We advise you to have your moles examined by a dermatologist, most especially if:

  • -you have more than 100 moles
  • -an individual in your family has had a melanoma
  • -you are 40 years old
  • -you have light-colored (coloured) (photoypes I and II) and/or blue, green eyes
  • -you get easily sunburnt
  • -you are worried

 

 

We advise you to have your moles examined once a year by a dermatologist. He/her will examine them with a tool called a dermatoscope or even a videomicroscope.

To increase the chances of detecting an abnormal mole with could be a melanoma, we advise you to check your moles yourself once a month. This will also enable you to get use to the appearance of your moles and know if new ones appear.

 

 

To do this:

go into a private and well-lit room

face a head-to-feet mirror and hold a moveable mirror to examine normally non visible areas (back, back of the legs)

 

 

be consistent and examine your body in a rigorous systematic way (head to feet, front and back):

  • -head
  • -neck
  • -arm (right and left)
  • -chest and upper back
  • -abdomen, genital organs and lower back/buttocks
  • -leg (right and left)
  • -finish by looking at the palms of the hands and between the fingers, plantar surfaces of the feet and between the toes and mucosal surfaces (eyes, mouth, and anal orifice).
  • -ask someone to look at your scalp by blowing the hairs apart with a hairdryer.

 

 

As a general rule, you should then consult a dermatologist if a mole:
  • -has an irregular shape (A like asymmetry)
  • -has an irregular border (B like border)
  • -has many colors (colours) (C like color (colour))
  • -has a diameter more than a quarter of an inch (5mm) (D like diameter)
  • -has changed since last time (E like evolving).

 

 

Melanoma: identifiable when using the ABCDE rule

 

 

You have to pay particular attention and consult if a mole:

  • -not previously there appears
  • -grows
  • -bleeds spontaneously
  • -doesn’t heal after trauma