Skin Cancer Tags - Chiropractor Pickering

Why does my chiropractor care about my skin?

I am a lecturer at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto.One of the areas I lecture in is on Dermatological conditions or skin conditions. So why does my chiropractor care about my skin? My students often ask me the same thing, why do we need to learn this stuff? We’re musculoskeletal specialists not dermatologists.

Why does my chiropractor care about my skin?
Well my answer to why does my chiropractor care about my skin? Is about 6 hours of lecture and 400+ powerpoint slides long, so for the sake of this blog I will limit this considerably.

As chiropractors we see a lot of skin, and skin often in areas that you are not often able to see easily, i.e. your back, the top of your head or even the soles of your feet. As chiropractors we are also primary contact healthcare providers, meaning we don’t require a referral from another provider prior to a patient attending our office, anyone and any problem can and often walks in. Patients we see on a regular basis, we may identify a skin lesion that is new or one that has changed recently.
Back to the skin, the main things we worry about are the more serious ones, skin cancers, diabetic ulcers or infection of some type.

As I mentioned we see a lot of skin, early skin cancers are not too difficult to identify and the earlier they’re caught the better and most often are not an issue, but sometimes it’s difficult to see your own back.

One early type of skin cancer is called Actinic Keratosis, these are found in sun exposed areas in middle aged and older people and often look like an abrasion or scab that doesn’t heal. These are usually taken care of with liquid nitrogen or excision.

The other two most common skin cancers are also found in sun exposed areas in middle aged or older people and are due to cumulative sun exposure, fair haired/fair skinned people who burn in the sun are more susceptible. These lesions can be red raised lesions or ulcerations in those areas and will require surgical removal.

The least common of the three but most concerning is malignant melanoma. This type of skin cancer is more deadly, can affect younger adults and can occur anywhere on the body. This is the type where we get concerned about certain black moles on the body. Most often moles are benign lesions but, new moles or moles that change are of concern.

We use the mnemonic ABCDE when looking at these moles:
A- Stands for Asymmetry- is the mole symmetrical like a circle or oval? No, more likely to be concerning
B- Stands for Border- are the borders smooth or rough and jagged ? No, more likely to be concerning
C- Stands for Colour- is the mole a uniform single colour or multi-coloured? No, more likely to be concerning.
D- Stands for Diameter – is the mole less than 6mm? If more than 1cm, more likely to be a concern.
E- Stands for Evolution and Elevation- is it a new mole or changing mole? Is a previously flat mole that is now elevated above the skin? If yes more likely to be a concern.
If you have any concerning skin lesion s don’t hesitate to ask your chiropractor or family doctor about them, the earlier the better.

I hope that explains why my chiropractor cares about my skin.
For more information check here: https://www.melanomanetwork.ca/
http://www.canadianskincancerfoundation.com/

For more blogs visit here https://yourpickeringchiropractors.ca

This might seem like an odd posting from; one a chiropractor and two it’s January. Not the first thing that came to mind but like a lot of my blogs the idea came from a patient who was, because it was January heading south to escape the cold.

Skin cancer is a bit of an interest for me, personally as a fair haired Caucasian of middle age I have had several skin cancers removed already, secondly I teach Dermatology at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and lastly as a I chiropractor I see a lot of bare backs.

So it makes some sense that a chiropractor should be interested in those moles on your back, you have a hard time seeing them and we may see them quite regularly and are thus well positioned to detect and monitor issues you may have.

Now for a primer on skin cancer, most skin cancers thankfully are not too much of a concern and can be managed easily with liquid nitrogen or excision.

These two most common types of skin cancer are:

Basal Cell carcinoma and Squamous cell carcinoma, a couple of fancy sounding conditions you may have never heard of, but are basically abnormal cell growths in superficial skin, occur in fair-haired, light skinned, middle aged or older individuals in areas exposed to the sun, so the face, top of that bald head, arms or legs.

These are related to previous burns and cumulative sun exposure. Look for areas of redness, small sores that don’t seem to heal over a period of time longer than you’d expect for a slight scrape or cut. They may become raised and the sore remains in the middle.

The skin cancer that you most likely have heard about before is, Malignant Melanoma or just Melanoma. This is the skin cancer that typically develops from a mole, occurs in younger age groups and can occur anywhere on your body, even the soles of your feet! So not just in sun exposed areas.

When you look at a mole on your body think of ABCDE.

Is the mole Asymmetrical?
Borders are they smooth and round like a simple freckle or jagged? Are the borders distinct or do they blend into the surrounding area?
Colour, is the mole one colour, brown or black or is it multiple colours?
Diameter is the mole more than 6mm in diameter?
Elevation is the mole raised above the skin surface or Evolution has the mole changed recently?

So if you are heading south for the winter, cover up, wear your sunscreen, check yourself for any weird moles or marks several times per year. If you have a spot you’re concerned about let me know next time I see you or ask your family physician.

Resources

https://www.melanomanetwork.ca/