By Alexandra Owens, Allure
As someone who religiously gets skin cancer evaluations every six months, this claim had me triple-checking my moles: A new study from Temple University School of Medicine reports that nearly 37 percent of skin cancer lesions are accompanied by itching, while 28 percent straight-up hurt. The pain part I knew. But in the long, long list of signs my dermatologist has told me to watch out for, itching was definitely not one of them. So does this mean I should panic every time I feel the need to scratch? I asked New York City dermatologist Janet Prystowsky for her thoughts.
[post_ads]What's your take on this study? In your experience, are skin cancer lesions often accompanied by itching? "I've been practicing for 27 years, and I've never had someone come into my office to show me an itchy lesion that has turned out to be skin cancer. I think this study is way overestimating that. In fact, skin cancer is usually without symptoms—that's what leads to delay in diagnosis. Itching is a serious symptom that we need to pay attention to, but it's not as common as this study suggests. Melanomas especially aren't known to itch."
So why do you think so many people reported having itchy lesions in the study? "Personally, I think there's confusion between scratching and itching. Just because you scratched at something doesn't mean that it itched. A lot of times patients will scratch at a new bump on their skin—it's like why people pick pimples. Pimples don't itch, but if there's a bump on your skin, you want it off. It's not the same feeling as scratching an insect bite where the histamine release in the skin drives an itch reaction."
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What would happen if you scratched at a skin cancer lesion? "Picking at skin cancers is very bad, because you can scratch the top of it off and normal skin will grow in from the sides. So you think, "Oh, well I got rid of that." But you can't pick a skin cancer completely off. The tumor is under that layer of skin and keeps growing."
So what should prompt you to get your skin checked? "We want people to pay attention to anything that's new, growing, bleeding, or changing color. And don't just pick or scratch; go in and have it evaluated."
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[post_ads]What's your take on this study? In your experience, are skin cancer lesions often accompanied by itching? "I've been practicing for 27 years, and I've never had someone come into my office to show me an itchy lesion that has turned out to be skin cancer. I think this study is way overestimating that. In fact, skin cancer is usually without symptoms—that's what leads to delay in diagnosis. Itching is a serious symptom that we need to pay attention to, but it's not as common as this study suggests. Melanomas especially aren't known to itch."
So why do you think so many people reported having itchy lesions in the study? "Personally, I think there's confusion between scratching and itching. Just because you scratched at something doesn't mean that it itched. A lot of times patients will scratch at a new bump on their skin—it's like why people pick pimples. Pimples don't itch, but if there's a bump on your skin, you want it off. It's not the same feeling as scratching an insect bite where the histamine release in the skin drives an itch reaction."
[post_ads_2]
What would happen if you scratched at a skin cancer lesion? "Picking at skin cancers is very bad, because you can scratch the top of it off and normal skin will grow in from the sides. So you think, "Oh, well I got rid of that." But you can't pick a skin cancer completely off. The tumor is under that layer of skin and keeps growing."
So what should prompt you to get your skin checked? "We want people to pay attention to anything that's new, growing, bleeding, or changing color. And don't just pick or scratch; go in and have it evaluated."
RELATED LINKS:
