Skin Check, Please

Get out there in the SoCal sun, but get in to your fave derm office and stay on top of your skin health. I talked with skin guru, Dr. Jane Khoury, to get the skinny on what to look for: the A B C and Ds of melanoma.

Do you get annual skin checks? If so, bravo. If not, cue obnoxious buzzer noise! Get in there. It’s time. Do it for you and do it for your kids’ well being (make sure you’re around ages from now to meddle in everything they do).

I won’t get way into all the doom and gloom, but melanoma is on the rise. And while moles aren’t glam to talk about, here are a few quick facts to think on:

•One in four who develops skin cancer is under the age of 40

•One in 5 Americans will get skin cancer in the course of a lifetime

•More than a million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year

•One person dies every hour from skin cancer, primarily melanoma

•Nationally, there are more new cases of skin cancer each year than the combined incidence of cancer of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.

•The risk of developing melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, has more than doubled in the past decade.

Okay, enough already? Here’s an upbeat look at what to look for; my video chat with the friends at The Dermatology Center at Ladera. (A great go-to resource for all things skin. Fyi, Owner Dr. Elizabeth Lener has a waiting list a few months out, but you can get in with her other expert staff docs there rather quickly.)

And note: I did this interview makeup-free (foundation countered the visit’s purpose). Am I Giver, or What?

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