Skin Deep

Every sixty-seven minutes someone dies of skin cancer. And every year around this time, people actually get concerned about that fact. Maybe it’s because, for many, summer’s skimpier clothes turn the urge to tan into a fashion necessity; maybe it’s the fact that all those scary stats resurface every summer, but regardless, Dermatologist David Lane, of Carolina Skin Surgery Center, is here to help—and he’s doing it for free.

Free screenings mean you have no more excuses

Every sixty-seven minutes someone dies of skin cancer. And every year around this time, people actually get concerned about that fact. Maybe it’s because, for many, summer’s skimpier clothes turn the urge to tan into a fashion necessity; maybe it’s the fact that all those scary stats resurface every summer, but regardless, Dermatologist David Lane, of Carolina Skin Surgery Center, is here to help—and he’s doing it for free.

Lane will be offering skin cancer checks out of his office through July at no charge as part of a national campaign called Skin Cancer Takes Friends. Skin cancer is “the number one cancer out there, as far as incidents,” Lane says. Yet fewer people get the kind of comprehensive skin cancer checks that the campaign recommends each year than those that seek other measures such as colonoscopies and mammograms. Part of that reason may be shyness—to truly assess sun damage, a dermatologist needs to examine all of your skin. Um, that means taking off your clothes—all of them. The process, Lane says, can take an hour. But, hey, is that really worse than a colonoscopy?

And besides, Lane’s free offer can also be a quick one. If you’ve got a mole you’re worried about, or a section of you’re body that’s been burned, he’ll narrow in on any of those areas, and either set your mind at ease or refer you to more treatment. Fact is, the number of deadly melanomas in this country has more than tripled in the past twenty years, and more than a million new skin cancers are diagnosed every year. The Skin Cancer Foundation says 44,000 of those cases are melanoma, and that 7,800 people die each year of the disease.

The good news, though, is that skin cancer is almost always curable—if it’s caught early enough. For more info, contact Carolina Skin Surgery Center at 704-295-0000 or www.carolinaskinsurgery.com .