BCC will often appear as a transparent bump on the skin, or it may show up as a brown, black or blue lesion. It will usually occur on parts of the body that are often exposed to sun, particularly the head and neck. In Bowker’s case, the mark was “pretty inconspicuous” and easy to overlook.
Bowker shared a video on TikTok (@on.academy) showing just how small the mark was which proved to be lifechanging. During the clip, she asks people to try and find it on her face before eventually pointing it out at the end. The video has gone viral with over 1.8 million views and more than 58,900 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
Bowker hopes the video will show just how unassuming skin cancer can be, as she hopes this serves as a reminder for people to get their skin checked regularly. Once Bowker was referred to a dermatologist, she was able to get the skin cancer removed through a Mohs surgery. It’s a precise outpatient procedure that involves removing thin layers of skin that contain cancerous cells and immediately examining them to ensure clear margins.
Following her first procedure, results showed that they didn’t remove all the cancer, so Bowker had to go in for a second Mohs surgery immediately after. The entire process took around three hours and only required local anesthetic. Why It Matters
While Bowker always looks after her skin and thought she did enough, this experience has shown the damaging effects of long-term sun exposure.
BCCs don’t solely develop from sunburns, as the Mayo Clinic highlights that chronic sun exposure increases a person’s risk. Precautions can be taken to reduce the risk of skin cancer, including protective clothing, wearing sunscreen year-round, staying out of the sun during peak times, and not using tanning beds. “It’s been crazy to see just how many people are going through the same thing,” Bowker told Newsweek.
“So many people have reached out and said they went through (or are going through) something similar. It’s been really nice to connect with those people and share stories. “Get your skin checked and please be vigilant with your skin.
Look out for changes, take photos of new spots or moles. Keep those photos in a separate album on your phone so you can come back to them every couple of months and see if the spot has changed or hasn’t disappeared. If it hasn’t, I’d start looking at avenues for a skin check or to see a dermatologist.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXWgm1okzE
