What happens during a skin cancer screening, and how often you need one

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Caught early, it is also one of the most treatable. Those two facts together are the entire argument for getting your skin checked once a year.

Most people skip it. Annual physicals get scheduled, teeth get cleaned every six months, and skin gets ignored until something looks alarming enough to force the issue. The trouble is that the changes worth catching rarely look alarming at first. A basal cell carcinoma can pass for a pimple that will not heal. An early melanoma can look like a mole you have had for years, only slightly different.

Here is what a screening involves and what your dermatologist is looking for.

What happens during the exam

You change into a gown. Your dermatologist works from your scalp down to the soles of your feet, including the places you cannot easily see yourself: behind the ears, the back of the neck, between the toes, under the nails.

They may use a dermatoscope, which is a handheld magnifier with a light. It shows the internal structure of a spot and catches things the naked eye misses. It takes a few seconds per lesion and you feel nothing.

The whole exam usually runs under thirty minutes. If something needs a closer look, your provider talks you through it there and then rather than leaving you to wonder.

How often to go

Once a year is the baseline for most adults. Your dermatologist may want to see you more often if you have had skin cancer before, if you burn easily, if you used tanning beds, if it runs in your family, or if you have a lot of moles. Patients already treated for skin cancer are usually monitored every three to six months at first.

Darker skin does not exempt you. Acral lentiginous melanoma appears on the palms, the soles, and under the nails, and it tends to be diagnosed later in patients with darker skin, which is part of why outcomes are worse. A full-body exam covers those areas.

Telling a normal mole from one worth checking

Most moles are harmless and stay that way for life. A typical one is round or oval, a single consistent color, smooth at the edges, and smaller than a pencil eraser. Most show up before age thirty and then sit there unchanged for decades.

Change is what matters. Growth, a shift in shape or color, bleeding, itching, or a brand new mole appearing after thirty-five all deserve a look. The shorthand is the ABCDE rule: asymmetry, border irregularity, color variation, diameter over six millimeters, evolution over time.

You do not need to be certain before you call. If a spot looks different to you, that is reason enough. A dermatologist would rather examine a hundred harmless moles than miss one melanoma.

What happens if something turns up

If a spot warrants investigation, your provider will usually biopsy it at the same visit. The area is numbed, a small sample of tissue is taken, and it goes to a pathology lab. Results come back in one to two weeks. Most biopsies confirm the spot is benign, which gives you a documented baseline going forward.

If it is a basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma, Mohs micrographic surgery is often the treatment of choice. The surgeon removes a thin layer of tissue, examines it under a microscope right there in the office, and repeats until the margins come back clear. Cure rates for previously untreated basal cell carcinoma run above 99 percent. Because only cancerous tissue comes out, it spares more healthy skin than a standard excision, which matters most on the face, ears, and hands.

Dr. Nathan Cleaver is fellowship-trained in Mohs surgery and performs the procedure at Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics locations across North Georgia. A skin cancer diagnosis here does not have to mean a drive into Atlanta.

Checking your own skin between visits

Once a month, in good light, using a hand mirror for the parts you cannot see. Ten minutes is plenty. The point is familiarity. If you know what your skin normally looks like, you will notice when something shifts.

Melanoma found before it spreads has a five-year survival rate above 99 percent. Once it reaches distant organs, that figure falls below 40 percent. Very little else in medicine rewards early attention that dramatically.

Why this matters more in Georgia

Long summers, a lot of lake days, and year-round golf add up. UV exposure accumulates whether you are on the water or just driving to work with your left arm in the sun. Patients in Cumming, Gainesville, Roswell, Dahlonega, and Toccoa all live under the same generous sky.

If you cannot remember your last full skin check, book one. Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics has locations throughout North Georgia and appointments can be booked online.