Advanced Dermatology to host free skin cancer screenings
May 14—During Skin Cancer Awareness Month, a local business wants to be sure everyone gets a chance to get checked for signs of melanoma.
Every May, Advanced Dermatology has offered free screenings for people to check areas of exposure, like the arms, neck, face and legs.
Charity Wampler, practice manager at Advance Dermatology, said skin is a part of everyone's health that often goes unchecked.
"Skin cancer is the number one cancer in humans, a lot of people don't realize that." she said. "Dermatology is kind of something that, in this part of the country, very, very much gets put on the backburner. So they just kind of ignore spots."
The free screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on the following dates and locations: May 14 at 700 Oregon St. in Hiawatha, Kansas; May 21 at 1419 Village Dr. in St. Joseph; and June 4 at 2617 Burris Road in Maryville, Missouri. No appointment is necessary.
The goal is to catch cases of skin cancer as the weather heats up and people spend more time outdoors. For people who have put it off because of financial issues or work, this is meant to give them a chance to get checked.
"They don't have to take off work. They're not having to pay a copay. They can come in and have a spot checked ... It's here to get them checked with the least amount of inconvenience," Wampler said.
Wampler suggests everyone over the age of 30 get a yearly check for spots. If a person has a lot of moles or a history of melanoma, she suggests they get checked every six months and do self-checks. For the places that are hard to check, a doctor is needed.
"There's a lot of (areas) on the back and on the back of the legs, back of the neck. Those are the places that are hard to see on yourself," she said.
While the free screenings are not a full-body exam, she said they make sure to check areas of the body that are often exposed to the sun.
Wampler said people should wear loose clothing and tank tops, if possible.
"It takes about 10 minutes, sometimes less, depending on what they're looking at," she said. "If there is something that needs to be treated, we do not treat that day. We have them schedule an appointment before they leave for a follow-up."
Wampler sees the screenings as an opportunity to make sure people of all backgrounds get the chance to be checked and have the offer of getting it treated so they can resume their normal lives.
"Prevention is the key in skin cancer. Once it goes beyond catching it early, getting it off minimizes the defect. It's very, very important," she said.
Every time Wampler said they catch a case of melanoma, she said she gets excited, which some find weird.
"It's because we know (melanoma cases) are out there. So we're able to find it. We've possibly saved this person's life," she said.
Andrew Gaug can be reached at andrew.gaug@newspressnow.com.
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