A young mum thought she had a blocked pore on her nose – but it turned out to be skin cancer.
Sydney, Australia mum Lauren Smyth, 29, had a small dot on her nose, but because it wasn’t as dark as a mole, she dismissed it as a “clogged pore”, she said South West News Servicethrough New York Post.
After seeing a video on TikTok in which a woman described what looked like a spot that turned out to be skin cancer, Smyth made an appointment with a dermatologist for a skin exam.
While she was being examined, the doctor asked her if she had ever used a solarium.
Lauren Smyth.
Lauren Smyth/SWNS
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When Smyth was younger, “If I went on vacation or came for the summer, I’d want to get a tan, I’d go maybe once a week,” she said. SWNS. “I’ve never used them seriously, but I’ve used them – when you’re younger, you don’t think something like this is going to happen to you.”
She said her dermatologist told her, “If I had used a tanning bed more than ten times before, however long ago, my risk of skin cancer would have been greatly increased.”
As Verywell Health eexplains, “Just one tanning session before age 35 increases the risk of melanoma even if you don’t get a sunburn.”
Any exposure to sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer. Very good health says: The risk of squamous cell carcinoma increases by more than 65 percent, and the risk of basal cell carcinoma by 30 percent.
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A doctor took a biopsy of the site and said it was probably “harmless,” Smyth said. But she wasn’t so sure. “I had such a bad feeling about it – I was calling every day asking when I would get the results.”
For the mom of Jesse, 3, and Marcia, 1, the results were what she feared: She had skin cancer. Her treatment options were local chemotherapy or surgery.
The latter would have involved cutting out a large section of her skin, so Smyth opted for a six-week chemotherapy treatment.
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Lauren Smyth.
Lauren Smyth/SWNS
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“It’s had a big impact – I’m constantly worried about the cancer spreading and I’m constantly checking myself for new spots,” she told the news outlet.
“It keeps me up at night and I even dream about it.”
Now Smyth hopes her medical journey will encourage others to avoid tanning beds.
“Don’t use tanning beds—you can get the same tan from a bottle at the store,” she says. “And I want to share the importance of sun protection – if there was a cream to prevent breast cancer, you would use it.
“There is a cream to prevent skin cancer – but people don’t apply it every day. And they should.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education