Hi Friends! Wondering how can sun exposure cause cancer?
It’s true, continuous, regular sun exposures may cause severe damage to your skin which may lead to even cancer, specifically Basal Skin Cancer.
This type of cancer is alternatively called as Basal cell cancer or basal cell skin cancer.
Basal skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, with more than 800,000 new cases estimated in the US each year.
Basal cells are cells that line the deepest layer of your epidermis. An abnormal growth leading to a tumor of this layer is known as basal skin cancer.
Let’s find out what on Earth Causes this Basal Skin Cancer:
- Prolonged, repeated sun exposure causes skin damage which may lead to basal cell cancer.
- The onset of the basal skin cancer means that the sun has started years back
- This type of skin cancer is more common on the face because the face receives more sunlight than other parts of the body.
- All you fair people, be very cautious as the fact is fair-skinned individuals are more prone to skin cancer than darker persons
- People who get one basal cell carcinoma, a condition specific to basal skin cancer are likely to develop more because the surrounding skin is just as damaged by the sun as the skin where the first basal cell carcinoma grew.
So what are its symptoms?
Basal skin cancer or basal cell cancer is predicted when the basal cell carcinoma looks only slightly different than normal skin.
The cancer may appear as skin bump or growth that is white or light pink, pearly or waxy and flesh-colored or brown. In some cases the skin may be just slightly raised or even flat.
You may have:
- A skin sore that bleeds easily
- If this sore does not heal
- Observe a sore with a depressed or sunken area in the middle
- Oozing or crusting spots in a sore
- Or either a scar-like sore appearance without having injured the area
- Irregular blood vessels in or around the spot
How to treat this basal cell carcinoma? Check out the various treatment methods available. First and foremost know that the treatment varies depending on the size, depth, and location of the basal cell cancer or basal skin cell cancer. It will be removed using one of the following procedures:
- Surgery, including Mohs surgery, which cuts out skin and immediately, looks at it under a microscope to check for cancer. The process is repeated until the skin sample is free of cancer.
- Excision cuts the tumor out and uses stitches to place the skin back together.
- Curettage and electrodessication scrapes away the cancer and uses electricity to kill any remaining cancer cells.
- Radiation may be used if the cancer has spread to organs or lymph nodes or for tumors that can’t be treated with surgery.
- Cryosurgery freezes and kills the cancer cells.
Now let’s see its Complications!!
Did you know that untreated, basal cell cancer can spread to nearby tissues or structures, causing damage to the other regions of the skin? This really creates a problem around the nose, ears and eyes.
Now that you are aware of all the complications, problems by this basal skin cancer you will be eager to know its prevention methods. Very simple just minimize your exposure to the sun at midday and between the hours of 10:00AM and 3:00PM.
This will really work, also apply sun screen with at least a SPF-15 or higher, even on cloudy days, wear clothing that covers your body and shades your face, avoid exposure to UV radiation from sunlamps or tanning parlors.
