Skin care

11 Questions You Should Ask Your Dermatologist

Want to get the most out of your next visit to the skin care doc? Start taking notes

by Molly Roemer

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How often do I need to be seen for skin cancer prevention? Dr. Moy says it really depends on risk factors like:

� Having a family history of skin cancer
� Having a history childhood sunburns
� Having fair skin and/or freckles
� Having lots of moles

So, if you are at a high risk, then you should go see your dermatologist twice a year. However, even if you're not, it doesn't hurt to get regular yearly checkups. And no matter how few or many risk factors you have, you should always be hyper-aware of your body and anything that looks unusual on your skin. Take this quiz to see if that mole you've been perplexed about might be cancer.

SEE NEXT PAGE: If I have a dysplastic mole (AKA atypical or abnormal) will it turn into cancer?

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Older comments

This is a horrible article, FULL of misleading information! A good dermatologist cares about your HEALTH and wants to check your body for skin cancer, not talk about botox or how to make you LOOK better! If you want to talk about cosmetic concerns than make sure you see a COSMETIC dermatologist. Acne is NOT affected by your diet. And skin cancer can show up ANYWHERE on your body, it is NOT more common in new moles! It can show up even in places you don't have a mole, even in places that have never seen sun. I know this because I've worked for several dermatologists.

by dermgirl101 Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 02:50AM Report as inappropriate

good info.

by butterfly11 Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 02:27PM Report as inappropriate

Helpful and important! I'd like to add that a lot of the foods we eat are devoid of important nutrients due to processing and cooking. Vitamin and mineral supplements are essential to good health.

by GigiSD Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 08:24AM Report as inappropriate

Thanks, nice info

by EricaC123 Friday, December 28, 2012 at 05:15PM Report as inappropriate

if you have health insurance, i think you should take advantage of going to see a dermatologist, but sadly some dermatologist don't really care, they would just give you what you want rather than checking at your skin thoroughly

by mosh Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 09:41PM Report as inappropriate

I'm saving this to ask!

by asiagirl4ever Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 09:07PM Report as inappropriate

very interesting ;)

by mayra_alonzo Friday, April 27, 2012 at 07:04PM Report as inappropriate

Very Informative!

by powerwoman033 Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 11:33PM Report as inappropriate

super helpful, thanks!

by sportimonki13 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 12:57AM Report as inappropriate

Interesting article.

by hananoire Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 04:19PM Report as inappropriate