i went to my dermatologist the other day because of a freckle on my face. it is dark brown/black, while my other freckles are very light brown. it has grown bigger in the past couple 2-3 years so my GP suggested getting it checked out last year, but with a list of other health problems to deal with i put it off until now because i assumed freckles normally get bigger the more u go in the sun and i know a lot of peopel with dark freckles. i used to go in tanning beds almost everyday a few years ago. but recently ive cut down i go at most three times a week. this month ive probably only gone about 4 times. anways i got to my dermatologist and she was extremely nasty. i was a little burned because i went tannin the day before for the first time in 2 weeks and accidently overdid it. she was legitimatly yelling at me and telling me when i grow up i am going to look like a white trash ***** who slept with 20 guys. she also told me that i have absolutly no right to come in there and worry about getting checked for skin cancer because i tan and that she feels no sympathy for me. she also told me no one wants to look at all the spots on my face ( ive had freckles on my face since i was a little kid! its how i was born) due to tanning. she also said that the dark spot on my face could possibly be melanoma and i have to get it dug out. is it just me, or are doctors not supposed to act this way? i feel like there are a lot worse people then me when it comes to tanning. im not saying its good for you but i know its not but is going twice a week really that harmful? or was she just being over the top. i feel like a professional doctor should not talk to a patient like that. also, people who have had melanoma..what did yours look like? im going to post a picture of my freckle. if anyone has any knowledge on this can you please tell me if this looks ike skin cancer. im going to get it removed like she said because she suggested it. but i kinda want other opinions because i feel like she was extremely rude and over the top its hard to take someones advice who acts like that. she acted like one of those "if you smoke one ciggerettte a year your going to die from lung cancer people" i agree tanning is bad for you im not aruging that. i KNOW it is. but is going occassionally really as dangerous as she made it sound. sorry this is very long. im also not trying to offend anyone who has gotten cancer by saying tanning is not bad. i DO THINk tanning is bad for you in large amounts. i just want different opinions on tanning & on my freckle before i chop a chunk of skin off my face and have a permanent scar.
Hi, I suggest you see a Dermatologist as soon as possible and get the thing removed. I have never used Sun-Beds in my life, but I have had four of these moles removed from my nose. One grew very fast and big and I had to have surgery on it, the others were frozen. Fortunately they were all NON_MALIGNANT thank god. I nearly didnt go to get them checked except that my family kept on at me. I'm glad I did now or I might be telling a different story. Get it sorted as soon as possible. Good Luck, Solofelix.
i did go see a dermatologist and i am getting it removed but i cant get in til july. and its not a raised mole. its a flat freckle. were yours flat freckles? or were they raised?
Hi, one started out as a tiny spot on the side of my nose but in three weeks it grew to the size of the nail on my small finger (SCARRY...). The other three were flat/scaly/mid brown/ and itched. Treatment was quick and no trouble. I will always be monitored now. I hope all goes well for you and you will be glad you are going for treatment. Solofelix.
My melanoma was flat and looked kind of like a freckle or age spot. I never used a tanning bed in my life. I have family friends who are dermatologists - yes, tanning beds, no matter how seldom used, put you at very high risk. From what I understand, it's a sort of cumulative effect. Stopping is a great start but it cannot undo all of the damage done. The dermatologist you saw seems to have reacted in an somewhat unprofessional way but I also have to kind of sympathize with him/her because it has to be frustrating and painful seeing such a deadly cancer on the rise and having to deal with patients, many young, who are needlessly putting themselves at much greater risk than had they never used a tanning bed. Don't mess around with skin cancer - or potential skin cancer. Have that lesion biopsied asap - and have it excised if necessary.
