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Woman with fair skin touching her face

SKIN 
SELF-EXAMS

Learn more about how to conduct a skin self-examination

How to perform a skin-self exam

By checking your skin regularly for signs of skin cancer, you can identify skin cancer in its early stages and greatly increase your chance of successful treatment.

Step 1

Try to aim to check your skin every change of the season (4 times a year) to know your skin and what's normal for you.

Step 2

Undress and examine all areas of your body, from head to toe. It can help if you have a large or full-length mirror and a hand-held mirror.

Step 3

Starting at the top of your head, look for new spots, irregular or raised spots or spots that have changed or grown since you last skin exam.

Step 4

Use the hand-help mirror to look behind your ears, the back of your neck and top of your scalp. It may also be helpful to ask a partner to look at your back, the back of your knees or other places that are hard to see.

Step 5

Record your spots and changes in a diary! See our ABCDE guide to learn what to look out for when examining your spots.

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