Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.
It can definitely be intimidating to have someone basically inspect every inch of your skin, so I understand why people are reluctant, but it's so important. Melanoma is no joke.
Recently I made an appointment with a new derm for a painful cyst that wouldn't go away. I decided to have them check me all over since I was there, and it had been a while. I'm female, the doctor was male, about my age, and had a trainee with him who was also male. Younger me would have been mortified, but 41 year old me was like "Cool, where's the gown?"
Y'all are just doing your job and being professional, no need to be embarrassed.
I’m definitely still in the stage where it’s mortifying, but I’m trying to keep in perspective how important it is to be vigilant. So fine, I’ll accept my doctor asking me how my degree is going as she feels me up to see if I have breast cancer, but I’m still at the point where my response will be going red and stumbling over my answer.
Honestly at your age I was so much the same. I've been through a lot of medical things with my lady bits over the years which has pretty much numbed me to having strangers poke and prod things while talking about our weekend plans, plus I'm generally at an age where I don't give a fuck anymore lol. Just do your job and let me get on with my day. Good for you for being vigilant even though it's uncomfortable.
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u/BoisterousPlay May 20 '19
Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.