What increases my risk for skin cancer?
Watch as dermatologist Dr. Ellen Marmur discusses the factors that could increase your risk for skin cancer.
Transcript
And again, the classic skin cancer person, like myself, has fair skin, light eyes, light hair, and grew up out in the sun all the time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
What increases your risk for skin cancer is largely your lifestyle. You first need to know what are the risk
factors for skin cancer. And mainly it's sun damage. We all know that. So if you're a professional athlete or a very active
athlete or running out in the sun all the time, you really need to modify that risk factor and wear some protection or go running
or play tennis very early in the morning or late in the day. So you want to avoid that midday sun no matter what you do.
Intentional sun tanning is also a risk factor. So tanning salons are very dangerous for your body.
But also going to the beach for a week and lying out all day long is not great for your body. So limit your sun exposure, again,
from intentional sun exposure. Family history is a really big one, especially for melanoma. And we're learning more and more and more
about the genetics of skin cancers. So if you have a lot of people in your family who have melanoma or basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer,
you need to put that risk on you as well. You need to know that you also probably are at risk, not always but often.
And again, the classic skin cancer person, like myself, has fair skin, light eyes, light hair, and grew up out in the sun all the time.
However, people with brown eyes, brown hair, and brown skin are also at risk for skin cancer.
In my practice, I do about 20% of my surgeries every year are on people with dark skin. So modify your lifestyle, recognize
what your risk factors are, and help protect yourself from sun damage and other unnecessary risks for skin cancer.
And lastly, the most important thing that you can do to prevent skin cancer or actually to catch it early is see your dermatologist once
a year. Over the age of 18, we always recommend you go once per year. [AUDIO LOGO]
skin cancer
Browse videos by topic categories
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
ALL