Thursday, March 17, 2016

We need a better mnemonic than ABCDE for skin cancer

ok here is the mnemonic for "is this skin mole something I should worry about?"
It's real dumb:
Asymmetry - if it's asymmetric
Border - if the border is jagged
Color - if it's 2+ colors
Diameter - if it's larger than a pencil eraser
Evolving - if it's changed
if it hits any of these criteria, then ask your doctor about it.

Don't get confused! E is not "elevated" or "eraser-sized", B is not "big", D is not "dark", C is not "changing", etc. Good luck stashing this in your brain along with a million other things.

Here's my best attempt given like 10 minutes of thinking:
if it's funny colored
funny shaped (if the border is jagged that also counts as funny shaped)
real big
or changed
see your doctor.

I feel like 2 "funny appearance" rules + 2 non-"funny appearance" rules is easier than 5 rules. And the "real big" and "changed" are for me the easiest to remember - a big frickin spot or a thing growing on you? YEP SCARY

I don't know, give me your best shot, internet medicine hive mind.

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