May is skin cancer awareness month and it’s a good opportunity to chat about skin cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment with your family.

We divide skin cancers into melanoma skin cancers and non-melanoma skin cancers.

The non-melanoma skin cancers consist mainly of basal cell cancer (BCC) and squamous cell cancer (SCC).

Let’s talk about malignant melanoma today and I can talk about the others tomorrow. The risk factors for melanoma are mainly ultra violet (UV) exposure from the sun, childhood sunburn is important, sunbed use is important and those with fair skin, fair hair and fair eyes are more at risk than those with darker skin tones. Intense,irregular bursts of sun exposure like a two week holiday un the sun are a risk factor.

Prevention focuses on avoiding sunburn, avoiding sunbeds, using a broad spectrum SPF, wearing protective clothing, sunglasses, and seeking shade at the hottest times of the day.

We use the ABCDE system of detection.

Always see your doctor for sny skin spots or scabs that don’t heal.

For a consultation with Dr Brenner at our Citywest Dublin clinic, use the booking link:  https://partner.pabau.com/online-bookings/dreithnebrenner  or call us on 01 960 2277 or email at: info@dreithnebrenner.ie