Baton Rouge General Hosts Annual Skin Cancer Screening June 7th

Posted on 01 June 2012.

Baton Rouge General?s Pennington Cancer Center is sponsoring a free skin cancer screening on Thursday, June 7 at Baton Rouge General?s Bluebonnet campus. Physicians will be conducting skin screenings and information on sun safety will also be provided.

More than 2 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, but when detected early, skin cancer has up to a 95 percent cure rate.

The best ways to detect possible areas with skin cancer are to do self-exams. It?s recommended that you do them once per month and look for any abnormal skin growth or any change in the color, shape, size or appearance of a skin growth.

Although most skin cancer can be detected and treated early, it can still be very dangerous.?Sun exposure is the most preventable risk factor for all skin cancers, including melanoma.^1,2

Here are a few sun safety ideas to help protect you and your family from skin cancer from the American Academy of Dermatology:

• Seek shade when appropriate.?Remember that the sun?s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. If your shadow appears to be shorter than you are, seek shade.
• Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses, where possible.
• Generously apply a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen?with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or more to all exposed skin. ?Broad-spectrum? provides protection from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. Reapply approximately every two hours, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating.
• Use extra caution near water, snow, and sand?because they reflect and intensify the damaging rays of the sun, which can increase your chances of sunburn.
• Avoid tanning beds.?Ultraviolet light from the sun and tanning beds can cause skin cancer and wrinkling. If you want to look tan, consider using a self-tanning product or spray, but continue to use sunscreen with it.

^1?American Cancer Society.?Cancer Facts and Figures 2011.?
^2?Robinson, JK. Sun Exposure, Sun Protection and Vitamin D.?JAMA?2005; 294: 1541-43.

Registration is required. Please call?(225) 763-4281?for an appointment.? Information about this free event is available online at?www.BRGeneral.org.

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