How Often Should You Have a Skin Check?

One of the most common questions I am asked is: “How often should I have my skin checked?”

The simple answer is that there is no single interval that is right for everyone. How often you should have a skin check depends on your individual risk.

For someone with relatively low risk, an occasional professional skin examination combined with awareness of their own skin may be appropriate. For people at higher risk, regular and sometimes more frequent surveillance can be important.

Who may need more frequent skin checks?

Your risk may be higher if you have:

• A previous melanoma or other skin cancer

• A strong family history of melanoma

• Many moles or unusual-looking moles

• Fair skin that burns easily

• Significant sun exposure over your lifetime

• A history of frequent sunburn, particularly during childhood

• A weakened immune system

People with a previous melanoma or a large number of atypical moles may require an individual surveillance plan rather than simply having the same annual check as everyone else.

What happens during a skin check?

A professional skin check involves examining the skin systematically, usually with dermoscopy. A dermatoscope allows us to see structures and patterns within a lesion that cannot be adequately assessed with the naked eye.

Importantly, we are not simply looking for “ugly moles”. Skin cancers can sometimes be quite subtle.

What about 3D mole mapping?

For people with many moles or those at increased risk of melanoma, total-body photography and 3D mole mapping can provide another layer of surveillance.

Rather than relying entirely on memory, images taken at different times can be compared to identify lesions that are new or changing.

This technology does not replace an experienced clinical examination or dermoscopy. Instead, it can complement them—particularly when monitoring someone who has dozens or even hundreds of lesions.

What should you look for between skin checks?

Become familiar with what is normal for your own skin. Look for a spot that is new, changing or simply looks different from the others.

Changes in size, shape or colour are important, but so are symptoms such as persistent itching, bleeding, crusting or a sore that does not heal.

Should you wait until your next scheduled appointment?

No.

If you notice a new or changing lesion that concerns you, it is better to have it assessed rather than waiting several months for your routine skin check.

So, how often should you be checked?

For many people, 12-monthly skin checks are a reasonable starting point, but this should not be considered a universal rule.

Someone at higher risk may benefit from checks every 3–6 months, while someone at lower risk may require them less frequently. The appropriate interval should be based on your personal and family history, skin type, sun exposure, number and type of moles, and previous skin cancers.

Ultimately, skin surveillance should be individualised rather than based simply on the calendar.

Dr Colin McTari

Skin Cancer & Dermatology