Scars on my body may prove my active surfing life. I could tell a lot of colourful stories about my every skin defect. But what for?
These traces are the consequence of my three years fight with suspicious marks which potentially threatened my health.
Still new scars on my breast are results of surgical intervention of removing ‘beauty spots’ at the end of the winter. Although they uglify, they remind me every day not only of regular tests but above all of the careful staying in the sunshine.
The tanned body had been my holiday aim since I was a child. I loved myself in the summer appear. Nothing emphasized my smile and blue eyes than skin in colour of chocolate. The wisdom came after graduation from studies. I started to avoid staying on the sun. Social campaigns and plenty of articles devoted to skin cancer convinced me to give up sunbathing.
I’m aware that staying in the sunshine is set in our lives, especially when we do sports outdoor. Stand Up Paddle and surfing are my life love which I won’t quit although I know the consequences of frequent exposure. While I inhibit skin photo-ageing process with creams I already use other prophylaxis methods against skin cancers.
Using creams with high filtering system, wearing clothes protecting my body against UV rays and limiting exposure in the sun between 11 am and 4 pm is my everyday routine.
In addition, I monitor my beauty spots by myself once a month paying attention to those of irregular shape and patchy colour.
I examine all marks on my body once a year. I usually make an appointment with a dermatologist who assesses every change with dermatoscope. The test is painless and it doesn’t take much time. Half an hour is enough to do inventory of the whole body.
The Summer is here so we enjoy the charms of the season. It’s a good time to think about your health. It is worth saving yourself stressful situations. Waiting for results of histopathological examination of removed beauty spot belongs to one of them.
It is better to prevent than treat. Don’t you think so?