Health

5 Signs You Need A Skin Check

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By Kaleem Ullah

How often do you have a skin check? If you don’t remember, now might be the perfect time to schedule a skin check gold coast and ensure that your skin health isn’t suffering from something you don’t know about, such as melanoma or psoriasis. Before you can request an appointment with your dermatologist, though, you need to learn what symptoms indicate that it’s time to have your skin examined by a medical professional. Here are five signs that you should get in touch with your dermatologist today to schedule an appointment

Cysts

Many cysts, such as sebaceous or pilar cysts, are benign and cause few, if any, symptoms. Some may disappear independently; others may require minor treatment (such as puncturing with a needle). Other cysts may develop into serious health problems. For example, larger pilar and sebaceous cysts are more likely to contain cancerous cells. If you notice one of these growing in your skin or feel a lump in your skin that you suspect might be a cyst, you should have it checked out by a dermatologist right away.

Warts

Warts are skin growth caused by a specific strain of human papillomavirus (HPV). The virus is transmitted from person to person through direct skin-to-skin contact. Fortunately, most HPV infections go away without treatment in two years or less; even vaccines protect against certain strains. But, if your wart symptoms last longer than two years, it’s time to see a dermatologist for a diagnosis and possible treatment—especially if you develop other symptoms like small sores or ulcers on your skin. Those could be signs of another condition called basal cell carcinoma (BCC), which is usually curable when caught early enough with surgery.

Skin Tags

Skin tags (or acrochordons) are small and harmless, but they can be unsightly. They’re soft, hang down from a thin stalk, and look like extra skin with or without colour. They have nothing to do with cancer—they’re a benign tumour that your dermatologist can remove at your next appointment if you wish. They tend to appear in people with fair skin, so if you have darker skin, the chances are that you probably won’t develop skin tags. The good news is that there are quite a few simple ways to get rid of skin tags and surgical procedures that may also be able to remove them for good.

Bleeding Disorders

it is one of many bleeding disorders in which a person’s blood does not clot properly, making them much more likely to have abnormal or difficult-to-treat skin lesions. For example, you might need a skin check if you have hemophilia. Hemophilia is an inherited disorder of blood clotting caused by a mutation in several genes that encode proteins responsible for coagulation. The severity of hemophilia can range from mild to severe, and symptoms include easy bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums. Even minor injuries—like a paper cut—can cause massive hemorrhaging that requires medical attention.

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is characterized by smooth, white patches of skin with no colour. These patches occur when melanocytes — cells in your skin that produce pigment — are destroyed. Vitiligo usually begins as one or a few spots on your skin, which slowly enlarge over time and become more numerous and spread to other areas of your body. When vitiligo affects a noticeable place, like your face or hands, it can have a huge impact on your quality of life. While scientists don’t know what causes vitiligo, they know it’s an autoimmune disorder in which something triggers a person’s immune system to attack their cells as if they were foreign invaders. This type of disease can strike anyone at any age — it doesn’t discriminate based on gender, race or ethnicity.