Are You Doing Skin Cancer Self-Checks All Wrong?

Key TakeawaysSkin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States.Self-checks help you get familiar with your “normal” moles and spots, giving you a better chance of recognizing a possible skin cancer sooner rather than later.The sooner a skin cancer is found, the better. Early diagnosis and treatment are linked to better outcomes.

Key Takeaways

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States.Self-checks help you get familiar with your “normal” moles and spots, giving you a better chance of recognizing a possible skin cancer sooner rather than later.The sooner a skin cancer is found, the better. Early diagnosis and treatment are linked to better outcomes.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States,so the chances that you know someone with it or that you’ll be diagnosed with it yourself are higher than for other cancers. That sounds scary, but it’s also a cancer that you have decent chances of spotting yourself at home—andearly detectioncan significantly increase your chances of successful treatment.

Given how important early diagnosis is for people with skin cancer, dermatologists stress the importance of monthly skin self-checks between provider check-ups. But some people may not do them correctly, or may misinterpret the information they get about their skin health from self-checks.

A small recent study included 260 people with suspected cancerous lesions on their skin. Of those lesions, 31.9% turned out to bemalignant melanoma—a deadly type of skin cancer. However, only 21.7% of the participants who were diagnosed with malignant melanoma had been worried that the suspicious lesion could actuallybea malignant melanoma.

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When and Why to Do Skin Self-Checks

Systematically and regularly evaluating your skin at home can help you become familiar with moles and lesions you’ve had for a long time,Rachel Nazarian, MD, a board-certified dermatologist practicing in New York City, told Verywell. Knowing what your skin’s “normal” is can make it easier to notice subtle changes or new growths that would require the attention of a dermatologist.

Self-checks are even more important if you’ve had a skin cancer diagnosis before or are at high risk for it,Erum N. Ilyas, MD, MBE, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist at the Schweiger Dermatology Group in Pennsylvania, told Verywell.

“Early skin cancer detection is the key to best outcomes,” said Illyas.

While you can get your skin checked at a routine annual screening with a dermatologist, Ilyas recommends going more often if you can. At an annual check-up, your provider only sees moles and skin lesions at a single point in time, so some crucial information is missing. The one thing providers “cannot witness is change, which is one of the most important criteria when it comes to early detection of skin cancer,” she said.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends a head-to-toe examination every month for people of all ages.However, if you have a family history of skin cancer, Ilyas suggests partnering with a family member, spouse, or friend to help you get a better look at areas of your skin you can’t easily see yourself—like the ears, back of the neck, and scalp.

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Do Self-Checks Actually Help Spot Skin Cancer Early?

Whether or not a skin self-check will help spot cancer early depends on a lot of factors, like the type of cancer it is and how the check is done.

Other experts aren’t sure that doing skin checks at home is consistently helpful. A 2019 study looking at the effectiveness of skin self-examination for early detection of skin cancers found that some interventions may be helpful—but according to Climstein, research suggests that self-skin checks have limited accuracy.

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How to Do a Skin Cancer Self-Check Correctly

There’s no standard procedure for a skin cancer self-check, but IIyas recommends starting with your face and working your way across your neck, back, chest, arms, and legs. It’s also helpful to takephotosto make it easier to track changes over time.

“Make an album in your phone dedicated to your moles and consider taking a post-it and including it in the photo with a stick figure diagram, showing the location of the mole and the date the image was taken to keep track easily,” said IIyas.

ABCDE of Skin CancerMost people have familiar moles or markings on their skin, like birthmarks that they’ve had for a long time. While doing a skin cancer self-check at home can help you spotnewspots on your skin, they also help you tune into your usual spots to see if they might be changing.ABCDEis an easy way to remember what you’re looking for when you’re checking your skin for signs of melanoma skin cancer:Asymmetry:Is one side of the spot different than the other?Border:Is the area around the spot blurred or irregular?Color:What color is the spot?Is it more than one color, including tan, brown, black, or areas of white, red, or blue?Diameter:How big is the spot? Is it bigger than a pencil eraser?Evolution:Is the spot changing in size, shape, or color? Does it look different than it did when you checked it last? Are you noticing any symptoms like itching or bleeding?

