Take the skin check challenge

May is national skin cancer awareness month! According to the skin cancer foundation, there are over 5 million cases of skin cancer diagnosed each year in the United States. Fortunately, skin cancer is also preventable.

Here are some ways to prevent skin cancer:

– seek shade between 10am and 4pm.
– cover your skin with clothing, a wide brimmed hat, and uv protection sunglasses.
– don’t get sunburned
– avoid tanning beds
– use broad-spectrum (uva-uvb) sunscreen skin cancer
– examine your skin head to toe each month

Look at your skin!

Some of the more common ways in which skin cancers can appear include:

• a new, expanding, or changing growth, spot, or bump on the skin
• a sore that bleeds and/or doesn’t heal after several weeks
• a rough or scaly red patch, which might crust or bleed
• a wart-like growth
• a mole (or other spot on the skin) that’s new or changing in size, shape, or color • a mole with an odd shape, irregular borders, or areas of different colors