Phone app for watching moles for Melanoma - Page 3

F1wild · ‎11-30-2011

On 8/22/2014 GoodStuff said:
Wow! I sure hope my derm doesn't have naked shots on file!! Heaven forbid!! ${#emotions_dlg.scared}$

I think this phone app would most likely be over-used by people who are overly anxious about developing skin cancer. I have a family member, for example, who makes an appt. with his derm even if he has the tiniest, most insignificant spot or bump on his skin......and even if he saw the derm just weeks before. Totally unnecessary. He, like many others, is just overly scared, and a phone app like this would probably drive him crazy! He needs to see his derm every year for a regular check, and he will almost certainly be fine -- as will others.

People who don't bother to see their derms regularly or watch their skin certainly won't bother with the phone app.

I'm not angry about it or ridiculing the idea -- and if you're one of the people who would find this useful, that's fine. I just don't see it as really helpful to many -- and it might be a problem to quite a few. Just another tech-y gimmick, if you like to play with those.

Maybe your family member needs to see a different type of doctor...often? Only joking!!

Is it better to be overly concerned/paranoid about skin cancer or not care/it'll never happen to me? Where most people fall.

Hmmm, I wonder if a professional level app/device would be applicable in a dental setting, where images of concerns could be monitored? I know the patient should go to a dermatologist, but a huge percentage don't. They get their 2 free cleanings a year so always go to the dentist, but never a medical doctor. I always took blood pressures, provided head, neck & oral cancer exams, used intraoral camera to capture anything worth noting then kept in patients' paperless chart.

esmeraldagooch · ‎03-10-2010

On 8/22/2014 F1wild said:
On 8/22/2014 esmeraldagooch said:
On 8/22/2014 GoodStuff said:
On 8/21/2014 F1wild said:
On 8/20/2014 GoodStuff said:
On 8/20/2014 F1wild said:
On 8/20/2014 GoodStuff said:
Oh, puh-leeeeeze! I'm all for health, but this idea is obsessive-compulsive to the extreme.

Good Stuff, have you had skin cancer?

More people die from skin cancer than all the top 5 cancer, including breast cancer, combined. If this saves someone, it's worth this "extreme" app. Plus, younger and tech savvy would be more inclined to use this.

Yes, I have. An early melanoma, in fact, about 25 years ago. And I rely on my dermatologist, not my phone, for screenings. Nobody needs to be doing skin check "selfies" every 15 minutes. This is a hypochondriac's nightmare.

I'm happy you survived Melanoma!

I do, however, respectfully disagree with your opinion. I would think you would be in favor of any means possible for someone to have a tool to help them. There are so many who avoid doctors, dermatologists, etc. because of fear, access to care, lack of insurance or finances. I'm not sure why you would speak out against this. If you are not in favor then don't download.

"Nobody needs to be doing skin check "selfies" every 15 minutes. This is a hypochondriac's nightmare."

I seriously doubt the app is meant for this purpose. Smart phones are used for much more than "selfies" these days.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and we are both entitled to be a part of this discussion. I don't see the need for a "phone app" to track mole changes. I see obsessive cell phone use rampant around me (constant taking of "selfies", conversations in restaurants, theaters, and other venues where it is inconsiderate, ignoring mates, children, and other companions to focus on one's phone, addiction to phone games, etc.), and I imagine this "mole app" to be one more avenue to obsession and misuse. I'm also a retired medical assistant and know how many people are chronically, unreasonably anxious about their own health. Marrying phone obsession to health obsession strikes me as a wide road to OCD misery. If you see your dermatologist regularly and are reasonably aware of your own skin, that should be sufficient.

WOW! Who would have thought a phone app to track moles would cause all this?

I too am a melanoma survivor. I seem to grow an abnormal amount of dysplastic Nervi. My doctor couldn't remove all my moles so he had a medical photographer take photos of every 6 inches of my whole body and made a photo album for me to keep for a reference so he could track changes at my 6 month checkups.

That was in 1991. Now many of them have been removed and new moles have appeared. The app to me made sense since paying for more photos are not in the cards now. Plus it was very embarrassing for me and my best friend who had to be there to help the photographer. She and I still laugh about that experience.

No one said this was to take place of a doctor visit, but not everyone has the money for a dermatologist and most doctors are not good at diagnosing melanoma skin cancer.

Esmeraldagooch ~ yeah for your survivorship!! Wow, '91!

I also had these photos taken after my first diagnosis. The photographer wasn't in derm dept. so, the lovely photo series was embarrassing for both of us. Thank goodness for the derm assistant! Time goes by, you forget the ordeal.....then a lovely package envelop arrives, discretely wrapped. "Ooh, a giftie for me!" Then I open it to find an album of pictures of every inch of my body, in living color. After the initial shock was over, I did kinda play the "Where's Waldo" in reverse with the pics. More of a "What's That?"

Yes, They brought in a medical photographer and I had to bring a friend to be his assistant and write down where he was taking the photo to help with the album he made for me. Each photo has a number and where it was taken for easy reference for the doctor.

I guess after a while you just feel like a "piece of meat". My doctor trained others so I usually had a troop come in with him which didn't make check ups any easier. being odd is a training tool I guess. I finally put my foot down and asked to only have him and his nurse.

esmeraldagooch · ‎03-10-2010

I probably will probably down load the app. As I have previously posted, I just moved and my new dermatologist removed 7 moles. I thought he was overly cautious, but 6 came back bad and I had to have 6 more surgeries. I now see more dysplastic Nervi I am worried about.

I will ask for them to be removed soon when my 6 month check up comes around.

ID2 · ‎06-25-2012

Wwwaaaayyyyy overkill!! Just visit your derm regularly. I would think your doctor wouldn't want his patients just following an app on their phone!

"Pure Michigan"

PatsyCline · ‎05-28-2012

I'm not sure apps like this are a good idea, sort of worried about how people might use them.

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

If an app can help raise someone's awareness to a suspicious mole, and prevent any degree of skin cancer, then it is worth having. My youngest daughter has had several suspicious moles removed; all requiring second trips after the biopsy results came in, to have more surrounding tissue removed as a safety precaution. Each removal has left large scars on her body. Not one of the moles she had removed looked remotely suspicious to me. Because of her experience, the rest of us have gone to a dermatologist and had our skin checked as well. My husband had a spot on his back I've been concerned about, but it was not deemed suspicious at all, despite its size and color. The one spot on him that has to be watched, is a tiny brown speck at his belt line, because I don't think it has been there very long, and the dermatologists in the VA system, promote removing any suspicious spot that develops after the age of 50.

colliegirls · ‎05-13-2012

On 8/20/2014 F1wild said:
On 8/20/2014 GoodStuff said:
Oh, puh-leeeeeze! I'm all for health, but this idea is obsessive-compulsive to the extreme.

Good Stuff, have you had skin cancer?

More people die from skin cancer than all the top 5 cancer, including breast cancer, combined. If this saves someone, it's worth this "extreme" app. Plus, younger and tech savvy would be more inclined to use this.

That is not true at all. More people have skin cancer than other cancers but most diagnosed skin cancers are not deadly at all, only Melanoma.