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By Tim Wassberg | New Pelican Writer
Dermatologist Dr. Eric Wilkerson says people, young and old – unlike 30 years ago – now know that the sun damages the skin. They are also aware of preventative measures. So he sets about helping patients choose their best path for their skin condition.
“So one thing that’s great about what we do here is being able to see people of all ages,” he said. Children will come in with warts while older youths, with acne, rashes or eczema. A younger person, in their 20s or 30s, from a medical perspective, wouldn’t have developed skin cancer from chronic sun exposure.
But he encourages this age group to come in for skin screenings as a preventative measure. He explains that some skin conditions are genetic which means certain people simply have a predisposition to some issues. But younger people using tanning beds can increase their risk.
Many younger patients come in because of abnormal-looking moles. Dr. Wilkerson explains the ABCDEs of checking this skin condition.
A, he explains, is for asymmetry. “We want things to be symmetrical. Asymmetrical lesions could be concerning.”
B is for border. “We want [the mole or lesion] to have a nice regular, but not fuzzy or choppy border.”
C is for color. “We like things to be a nice uniform brown or lighter color. Something that’s very, very dark or has multicolored, maybe some pink, maybe some tan, perhaps white, mixed together can be very concerning, although there are plenty of benign things that can be dark.”
D is for diameter. “We don’t like anything to be larger than six millimeters, or about the head of a pencil eraser. Although, again, there are plenty of normal moles that are large.
E is for evolution. “Evolution of symptoms over time: itching, pain, burning, things like that could indicate the mole’s undergoing something that may not be normal.”
Everyone, he says, can look for these indicators.
While young people tend to see him mostly for mole checks, older patients will make regular visits. “Especially here in South Florida, older people have gotten lots of cumulative sun exposure. And the more cumulative sun exposure over time, the higher the risk. ”
Wilkerson explains that as we get older, our risk of basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, melanoma, all increases in combination with our genetic predispositions.
Any different combination can add to risk. It is reasonable, Wilkerson says, for people in their young adulthood all the way up through the oldest of adults, to come in for skin cancer checks at an interval that depends on their risk factors. On average , he explains, it is about once a year. For older adults with a lot of skin cancer history and pre-cancerous lesions, he says he likes to see them every three to six months.
Of course, people must keep their lifestyle in mind. “There’s variable sun exposure. People who are coming to vacation, they’ll hit the sun harder, so to speak, than the people who live here. But the people who live here get it chronically every day just walking around. You get sun that it’s hard to avoid here.”
The summer, a time of higher ultraviolet radiation, makes it even harder for people to protect themselves. “I often recommend people wear UV-protective long sleeve clothing as opposed to sunscreen. But, the hotter it gets, the less people are going to want to do that.”
But whether it is for medical treatment or for aesthetic improvement, it comes down to what the patient wants, Dr. Wilkerson said.
“When I do a cosmetic consultation, it’s very patient-driven. I want to know what they are seeing about themselves that they would like my advice on, or what they’re thinking they want to work on to prevent. And then we can talk about the options and what would be best for them. So it’s really driven goal from the patient perspective.”
Fort Lauderdale Dermatology is a New Pelican advertiser.
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