Media Room

Anxiety Around Skin Health

In the last couple of years, I’ve become very serious about protecting my skin from sun damage. The first time I realized I needed to start taking it seriously was in 2017. I spent the day at the beach with a friend and I very much loved being in the sun and I almost never wore sunscreen. That day however, I got extremely sunburnt to the point that my entire face was swollen. Around my eyes was super swollen and so were my lips.

This awful sunburn was what it took to get me to finally realize I needed to protect my skin. But honestly, the sunburn and swelling was so traumatic that for a while, I became absolutely terrified of the sun. It sounds dramatic, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I was terrified.

I spent a lot of time avoiding being in direct sunlight for a while. Instead, I started spending a lot more time in the shade and in the woods when I was outdoors. I also became someone who started to wear a hat to protect my face from the sun. I also started buying chapstick with SPF in it.

As of a couple of years ago, I started seeing a dermatologist for yearly skin checks. A lot of people feel that it’s a waste of time, but I don’t think it is at all. I try my best to be aware of my skin and changes to my skin. But, it’s nice having a second set of eyes on my skin health.

Present Day Skin Health

This year, I had to get my first mole removed and biopsied. Last year, I noticed a new mole pop up so I brought it to my dermatologist’s attention during my yearly skin check. She said it was most likely nothing, but she recommended we remove it and have it biopsied because it didn’t look like all of my other moles.

I was relatively calm about it. I told her I had no issue with having it removed, so we started the quick process then during my appointment. She numbed the area and then scraped the mole off. It took less than five minutes and I didn’t feel a thing.

Within a week, I had my results back and there were some abnormalities. It was nice because my actual dermatologist was thee one to call me with the results so she took the time to explain everything to me. Essentially, she said it’s not unusual for there to be abnormalities with growths on the scalp (which was where mine was). But, I will need to do a recheck in 6 months and I will need to keep an eye on the area for any changes. If at the recheck there’s signs of abnormalities, then my doctor will have to just go a bit deeper to remove more.

Protecting My Skin

These days, I’m still kind of anxious about being out in the sun because I still think about that time my face was so sunburnt that it swelled. I’m pretty good about sunscreen and on the spots I don’t have sunscreen on, I’ll cover up.

Hats are my best friend in the summer to keep my face protected because I don’t love putting sunscreen on my face. It gives me the ick. Last weekend, I went on a lighthouse tour and bought a hat right before the tour to make sure my face was protected.

This weekend, I borrowed a hat from my mom before I went out on the kayaks because the hat I bought last weekend blew off of my head LOL. Prior to the one I bought last weekend, I was just wearing my boyfriend’s hat, but I wanted my own for the lighthouse tour because he came with me and I wanted his face protected. His hat didn’t fly off his head though lol.

Reflections

I wish took sun damage seriously sooner. But, there’s nothing I can do to change the past. It’s now me and my SPF 50+ sunscreen and hats against the sun.

-Kailey