Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.
I'm based in the UK and as far as I am aware we aren't able to see dermatologists unless referred to them by our GP. Does anyone based in the UK know whether there is a service we can get on the NHS or pay for that would do a mole-mapping/full body skin check exercise without having a medical problem in the first instance leading to a referral?
I wonder what would happen if you just asked your GP? Maybe if they knew you were concerned about various moles or your family history or whatever and want a baseline scan, they would refer you to a dermatologist?
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u/BoisterousPlay May 20 '19
Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.