It might be tough to face — but that blemish is probably worth getting checked out.
A single mom recently posted a PSA on TikTok after a seemingly benign imperfection turned out to be cancer.
Rachel, 33, had a pink spot on her forehead that started bleeding one day.
“It was small, but it was painful,” she recalled.
She went to see a doctor, who said it was probably just a mosquito bite that she had scratched open. Her doctor remarked that Rachel seemed too young for skin cancer.
She wasn’t convinced, especially since the spot had been there a year or two.
She got a second opinion — and a biopsy revealed she had basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.
As the name implies, this cancer starts in basal cells, which produce new skin cells as the old ones die off, according to the Mayo Clinic.
She went through six weeks of treatment that left her with a burning hole on her forehead, which she usually covers with a bandage.
“I think, mentally, it’s taking a toll, just having this on my forehead,” she said. “Physically, it hurts and everything.”
She decided to post the PSA in the hopes that others would take precautions to prevent a similar situation.
“I really think that people should get the shock value of how horrible this looks, so that it scares them into being careful with the sun,” she said.
She mentioned that, while she didn’t spend a ton of time in the sun, she did use tanning beds a few times and occasionally got burned as a teenager while sunbathing.
Experts say the first two decades of life are absolutely critical for sun protection.
She noted that, with so many products out there containing SPF these days, there’s really “no excuse right now to lay out and get burned.”
Thankfully, her cancer was caught early — and now she’s warning others about the dangers of being cavalier about the sun.
“I was really lucky, and I just wanted to spread awareness,” she said. “I hope this gruesome, gruesome area on my forehead is going to create some shock value so people are more careful in the sun.”
Like other forms of skin cancer, basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) often appear later in life after prolonged sun exposure.
Treatment usually involves surgically removing the affected area.
They’re most likely to show up on sun-exposed areas like the face, neck, arms and scalp — but they can develop anywhere on the body.
“You can also get skin cancer where the sun doesn’t shine — yes, like around your vulva or penis,” Dr. Fatima Fahs, a board-certified dermatologist and skin care expert based in Michigan, previously told The Post.
“New dark streaks or growths in and around the nails should always be evaluated, too,” she said. “Melanoma of the nail bed is possible and can be more deadly.”
Other commons signs of skin cancer include new growths, changes in existing moles, sores that don’t heal or spots that itch or bleed or look pearly, scaly or crusted.
Experts recommend annual screenings for skin cancer — or doing it more often if at higher risk.
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