Does this sound like skin cancer??
Posted , 5 users are following.
There is this blotch or splotch thing on my inner thigh, about the size of a fingernail but with really faded borders, kind of how an irritated mosquito bite might look. The splotch changes colour depending on the lighting, but usually is between a shade of pink and red. When I look at it it sometimes looks brown but if I take a picture it comes out as a light pink colour.
It changes colour and lightens a bit if I press on it, but it is a bit raised and feels different from the skin around it. When I pick at it, it looks really irritated and the skin around it turns blotchy and red. It almost feels hard, like something embedded in my skin, which is really weird and freaks me out a lot.
I don`t remember exactly how long it has been here for...I would guess maybe a year or a bit shorter. Which makes me really scared that if it is something serious, it already got the chance to spread everywhere and is probably in my brain and lungs and bones and everything. I never got it checked out, even though I have had severe anxiety about it before, because my family told me not to worry about it, and that it looked normal. Since everyone knows I have really bad health anxiety (like a headache being brain cancer or an achy neck meaning I have meningitis and have to go the ER right away) they usually shrug off my concerns.
Plus, since I gained weight I have a lot of stretch marks and veins and such stuff on my thighs so I thought for a while maybe it was related to that. But it definitely does not look the same., so I think I was wrong to think they were related.
Does this sound like melanoma D: What freaks me out is I am pretty sure there was never a mole or anything there, and this does not exactly look like a mole, but for all I know there was a mole there and I just never thought about it or noticed it. I am spiralling in anxiety about it right now.
0 likes, 5 replies
michelle70460 emma18483
Posted
Hi. First off, the worst thing you can do is get yourself worked up over it. (easier said than done, i know) but it's not going to help. In my opinion i think the best thing you can donis make an appointment with your GP or a skin cancer clinic & get a proper diagnosis but if it helps any, i had a lump like thing come up on the side of my nose about 6yrs ago. I went ti my GP who told me it was nothing. Finally in february of this year i got sick of looking at this lump in the mirror so i went back to my GP & he removed it. It came back as cancer, BCC which stands for BASAL CELL CARCINOMA but my point is whilst i understand that everyone is different, that lump sat on my nose for 6yrs!!! & i'm fine. Stop stressing & get it checked. I say this only because the longer you leave it, the more you are going to worry about it. Sometimes not knowing can be worse than the diagnosis. It may well be nothing at all. Good luck.
loxie michelle70460
Posted
I agree with what Michelle has said. My hubby had a sort of spot on his cheek which was always there but sometimes he would scratch at it and it would get inflamed and form a small scab then heal up but the spot was still there. I kept telling him to go get it checked but he didnt. He too had it for several years and finally when we were on holiday in the Canary Isles, the pharmacist gave him cream for it but told him quite firmly he MUST get it checked by a doctor. So he did when we got back and it was BCC. It had been there for a good number of years. This is classed as a non melanoma skin cancer and apparently this type of cancer is firstly slow growing and secondly doesnt often spread or metastatsise but he did need it surgically removed. BCCs rarely spread to other parts of the body. Therefore, although it is a type of skin cancer it is almost never a danger to life. I hope that reassures you and as Michelle has said , not knowing and worrying about it can be much worse than getting it treated.
michelle70460 loxie
Posted
I couldn't have said it better myself loxie. When my doctor told me the diagnosis my initial reaction of course was pure fear, but when he explained to me that it was extremely slow growing & doesn't tend to spread it was instant relief. It's just hearing the big 'C' word that puts the fear of god into you.
christina72856 emma18483
Posted
Hi Emma
I am in the same boat as you with my health anxiety. Honestly every single day i convince myself that i have a very serious illness or cancer. So i feel your pain.
I have loads of moles all over my body and have had 3 moles removed (2 turned out to be safe and the other one was cancerous but non melanoma). Overall the most worrying thing to look out for is bleeding or itching. However seeing as your mole is unusual in colour and shape i would definitley go to the doctors to get it checked out (for peace of mind if nothing else). I have had many moles that look strange and meet some criteria for something potentially more sinister that turned out to be absolutely nothing. So please don't make yourself poorly with anxiety but i think you should get it checked out just to be sure.
rudraacharya emma18483
Posted
Squamous cell carcinomas may appear as flat reddish or brownish patches in the skin, often with a rough, scaly, or crusted surface. They tend to grow slowly and usually occur on sun-exposed areas of the body, such as the face, ears, neck, lips, and backs of the hands