It can be a scary thing to talk about cancer of any kind, and it is even harder when we receive news of ourselves or a loved one that has been diagnosed with it. Sometimes, it is completely beyond our control. However, now is the time for us to be proactive and preventative of the cancers we can help reduce the risks. Skin cancer is something that we can work on to lessen our own risk of getting it. It is the most common type of cancer in the world, and the main types of skin cancer include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Did you know that many skincare products can help reduce the risks? Yep, and we can also take immediate steps to help with it ourselves!

The Basics

One skin cancer type is melanoma, and it is the one that is most invasive to other tissue and spread throughout the body. Some symptoms of this type of skin cancer include abnormal moles, sores, markings, and changes in the way the skin looks or feels. So, some of the other types include basal cell, and they can occur anywhere on the body. However, you are most likely to develop it on sun-exposed body parts such as the face, head, and neck. Hence why you should ALWAYS wear sunscreen. Anyways, we will get back to that. Some symptoms include flat and firm yellow areas with a few red patches that won’t heal. Squamous cell skin cancer will also be more prevalent in sun-exposed areas on the body. Its symptoms include scaly red patches, lumps, and open sores.

How to Prevent

Of course, any time you go outside you are at risk of getting skin cancer, but that doesn’t mean you should never leave your house. We need the sun for essential vitamins for our health! However, that’s why we need to wear some type of sunscreen on our face and neck every single day. It can help protect us from UV lightwaves. Also, people with light-colored skin are at a higher risk than those with darker complexions.

Wearing sunscreen, investing in good and natural skin oils that protect the skin are great ways to incorporate your preventative efforts into your skin routine. Other ways you can naturally help prevent skin cancer is by eating whole foods that are high in vitamins such as Vitamin C, E, A, zinc, selenium, beta carotene, omega-3s, lycopene, and polyphenols. Antioxidants are also recommended by many dermatologists to reduce skin cancer risks. These are present in many fruits and vegetables… the more natural the better!

You can’t completely remove the risk of skin cancer, but you can lessen the chances by a lot if you just take care of yourself, your body, and of course get that good skin routine!