ABCDE of Skin Cancer

Most people have familiar moles or markings on their skin, like birthmarks that they’ve had for a long time. While doing a skin cancer self-check at home can help you spotnewspots on your skin, they also help you tune into your usual spots to see if they might be changing.ABCDEis an easy way to remember what you’re looking for when you’re checking your skin for signs of melanoma skin cancer:Asymmetry:Is one side of the spot different than the other?Border:Is the area around the spot blurred or irregular?Color:What color is the spot?Is it more than one color, including tan, brown, black, or areas of white, red, or blue?Diameter:How big is the spot? Is it bigger than a pencil eraser?Evolution:Is the spot changing in size, shape, or color? Does it look different than it did when you checked it last? Are you noticing any symptoms like itching or bleeding?

Most people have familiar moles or markings on their skin, like birthmarks that they’ve had for a long time. While doing a skin cancer self-check at home can help you spotnewspots on your skin, they also help you tune into your usual spots to see if they might be changing.ABCDEis an easy way to remember what you’re looking for when you’re checking your skin for signs of melanoma skin cancer:

“I recommend patients look for any new or changing moles, any spots that are bleeding or not healing,” said Nazarian. “When in doubt, reach out to the dermatologist.”

Skin cancer detection seems to work best when patients partner with their providers to stay on top of their skin health.

“It can be humbling, as I often share with patients that in spite of performing tens of thousands of skin cancer screenings and detecting and treating thousands of cancers and precancers, I find it fascinating how often patients are right when they have detected something about a mole that doesn’t seem right to them,” said Ilyas. “It’s important to have this two-way trust—if either a doctor or patient feels that a mole should be evaluated, we should work together to catch cancer early.”

What This Means For YouDoing skin cancer self-checks at home helps you get familiar with your skin’s “normal,” so you’ll be more alert to changes that could need follow-up with your dermatologist. While a yearly check-up with your provider is valuable, you (or a partner who helps you get a closer look at those hard-to-see places) are the best person to spot potentially cancerous lesions sooner.If you aren’t sure if you should worry about a lesion you spot on a self-check, following up with your provider can quell your fear if it’s not cancer.

What This Means For You

Doing skin cancer self-checks at home helps you get familiar with your skin’s “normal,” so you’ll be more alert to changes that could need follow-up with your dermatologist. While a yearly check-up with your provider is valuable, you (or a partner who helps you get a closer look at those hard-to-see places) are the best person to spot potentially cancerous lesions sooner.If you aren’t sure if you should worry about a lesion you spot on a self-check, following up with your provider can quell your fear if it’s not cancer.

Doing skin cancer self-checks at home helps you get familiar with your skin’s “normal,” so you’ll be more alert to changes that could need follow-up with your dermatologist. While a yearly check-up with your provider is valuable, you (or a partner who helps you get a closer look at those hard-to-see places) are the best person to spot potentially cancerous lesions sooner.

If you aren’t sure if you should worry about a lesion you spot on a self-check, following up with your provider can quell your fear if it’s not cancer.

7 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Skin cancer basics.

National Cancer Institute.Skin cancer.

Climstein M, Hudson J, Stapelberg M, et al.Patients poorly recognize lesions of concern that are malignant melanomas: is self-screening the correct advice?.PeerJ. 2024;12:e17674. doi:10.7717/peerj.17674

Skin Cancer Foundation.How to do a skin check.

Ersser SJ, Effah A, Dyson J, et al.Effectiveness of interventions to support the early detection of skin cancer through skin self-examination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Br J Dermatol. 2019;180(6):1339-1347. doi:10.1111/bjd.17529

American Academy of Dermatology Association.What to look for: ABCDEs of melanoma.

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