The other day, I was taken by the hair coloring of a clerk at the local
store. I commented on how beautiful it was, with the dark base and the
natural-looking streaks, as if the sun had touched her alone; and we
began a conversation of how when we were younger we would not have to
use any hair dyes: we just sprayed SunIn on our hair and laid out in
the sun for an hour or two.
This of course led us to discussing the near impossibility of doing
that now, as we have blasted the ozone layer(s) so hard we have created
a direct line between us and the harsher (more deadly) rays of the sun
(and no, SunIn is a pump spray, not an aerosol, so we didn’t have to go
there with culpability and irony and all).
But you probably didn’t come here to read about hair coloring
techniques that are sun-free or chemical free, for that matter …at
least not specifically. You came looking for information on the
different types of skin cancer. The speculation and theory does hold
some proof against chemicals in—ahem—health and beauty products; and it
does point to the sun’s “damaging rays” as a possible cause, etc., but
here, since we aren’t medical professionals, specialist, or experts,
the info on the types of skin cancer is going to be basic and absent of
finger-pointing, if you will:
There are three types of skin cancer: Basal Cell Carcinoma (a.k.a.
non-melanoma skin cancer); Squamous Cell Carcinoma; and Melanoma.
Melanoma (also, Cutaneous Melanoma, Malignant Melanoma) – Cancer cells
are growing in the melanocytes, the cells that are responsible for skin
pigmentation. According to University of Maryland medicine and other
experts, of all of the types of skin cancer, Melanoma is “the rarest
and the most virulent….” It is typically found in people with fair
skin, light hair, and/or light eyes, though it is possible in others
with different complexions, and as the experts above also assert, does
not exempt those with dark brown or black skin. Identifiable symptoms
contain, most
commonly, a mole changing color, size, shape, or state (starts oozing
or bleeding), or a mole that UMM notes “feels itchy, hard, lumpy,
swollen, or tender to the touch.”
Squamous Cell Carcinoma—Also called non-melanoma skin cancer, Squamous
Cell Carcinoma usually begins as a red-looking, scaly patch or patches
of skin, or can appear as nodules. Of the three types of skin cancer,
Squamous, affecting Caucasians, usually fair-complected, is the second
most common and shows up, typically, on the ears (ear-rims), face,
lips, and mouth.
Basal Cell Carcinoma – The second of the types of skin cancer, Basal
Cell Cancer, typically starts as a “small, fleshy bump or nodule,” most
commonly found on the head, neck, and/or hands. Of the three types of
skin cancer, Basal Cell Carcinoma, which is typically found in
Caucasians, say those at UMM, make up “more than 90 percent in the U.S..
My mother had the second most common of the types of skin cancer, on
her lip, and while we at first teased her that it was herpes, she was
smart enough to know it was a “sun blister” and quick enough to catch
it by going to a specialist. That’s the good news, to give you hope
when you bemoan the loss of days picnicking, swimming, and “bathing”
under the wonderful sun.
