Skin cancer facts and signs every MT should know

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id you know that 86% of melanoma cases are preventable? It is important as a population that we are aware of who is more vulnerable and why, if you love tanning on bed or beach you run a higher risk, especially if you tend to burn. If you must spend long periods of time outdoors because of your job it is important to take measures to minimize that risk. Skin types also play a role, I am fair and therefore have less melanin protection from UV rays, hence I am mindful that I cannot go outside during the brightest and hottest periods of the day. I love going to places like Costa Rica for the great nature reserves, diving sites, and ancient treks, but I must watch my exposure, once I did not and was so badly ◆ MASSAGE MENTOR ◆

Skin cancer prevention and care is all about knowing the facts, prevention and early detection, the earlier skin cancer is diagnosed the better the outcome. BY SUSAN FINDLAY Susan’s first love is dance, sport, anything to do with the joy of movement. She trained as a nurse in Canada but soon left the profession when she came to the UK as she wanted a deeper connection with her clients. For many years she worked in both health and fitness, teaching 20+ classes a week and running GP referral schemes. She wanted to make better use of all her knowledge which led her to retrain as a Sports Massage and Remedial Soft Tissue Therapist. Currently she is the director of NLSSM and specialises in teaching Oncology Massage. She is the author of Sports Massage: Hands on Guide for Therapists and is the Sports Massage feature writer for Massage World. She volunteers her time as a board member of GCMT.

You can join her on Massage Mondays for free weekly massage videos www.susanfindlay.co.uk

Massageis changing!JOIN the JING ongoing professional mentoring and business support group to RECEIVE:• Advice and tutorials on how to diversify your practice into offering online self-care team and one to one sessions.• Advice and help on both hands-on and online self-care client cases.• Up to date information on COVID guidelines for massage therapists.• Exclusive community Zoom sessions with inspirational leaders Meg and Rachel of Jing advanced massage. • A welcoming and inspiring online community. Jing’s got YOur back! £29.99 monthLY SUBSCRIPTION 01273 628 942 JINGMASSAGE.COM Skin Cancer & Prevention burnt, I found the sheets too painful to rest on my skin and I could not go out for days. This was not the way I wanted to spend my holiday and unfortunately it is considered an event that would in the future increase my risk of skin cancer. There are different types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), melanoma and Merkel cell (rare)carcinoma (MCC). As you might have guessed BCC is the abnormal and uncontrolled growth from the basal cells in the outermost layer of the skin known as the epidermis, the same goes for SCC. BCC and SCC are less aggressive than MCC melanomas because the latter can form in cells known as melanocytes and can spread to other organs more rapidly. MCC is the one that is associated with

AN INTERESTING FACT:

Prevalence of skin cancer rankings for various countries included Australia who were at the top but surprisingly the

UK’s UV score rated second followed by New Zealand. It is important we get our Vitamin

D from the sun, but this can be achieved first thing in the morning and later during the day. tanning beds, sunburns and/or darkened tanned skin because UV radiation triggers mutations in the melanocytes resulting in abnormal uncontrolled cellular growth.

ABOUT MELANIN

Naturally darker skinned people have more eumelanin and fair skinned people have more pheomelanin, the former has a protective element to it while the latter does not, explaining why dark skinned people have a lower risk of skin cancer. Epidermis

Types of Skin Cancer

Suamous Cell Carcinoma Basal Cell Carcinoma Melanoma

What are we looking for?

Follow this easy chart ABCDE when assessing a mole or blemish.

If there is a new mole (especially after the age of 21), or the colour, shape, size, or texture of an existing mole changes or is continuously itchy, hurts or forms a crust and bleeds for more than 3 weeks, it needs to be checked out.

When assessing your client’s skin, if you see something that is slightly different or abnormal measure it or take a picture and keep it on their records so that next time they come in you can compare it and if there ae any changes as mentioned previously, I recommend that they have their GP look at it. When suggesting that they see their GP there is a delicate balance to be struck between encouraging them not to ignore it but not creating unnecessary worry, I will sometimes write their GP, however it is important to obtain consent first from your client to ensure they are comfortable with this option before you go ahead. Often my clients appreciate my writing to their GP because they sometimes feel shy about approaching their doctor, for various reasons, but frequently they feel that their lack of knowledge and understanding are a barrier in their ability to share their concerns.

Early detection is important but sometimes what is cancerous to us looks like a mole or even a blemish that is just taking its time to heal. In one of my courses, one of the therapists mentioned that her father-in-law had this ‘ulcer’ that would not heal, it looked like the top of a volcano, open, raised, and had been like that for a long time (at least 6 months). He had been to see his GP but was told it was nothing to worry about and to give it time to close. I respect my colleagues in medicine but we all do make mistakes, so in this instance I encouraged her to seek another opinion. It tested positive for cancer cells. So, if you have a concern, or you’re unsure, it is best to be on the safe side, the testing is easy and inexpensive.

Skin cancer does not just affect humans, recently my dog had a mole on his underside that started to increase in size, I watched it for a few months but I was not worried at the time as it did not display any signs that it was malignant. It still had a good shape with distinct edges, not particularly bubbly, it had a consistent dark colour to it, however it was raised and the size had doubled in a couple of months. To be on the safe side I felt it necessary to have it biopsied and as expected it was nothing to be concerned about, it was only a fluid filled cyst which was negative for cancer cells. Had I not checked it out and it turned out to be nasty I would have been devasted. Follow the same principle with your humans, you are their eyes especially when it comes to moles on the back.

There are times that despite being cautious and doing all the right things skin cancer can still occur. This is true in the next story.

