Take Care of Your Skin

I already know what my wife is going to say when she reads this.  "It's time for you to write about something besides yourself."

Just last week, I wrote about the strength training and fitness program that works for me in "Enough is Enough."  Not long ago, I bragged about my grandchildren, which are the best ever (just like yours).

But today really isn't about me.  It's about you.  It's about cancer and taking care of yourself and living long and well.  And this isn't about older people either.  It's about everybody.  More on that later.

So here's the story.  I went to the dermatologist this week.  I try and go every year.  I had a couple of places that needed to come off.  I also scheduled this blue light thing where more accurate mapping and diagnosis can be made.

I'm out in the sun a lot.  I keep a pretty good tan year round.  This time of year, I'm outside from 3 until dark-thirty all week, covering football practice.  Toss in time on the bicycle, yardwork/farmwork, and all the other outdoor stuff I do...well, you can see that I get a lot of sun exposure.

I use sunscreen all the time.  Check the desk in my training room in the MHS football stadium.  I guarantee you will find several different sunscreen containers.  During all this outdoor stuff, you will usually see a hat on my head.  I also like to wear a bandana around my neck.

Skin cancer is bad.  Melanoma is aggressive and can be fatal.  Other types of skin cancers that are untreated can become Melanoma.    It is likely that a lot of other cancers started with skin cancer and then moved elsewhere. 

Identified early and treated, most skin cancer is completely treatable.  Early identification means regular visits to the dermatologist.  I signed up quickly for that blue light thing because I have a lot of moles and dark places and because mapping of those things is a pretty inexact science.

But a whole lot better idea is prevention.  Protect your skin and it is far less likely that you will develop skin cancer.   Prevention starts at birth.  There is no age too young to be concerned about skin health.  There is no such thing as a healthy tan.  It's just unavoidable with a lot of people.  People who work outside.  People who play outside. 

And goodness gracious, don't you burn!   The trauma to your skin from that can and will come back to haunt you years later.  Just don't let it happen.

Wear sunscreen when you're outdoors.  Always.  Winter and summer.  Winter sun reflecting off of snow is just about as bad as summer sun reflecting off the beach. 

Wear a hat.  Cover yourself up.   Especially protect areas that seem to get more exposure, like your nose, the tops of your ears, and (especially for the follicly-challenged) the top of your head.

The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is so true when it comes protecting your skin.  And be sure and make that annual visit to your dermatologist.