Free spot checks with our Full Body MoleMap. This is why.

Melanoma is the most seri­ous type of skin can­cer. Sure, it’s less com­mon than basal cell car­ci­no­ma (BCC) and squa­mous cell car­ci­no­ma (SCC). But, if left untreat­ed, melanoma can eas­i­ly spread to oth­er parts of the body, mak­ing it par­tic­u­lar­ly dangerous.

Aus­tralia and New Zealand have the high­est rates of melanoma in the world. So, it’s impor­tant to know the signs and reg­u­lar­ly check your skin.

The first warn­ing sign is most often a new mole or a change in an exist­ing mole. Changes to watch for include:

Colour — has your mole changed in colour? Shades of black, brown, and tan may be present. There may also be areas of white, grey, red, pink, or blue.

Size — melanomas tend to change in size, usu­al­ly becom­ing bigger.

Shape — is your mole asym­met­ri­cal (in that one half doesn’t match the other)?

Ele­va­tion — does the mole have a raised area or an uneven border?

Feel — does your mole feel firm, scaly or rough?

If a mole itch­es or bleeds, this is also a sign to get it checked out.

Most skin can­cers are linked to UV radi­a­tion. (This can be from the sun or oth­er sources, such as tan­ning beds.) So, it’s impor­tant to pro­tect your skin when spend­ing time out­doors. Yes, even in winter.

There are also a num­ber of oth­er fac­tors that can put some peo­ple at more risk of devel­op­ing skin can­cer, such as melanoma. This includes:

Per­son­al or fam­i­ly history

A pre­vi­ous indi­vid­ual his­to­ry of skin can­cer more than dou­bles the risk of get­ting it again. While a fam­i­ly his­to­ry (in a first-degree rel­a­tive) of skin can­cer, increas­es your risk by half.

Fair skin and hair colour

Peo­ple with fair skin and blonde or red hair have a high­er risk of sun dam­age and skin cancer.

A high num­ber of moles

The more moles you have, the high­er your risk of melanoma. One study found that melanoma risk was high­er in peo­ple with more than 50 moles, com­pared to peo­ple with few­er than 10 moles

A his­to­ry of sunburn

Sun­burn at any age, whether dur­ing your child­hood or adult life, increas­es your risk of skin can­cer lat­er in life.

Free spot checks for peace of mind

Our skin is always chang­ing. New moles may appear, and exist­ing spots can change dur­ing child­hood, ado­les­cent and even dur­ing preg­nan­cy. This is total­ly nor­mal. But, if you’re at all con­cerned (even just a tiny bit!) about a new or exist­ing mole — get it checked.

Book in for a mole check and get unlim­it­ed free skin can­cer checks for the 12 months between your next appointment.

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_{1. Health Promotion Agency and the Melanoma Network of New Zealand (MelNet) 2017: New Zealand Skin Cancer Primary Prevention and Early Detection Strategy 2017 to 2022.}