Hi,
Please could somebody tell me how likely it is that you will get skin cancer if you were burnt as a child. I was burnt very badly at least twice (involving huge blisters on back etc) and now I am scared i will get skin cancer. I do not sunbathe anymore but surely the damage has been done already?
Thankyou

I was also burnt as a child. I have red hair and light skin as well, so I know that does not make it better! I had the blisters, etc, on more than 5 occasions. I am afraid of the same thing... I look for spots, bumps, etc. Maybe you should have a "skin cancer screening" from a local dermatologist. I think I am going to opt for that. Now I use sunless tanners and 45 spf!

Karen

Go see a dermatologist for an overall skin check, esp. if you also have moles, and from now on, deal with the sun in a reasonable manner(i.e. sunscreen.) I just dodged a bullet! Several bad burns as a child and teen, I went for my first skin check 2 yrs. ago. This last checkup, a suspicious mole on my upper back, which had been fried so many times, first was pre-cancerous, then upon removal turned out to be the dreaded melanoma! I had to have a large strip of skin taken off my back, but they got it all.

I agree with both of these replies that suggest that you be screened by a dermatologist. However, since I do not know your age, let me warn you that once checked out, you may not be out of the woods. I had multiple sunburns when I was a child. (I was fair, freckeled, and red hair.) Although I did not show signs of skin cancer earlier, I began to have them just past 60. By now, I have had six operations for skin cancer, and will have another this fall. I do not want to sound dooms day, but only make you aware that we fair skinned sould be on the look out until the death bed.

I'm new to this message board; only found it today. Like many others my age (51), I was sunburned alot in my childhood. I am sharing my story in the hope that others will not ignore skin lesions that look harmless. I recently had a melanoma removed (excised) from my left arm. It was a skin spot that had changed over a period of only a few months. My wife of 30+ years is a nurse. She noticed it this past summer and said, "Watch this, I don't like the way it looks." I did so and noticed that it seemed to be changing in size and color but it was quite small. Early in December, I showed it to my daughter who is a physician assistant. She said, "Dad, don't take any chances with this. Go to your doctor and ask him to examine it and punch biopsy it." I saw my family practice physician Dec 13th and he agreed to excise it and send it to the pathologist. Dec 18th I got a call from my doctor's nurse that changed my life. She said the lesion was "malignant melanoma" and we need to excise a larger section of skin from your arm to have it analyzed. My doctor did this two days later. Thankfully, the pathologist report of the second excision stated that it was clear of any sign of melanoma. Even though it was excised very early, the melanoma was 0.37 mm and Clarks stage II. I have an appointment with a new doctor (dermatologist) on Jan 23rd and will begin seeing him regularly to examine other suspicious spots I have. I have my wife and daughter to thank for finding the melanoma so early. I probably would have ignored the spot until it was too late. It didn't hurt and it wasn't that big, a little larger than the tip of a dull pencil. As my treatment continues, I will post more info about this. I hope this helps someone else in the same way. Skin cancer cannot be ignored.