Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

We focus on our skin, especially in the summer months when we're outdoors at the beach and in the sun more often.

And yet, dermatologist advise us to take care of our skin and be mindful of any changes year round.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

One in four Americans has some sort of skin disease.

Here to tell us more is our own Grover Silcox.

Grover, always great to see you.

Good to be here, Brett.

Skin care.

We have to stay on top of it.

We do.

You know, the skin, obviously, is the most visible organ that we have, so that when we see a rash, a mole, a skin tag, whatever, it's important to pay attention to it.

And if you see notice changes to check in with your doctor or dermatologist.

I think as soon as someone sees something, most people think, no, their mind goes to cancer.

And rightfully so, because basal cell cancer is the most common cancer of all cancers.

Interesting.

And the doctor talked to you about this.

She did.

And so when we see something that changes, different color, different size, something irregular, it's important then to check in with your doctor, specifically a dermatologist, if possible.

So it sounds like really what we need to be thinking about is prevention.

And that's precisely what Dr. Mary Braden of St Luke's University Health Network and I spoke about when we met Dr. Braden shared with me the important role the skin plays, the importance of self-examination and knowing what to look for red flags, so to speak, that should prompt you to see a dermatologist.

She also provided tips on the best ways to protect and care for your skin as our bodies largest organ.

The skin requires as much care as any other organ or part of the body.

Hi, Samuel.

How are you?

Mary Braden.

Nice to meet you.

Welcome.

So I heard we're going to do a skin cancer screening on you today.

Might be a little bright in your eyes when I.

When I take a look at your nose.

Okay.

The skin has quite a few very important functions for us.

Helps keep a sort of a shield between our body and the environment from a heat cold infection.

So it has a very important barrier function.

It also helps us to regulate our temperature.

So sweating and cooling are important functions of the skin.

It also helps to keep us warm when it needs to.

Other things.

I think most patients know vitamin D production is a very important function that that gets a lot of attention these days, especially with supplementation.

Our body's natural production of vitamin D starts in the skin and then is carried on by a couple other organs.

But it starts with the skin, and it does help protect us from ultraviolet light.

Dr. Mary Braden, a dermatologist with St Luke's University Health Network, describes the reasons patients come to see her.

First and foremost, at least in my practice at St Luke's, it's skin cancer screening.

So a lot of skin cancer checks.

Basically.

We have a lot of patients we follow as frequently as every three months for melanoma checkups.

The general population more typically is about once a year.

So a lot of skin cancer.

After skin cancer, I'd say rashes probably is our next biggest thing.

So things like eczema, psoriasis and then probably moving on from there are things like acne.

We take care of warts, we take care of hair loss, reduce scars, So we'll do treatments for scars like keloids, things like that, rosacea, you know, a lot of things that that are pretty common out there in the population.

Dr. Braden encourages patients to self examine and pay special attention to moles, rashes, sores and other lesions.

If they note changes in color, size or shape, they should see their dermatologist.

Most patients are pretty good about noticing and coming in.

I have found that patients have a spidey sense that is often correct.

One of the very first questions we ask when the patient is being groomed.

Do you have any concerns?

You know, is there a spot that's changing that you want the doctor to look at today?

Anything in particular that you're concerned about on your skin?

Skin cancer poses?

What are the greatest threats depending on type?

Basal cell is the most common by far, and it's actually the most common cancer in people, period.

Of all the types of the cancer.

So basal cell we think of as something that's very easily cured.

They are skin cancers, but they tend to grow extremely slowly.

Melanoma, though, obviously much scarier.

Melanoma has a much more.

Much more risk for spreading.

You know, melanoma can kill you.

It's a it's one we always want to catch early.

Right here, there's a little brown spot on the skin.

I'm taking a look at it just to see if it has any of those patterns that we would be concerned about for melanoma.

We have a goal when we see a melanoma or get the diagnosis back from the biopsy of cutting it out within two weeks.

The third probably most common is squamous cell carcinoma.

Those are kind of in-between in terms of the badness compared to basal cell versus melanoma.

They can kill people also.

And there are some forms that are highly aggressive from the beginning, and there are some that, again, would grow somewhat slowly and could be managed easily in the office with a quick removal or even a topical chemotherapy cream.

Dr. Braden suggests patients follow the ABCDs for detecting melanoma.

Most people have heard about the ABCD is for melanoma.

If a mole happens to have one of those features, so the A is asymmetry, meaning you can't fold it over on itself and it's a mirror image.

B is for a border irregularity.

So we like moles to be nice and smooth.

Jagged or irregular borders are concerning and C is for color.

So more than one color or changing color.

And then the D is for diameter.

So general guidance is six millimeters, which is about the size of a pencil eraser.

Probably the most important is adding an E on to the ABCD is for evolution.

So anything that's changing or has become itchy or is bleeding.

When a patient notices these kinds of changes, they should see their physician or a dermatologist.

A dermatologist can treat to remove and biopsy certain skin problems right in the office.

Let's say I looked at a spot on you and I said, That needs to be biopsied.

I'm not sure if it's a skin cancer or not.

It's just an in-office procedure.

Pretty quick and pretty simple.

We inject a little bit of numbing medicine.

Most of the time we do a biopsy, which is called a shave biopsy for skin lesions where we basically take a sharp tool and scrape the surface of the skin off, almost like you had scraped yourself on pavement and then teach you how to take good care of it, which is usually just a Band-Aid and some Vaseline each day and send it off and at St Luke's, we get an answer generally within a week as to what the pathology is.

Like most physicians, Dr. Braden promotes prevention, which in the case of dermatology includes limiting exposure to the sun and applying sunscreens.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends at least an SPF 30, and it needs to be broad spectrum providing protection from both UVA and UVB radiation.

UVA is important in the development of melanoma.

To maintain the SPF on the bottle, you have to reapply every 2 hours.

After that, you can basically assume the SPF is going down.

Other things you could consider would be using mineral based sunscreen, which which are sunscreens that will say they have either zinc, titanium or iron oxide.

Those are the true barriers.

Barrier protection, it's like a blocker versus a chemical sunscreen.

Dr. Braden adds this warning that the harmful and negative effects of the sun often show up later in life.

While it feels good in the moment to really be tan.

A few decades down the line, you really see the impact of that in the photo aging and the sunspots and things.

They really do show up and it's motivation, I hope, for people to try to be safe and avoid the sun and use their sunscreen or their sun protective clothing when they're younger.

Dr. Braden also mentioned that as a dermatologist, she also helps patients with hair loss and scar removal.

She also spoke about St Luke's cosmetic dermatologists and procedures such as Botox and fillers.

It sounds like Dr. Braden treats a wide variety of conditions and different patients.

More than most people might imagine.

In fact, she performs minor surgery and procedures right in the office, removing skin tags and then sending them out for biopsies, things like that.

So it sounds like treating this type of skin condition, melanoma and other types like it has really come a long way.

It really has.

And in fact, Dr. Braden pointed out our former president, Jimmy Carter, and how more than a decade ago he was diagnosed with melanoma that had metastasized to his brain.

And through immunology immunotherapy, he just celebrated his 100th birthday.

So the advances in dermatology have become amazing and so many more options today than there used to be.

Yeah, that's absolutely remarkable.

Grover, as always, thank you for this report.

You're welcome.

And that'll do it for this edition of Living in the Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.