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Posted on: 01/03/2007
Question
Hi I am 19 nearly 20 and I keep getting more and more moles. They are only small but keep appearing mainly on my chest and upper back. I also have a mole on my lower back that seems normal, but itches a lot. Am quite worried as I did use the sun bed a lot at the age of 16. Do I need to get them looked at or am I worrying about nothing?
Answer
You may be getting sun spots instead of moles, which can sometimes look similar. Good sun protection should hopefully decrease the number of new ones. I don't think these or the itchy mole sound particularly worrisome, but I do think it would be a good idea to have these checked. Any time you develop new or changing moles, these should be looked at. The reason to do this is that melanoma, which is a skin cancer which can kill you, can look like a mole to begin with. Unlike normal moles, melanoma tends to keep getting bigger, tends to have more irregular borders, and usually has more than one color, especially black. Little known facts about melanoma are that it can be completely flat and can also develop on non-sun-exposed skin. The good news about melanoma is that since it starts on the skin to begin with, you can spot it early enough so that it can be removed early and not give you any problems. Check your skin yourself once a month and have any suspicious lesions checked. A good site to read more about melanoma is the American Academy of Dermatology web site at www.aad.org.