Dermis

Hypodermis

Nancy’s story…

Aktinic Keratosis is caused by sun, this usually doesn’t lead to skin cancer, but sometimes it can. I always wore sun factor 50-100, did what I thought were all the right things but in 2020 I got this mark on my face in late summer. Please note as you can see my face has numerous totally harmless marks and

red spots here and there which I have always had so getting another didn’t worry me, but I was wrong. The first face slide was taken in Oct 2020 when it had started to change a bit so began taking photos and then within weeks it developed rapidly into squamous cell carcinoma, potentially very serious as it can spread into lymph under the skin. I had it excised Feb 2021 and all has been well since. When caught early skin cancers are highly curable. Self-examination is the way to go but I am like most of my clients, I don’t tend to notice changes, or do self-inspections, I know I should but there are a million excuses for why I don’t. Unless there was something causing me discomfort, skin changes will go under my radar. So, a mole on my back would definitely go unnoticed unless it was of a size that would catch on a piece of clothing when getting dressed. Hence, most moles go unnoticed. Take special care to make a note of them and in subsequent sessions notice if there are any changes. Treatment Options Procedures can range from surgeries, laser, and light-based treatments as well as radiation therapy. Medications include topical therapies, drugs that are injected, infused intravenously, or taken orally (chemotherapy). One of my clients opted for immunotherapy and had a successful outcome without having to be treated with any of the above. Can we work with someone who is receiving treatment? You can but as I point out every time I’m asked this question, it is important

date about all the current policies, procedures. I cannot say this for every PA, but I do know that those sitting as board members of the GCMT (The General Council of Massage Therapies) played a significant role in getting information out to all their members.

I was heartened to see that so many therapists joined in on the conversation, how the profession started talking as a unified body, and how we got behind our professional associations, with GCMT emerged as a body with influence. It is now up to us to support our PA’s in their efforts to petition the government to recognise the value of higher education within the profession.

So, what can you do? The good news is, the more education and experience you have the easier it will be for you to re-establish yourself. For those therapists that are new to the profession, it is important that you have a niche, a specialism that places you in a position of greater value. Your expert skills will establish you firmly and increase the need for your services.

I want to leave you with thoughts of encouragement; we all know how important massage is and the thought of a future without it is daunting, both for our clients and ourselves as professionals. I cannot see massage stopping; whilst SUSAN FINDLAYwe may have to improvise and adapt, we will certainly survive. Susan’s first love is dance, sport, anything to do with the joy of movement. She trained as a nurse in Canada but soon left the profession when she came to the UK as she wanted a deeper connection with her clients. For many years she worked in both health and fitness, taeaching 20+ classes a week and running GP referral schemes. She wanted to make better use of all her knowledge which led her to retrain as a Sports Massage and Remedial Soft Tissue Therapist. Currently she is the director of NLSSM and specialises in teaching Oncology Massage. She is the author of Sports Massage: Hands on Guide for Therapists and is the Sports Massage feature writer for Massage World. She volunteers her time as a board member of GCMT.

You can join her on Massage Mondays for free weekly massage videos www.susanfindlay.co.uk

Covid-19 Protocolsthat you undertake further training that will enable you to understand what modifications you need to make to ensure both you and your client are safe. I also advocate working within a team environment rather than independently, being part of a co-ordinated effort will maximize your clients journey back to health. There is also the matter of whether your insurance will cover you without having done a comprehensive training course. You do not know what you don’t know, the ‘unknown unknowns’ as Donald Rumsfeld famously said. So where can you go from here? There are a lot of online resources Susan’s first love is dance, sport, anything to do with the joy of movement. She and organisation that offer advice and trained as a nurse in Canada information about the various types of but soon left the profession when she cancer, the world of digital information came to the UK as she wanted a deeper can be a wonderful thing. I also highly recommend the online course called connection with her clients. For many MASCED https://pro.masced.uk/ It is years she worked in both health and fitness, teaching 20+ classes a week both comprehensive and well presented and running GP referral schemes. She and an inexpensive investment that will wanted to make better use of all her improve your assessment skills. While knowledge which led her to retrain as I have not seen many cases in my career the few that I have come across could a Sports Massage and Remedial Soft have very well saved someone’s life. Tissue Therapist. Currently she is the director of NLSSM and specialises in teaching Oncology Massage. She is the author of Sports Massage: Hands on Guide for Therapists and is the Sports Massage feature writer for Massage World. She volunteers her time as a References board member of GCMT. “Coronavirus And The Impact On Output In The UK Economy - Office For National Statistics”. Ons.Gov.Uk, 2020, https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/ You can join her on Massage Mondays grossdomesticproductgdp/articles for free weekly massage videos coronavirusandtheimpactonoutputintheukeconomy/june2020#:~:text=It%20 www.susanfindlay.co.uk is%20clear%2C%20that%20the,the%20largest%20recession%20on%20 record.&text=Furthermore%2C%20Quarter%202%202020%20is,downturn%20of%202008%20to%202009. “Set Up A Business”. GOV.UK, 2020, https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business. Hellicar, Lauren. “Coronavirus: What Support Is Available For Small Businesses And The Self-Employed?”. Simplybusiness.Co.Uk, 2020, https://www.simplybusiness. co.uk/knowledge/articles/2020/06/coronavirus-support-for-small-business/.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS FROM SKINCANCER.ORG 1. Musician Bob Marley died from acral lentiginous melanoma at the age of 36 2. Your risk for melanoma doubles if you’ve had more than 5 sunburns 3. When detected early the 5-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%. The survival rate drops to 68% if the disease reaches the lymph nodes and 30% if it spreads to distant organs. 4. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer and the most frequently occurring form of all cancers