Hello All

A heads up and a bit of "sharing".

I am one of those fair skinned - never tans people. Last week a persistent "thing" on my ear turned out to be malignant. Caught it soon enough that I may not lose some ear! Left alone it would spread and eventually do me in.

So a heads up to hunters and especially PHs who are always out in the sun,

Don't be relaxed about this, the big dopey hats and sunscreen cannot be overlooked, even if they are not terribly cool. Also keep an eye on anything unusual and have it checked.

In my case, it was just a persistent dry patch that I was always scratching- it went from zero to malignant in a matter of months.

Hope this helps.

That's good advice. Thanks for sharing.

I know what you mean. I have a dermatologist look at any "dry patch" on my face, if it doesn't go away. I just had him freeze one on my face that hadn't progressed, but we didn't want to take a chance. The dermatologist's advice to me was: If the "dry patch" doesn't go away after a few days, but persists, see a dermatologist! Definitely a great "heads up" for everyone on AR as all of us spend considerable amounts of time directly in the sun. This isn't just for PH's!

For this years safari, I purchased hat with a wider brim... Was wearing a ball cap and the tops of my ears got blistered and I did get alot of sun before going...


Mike

I wear gloves too as I found the backs of my hand blistered like hell on my first safari due to holding on to the roll bar in the back of the safari car all day. My hands were uncovered and fully exposed to the sun for hours for 21 days.
Skin cancer is skin cancer no matter where it is located.
Cover up now or pay a heck of a price later. The skin doc burns me up every six months now however I am still ahead of the game at the moment.
Big brim hats are real important too. You will look funny with out the tops of your ears or the end of your nose!
Thanks for the reminder again.
Better tomorrows!

Thanks 404 for the heads up and a speedy recovery to you as well. Living at 8,500 ft. in New Mexico, it's a constant thing with the sun, uv rays and all. We tend to always look at the sun as a good thing and forget the dangers that can come along with it.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member