounds weak but at the time it seemed like a reasonable rationality), long days hiking and fishing. Even though I’ve been careful since I had a small melanoma cut out of my back 10 years ago, I haven’t been careful enough in those little everyday things like driving. I never thought of the connection but both of the big spots that I’ve had carved out of my hand have been on the left, and that forearm has been gotten spots burned off while the right one never has. Interesting insight.
Jeffrey, you’re right, lots of people get it from incidental exposure to the sun. I was asking my dermatologist why it kept reoccurring on me since I’m so careful about covering up. She asked me if I wore sunscreen going to and from work, or when I’m out in the yard. Short answer, no.
If you’ve got a family history of skin cancer incidence, it’s likely you’ll be susceptible to it.
For over 40 years, my surfing philosophy has been, paddle out before sunup, paddle in before 8:30, and be home or at work between 9 or 10.
I have never fallen prey to the California Surfer Sun God image. If I do surf summer afternoon Malibu, it’s after 4PM, wetsuit, Patagonia widebrimmed hat(thanks KP for showing me yours), water ready sunglasses, and zinc are the procedures that I follow to help me hopefully stay free of skin cancer.
Hmmm… Will have to check it out.
Funny story - After a skin check my dermatoligist calls me (wife is seated next to me in car) and informs me that I have a melanoma insite 2 and need to come in right away. I say’s “Doc I’m leaving town on business today, can it wait. (wife is now crying cause I have cancer) Doc say’s “nope you gotta come in right away and get that thing cut out” So I start making phone calls changing business plans and notice that wifey’s crying is starting to subside and she looks as if a light has gone on. She blows her nose, wipes her tears and in a shaky voice says " So you’re gonna be here Wed so I can make a hair appoint right”? I told this story to the skin doc as he was removing a nice diamond size piece of meat from my leg. He lost it and took a few minutes to regain composure.
Growing up in Hawaii can have it’s bad side concerning sun exposure. Living on the south west shore didn’t make it any better. I’ve got about 47 years of living in the sun, including those childhood days of 10 hours in the sun during the summer. I used to have UV damaged eyes, but they’re OK now. I’ve found that the best time for a great short session has been netween 11am and 1pm. Maximum sun exposure time, but the midday bump can make your day. You can see the sun damage, my skin looks like those old ladies that used to lay in the sun all day. I think I’m going to try an experiment and rub the oil on one arm and see what happens. The left side arm usually gets more sun exposure just from driving, so I’ll use that side.
Question here is if you get a skin cancer do you cut back on your surfing? Change you attire, schedules?
I don’t know what I’d do if I was told to stay out of the sun. I would go abolutely postal if I could never ride waves or be out in the sun again.
“Question here is if you get a skin cancer do you cut back on your surfing? Change you attire, schedules?”
The answer is more or less “yes” to everything…you adapt. Cover more skin, wear more and better sunscreen, hats, rashguards, hoods, hooded rashguards, sunglasses, change the hours you surf. And pay attention to all the skin stuff when you aren’t surfing too. AND EVERYBODY SHOULD BE DOING THAT ANYWAY, EVEN IF THEY HAVEN’T HAD A SKIN CANCER DIAGNOSIS. YET. (sorry about shouting, no “bold” type available that I’ve figured out yet)
Sun damage is cumulative anyway, many of us have already made down payments, but that doesn’t mean you don’t make changes needed to minimize add-on damage. Think in terms of the next 30 years or whatever (that’s what I’m doing). 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. is prime time for pain…so you minimize how much you are out there during those hours. Or you trade off surf sessions then for being indoors or indashade during those hours otherwise. Balance it out.
One other thing to be aware of. The subungual melanomas (those that develop on the nailbed under the fingernail) are in the highly aggressive category. If you develop a brown or black spot under your nail and you are certain that it did not result from an impact, or you develop a dark stripe down your nail, see a hand surgeon as soon as you can to have it biopsied. Any delay can be deadly.
As mentioned above, the zinc-containing creams are the best sunblock for surfing.
I live in the country of olive oil… Portugal (principaly ours that are completely free of any other oils);
We make almost all the food with this oil, cooking, and “drinking” witht fish grill (for ex.), salads, and so on…
I´me telling you one thing: with this oil or without it, the people here get cancer the same way that you get; it´s not because of the oil that you can avoid… it´s beacause of your attention and precaution that you will help not to get it…
for instance: when I go to the beach on the summer, I NEVER go out of my big umbrella… and when I go to the water, I NEVER let my skin get urt because of the sun !!
“Question here is if you get a skin cancer do you cut back on your surfing? Change you attire, schedules?”
It’ll be interesting to hear from others on this. I first started having problems about 10 years ago, when I got back from West Africa with some sores on my lips that wouldn’t heal… which led to the first burn offs and then one spot on my back that turned out to be a small melanoma. Since then, it’s been progressive: first more sunscreen and more limited exposure. Then, as the burn-session frequency increased, lots more sunscreen, hats, and a little less exposure. The past two years I’ve been pretty darn careful, limiting my time at the beach in the middle of the day, but still forgetting little things like sunscreen and hat when reading outside in the semi-shaded hammock.
