Does that little pearly spot on your cheek accept tiny red "spider veins" effectually or in it? Better get information technology checked out.

Go straight to a dermatologist and request a biopsy.

Prior to my almanac skin test by my dermatologist I was inspecting my face using a 20x magnification mirror.

I don't run into upwardly shut very well due to age-related presbyopia (which is why I demand reading spectacles despite having had LASIK).

I came upon a very small surface area of my cheek that was lighter than the surrounding skin, and this lighter area didn't seem familiar, even though my previous face examination had been merely iv weeks prior.

What actually grabbed my attention were the very tiny, brusque, reddish blood vessels – like miniature spider veins.

The common spider veins that usually appear on a woman's legs, and besides those that may occur on one'due south nose, are a purplish or purplish-cerise color. There'due south some degree of royal or violet to them.

But the two, barely visible blood vessels on my cheek were solid carmine—blood red. No purple tinge at all.

The very small spot within the blood vessels could accurately exist described as "nigh like a pearl-flesh color."

So we have tiny blood vessels + pearl that was never there before.

But 1 caption came to my listen: basal cell carcinoma—a type of skin cancer.

BCC. Wait very closely and you'll see very thin red blood vessels among the nodule. Shutterstock/Dermatology11

This is what I expected, fifty-fifty though I couldn't feel the spot with a fingertip.

My fingertip couldn't detect a variation in skin surface. It was not a bump. It was not raised. It was perfectly flush with the surrounding skin.

Next day I had my visit with the dermatologist. She begins routine exams past asking if there'due south any areas of concern.

I asked for a mirror; holding it up to my face I located the area and pointed to it. "Yes, correct here."

With her dermatoscope she inspected the area, so stepped back and said, "What near information technology?"

Her response may audio callous and uncaring, but the Way she said information technology was anything but.

The way she spoke sounded as though she immediately knew what the very tiny spot was, and was impressed that I had not just establish it, just had it nether suspicion.

I replied, "Information technology has the tiny claret vessels."

She said information technology needed to be biopsied.

I commented, "This would exist missed by 99.9 pct of the population."

She didn't tell me what she idea it was, and I didn't ask. I knew, and she knew I knew. She said the biopsy results would come dorsum in a calendar week.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

If you recollect you have this but are scared to become information technology checked out, here are some very encouraging, reassuring facts.

The odds of a basal cell carcinoma metastasizing are extremely rare.

Instead, when left untreated, this very slow-growing cancer causes local damage—which can be gruesome.

But it takes many years to become that style, and just because the patient neglected it for many, many years (this might happen in a developing state where extreme poverty and lack of education are pervasive, or in the U.Due south. among people who have mental health bug that cause them to alive in isolation and to refuse basic medical checkups).

My blood brother had a basal cell carcinoma that grew for v years on his forehead before he finally decided to get it checked out.

Past then, it was a slightly raised spot the size of a dime. That's how slowly this skin cancer grows.

Basal cell carcinoma is essentially a product of excessive sun exposure during youth, and takes decades to start appearing.

Thus, the BCC that you might have at historic period fifty was probably set in motion by all the dominicus exposure yous had during your uncomplicated and high schoolhouse years.

If your skin is dark, this doesn't make you immune to BCC.

People with dark skin can get basal jail cell carcinoma, though information technology's exceedingly rare in this population.

If you detect something on your pare that wasn't at that place before, and information technology won't become away, and especially if information technology's getting bigger, and so go it checked out. Treatment for BCC is outpatient microsurgery chosen Mohs.

Telltale Signs of Basal Cell Carcinoma

• A tiny, new nodule or crash-land that's either flesh or pink colored, some shade of chocolate-brown or chocolate-brown-cherry-red, or has a whitish or pearly color. The new spot may also be flat.

• The spot may appear translucent, every bit though y'all can see through its surface.

• The spot may also be scaly and accept a raised edge or a waxy appearance. The spot on my cheek kind of looked waxy. Using a 20x magnifier really brings out details.

• Tiny, very thin, red claret vessels running through it or apparently around it.

• In a location that gets a lot of sun exposure—primarily the face; it specially affects the nose.

• As information technology grows, it may bleed or crust.

Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of manufactures for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She's also a quondam ACE-certified personal trainer.

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Top image: Shutterstock/Paradigm Point Fr