A board-certified dermatologist (Shereene Idriss) explains how some skin cancers—especially basal cell carcinoma and melanoma—can resemble pimples. The speaker lists warning signs (shiny appearance, broken surface blood vessels, variable color or border, persistent or crusty lesions) and advises seeing a dermatologist for any long-lasting lesion.
Chapters
Right here. That's not a pimple. That's a skin cancer, also known as a basal cell carcinoma. I'm a board certified dermatologist, and most skin cancers are not fugly. They look like nothing. Burgers. A little scab, a little indentation, maybe a little crusty thing. But really, sometimes they look like nothing. If you have what you think is a pimple lasting for months or years on your face, you should get it checked because it could be a skin cancer like this guy right here, which is a basal cell carcinoma. Now, the biggest differentiating factor with this is that it is shiny and has broken blood vessels on the surface, not to mention the timeline of it not going away. Also have to be aware that melanomas can be very deadly and are the scariest form of skin cancers in general. And they have variations in color. There's whiteness, there's darkness, there's irregularity in the border. And they could be evolving rather rapidly. But not all melanomas have pigments. And sometimes they appear as red marks that just don't want to heal, or crusty scabs. Next time you're in doubt, just get naked in front of your dermatologist.