This last year, its been getting much worse in spite of all that, and after a long series of doctors’ referalls and tests, I finally got the “no more sun” verdict. To be honest I’m still digesting what that means. The doc says okay to surf, but strictly early morning and late sessions, and only when well protected. I suppose that’s okay, though I’m obviously not overjoyed. The harder part will be stuff like long sleeves everyday, regardless of the weather. A hat every time I leave the house… I was at the University today and it was just warm enough to be nice having a cup of coffee on the patio, until I realized that I didn’t have a hat and had to head back inside. Telling people no to certain trips, or certain activities with the kids… all of that starts to add up to a major lifestyle change. We’re thinking of somewhere like the Northwest where there is just a lot less sun to influence your life. That may turn out to be a wise choice at some point.
Don’t take that as whining though; I’m stoked. Hell, I have two great kids and a great wife that are being incredibly cool. Change of plans for vacation, no problem for them. Family beach day at 7 a.m? They’re game. And I definitely want to be around and in good health to enjoy things with them. A bummer, but nothing worth going postal over for me.
We can do anything we wan´t under the sun as long we are really protected.
All over these years I´m developing a very good adaptation to the sun that I get on the beach; my skin rapidly get the “brown” color, wich means that my pigmentation is working;
As I don´t let my skin get burn on the sun, I believe that my attitude is correct.
With the rigth care, by watching the eventual sintoms, the propability of letting the desease make is own developement is very low.
…
That cumulative effect is the one to look out for. After a lifetime of sun exposure starting with beach days and water-skiing with the parents, then hard-core surfing lifestyle in SoCal, NorCal, Hawaii and France, the worst cancers (among dozens of superficial basal and/or squamous cell) showed up around my eyebrow and temple. I figure the extra exposure there came from years of snowskiing. Those areas were just outside the sunglasses and below the hat line. Higher altitudes subject one to higher doses of UV to begin with, and snow reflects even more light than water. I’m still dealing with the aftereffects of the invasive surgeries required to remove those aggressive tumors, and would advise everyone to take seriously the threats to your well-being caused by a careless attitude to sun exposure.
Same story like all you guys.grew up in Tahiti,sunscreen unheard of!Living in Hawaii the past 26 years.Surf,fish,yardwork,in the sun, everyday.Now,every 6 months,no fail,see the dermatologist,sometimes sooner if something suspicious,better safe than sorry.Surf as much or more than ever,but now always with longsleeved rashguard or wetsuit top,choke sunblock,and Kurtis surfing sunglasses(Kurtis USA).Eat everything antioxydant as much as possible,drink too(green tea 5 cups or more /day,red wine,couple glasses,feeling good).Melanoma runs in the family so I expect to get it,but won’t keep me from surfing as much as I want,GrandPa shark can take me first!My dermatologist told me last week that her father in law had melanoma removed 17 years ago,borders came back negative,and now it’s back,metastized and spread to the brain,death in a few months,only way he could have found out before it spread is to have had a cat scan every year,GrandPa shark,come take me first,die surfing and happy,Aloha my brothers and sistas.Oh,and I want to tell you,I am tattooed(it’s called " Tatau"or Pe’a) from ankles to lower back, front and back,and also on upper back,chest, shoulders,and upper arms.Well,if you or a family member or friend is thinking about getting some tattoos,I found out my dermatologist wishes I did not have any,because now it is so much harder to detect skin cancers through the ink,and not all melanomas and other cancers are raised.So,too late for me,but now I tell everybody who asked me about tattos,don’t get any,melanomas can pop up on parts of your body that never go in the sun,like my sister,on her butt,and I never saw her butt naked in the sun,haha!remember,Bob Marley,died of a melanoma on his big toe.Okay,now go drink your red wine and green tea,tastes better than olive oil,keep that for your cooking and your dressing.Aloha
All of the foregoing comments suggest another reason to do dawn patrols.
Good advise, Nels. I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma at age 22. A real shocker. I was teaching and a student asked what was on my face. She made me promise to get it checked before the start of the school year. The was 1983…
Have had yearly check ups since then and have had multiple removals. People make fun of the hats I wear to keep the sun off my face, neck, ears, and LIPS but I don’t care. Mention skin cancer and they stop. Looks like the thread is mostly written by men… but women need to watch out, too. The diagnosis is life changing but can be managed with a little creativity. Use a high SPF on your lips, too. How many people have skin peeling off their lips after a long day in the sun?
The best thing you can do for your friends is to “watch their back!” Literally.
Cindy
I have skin cancer. Doc said it’s from the intense Hawaiian sun. People, you DO know that sunscreen does not guard against skin cancer. Only against sun burn.