We all know how dangerous melanoma can be. We all know that if you spend a lot of time in the sun you are at a greater risk of contracting the dreaded skin disease.
But how great is the risk? Should surfers really take greater precautions than the non-surfing population? New research provides surprising answers.
Yeah. Sure. It’s obvious isn’t it. Of course surfers are in a higher risk group for melanoma than the average non-surfing Australian. Surfers expose themselves to the sun much more than the average punter, so the additional risk is clear. But how big a risk is that? I mean… is it a really big risk? Really, really big?
Come on. I surf three or four times a week… but I don’t hang around at the beach all day. I park my car, pull on my boardies, paddle around for forty minutes (catching a couple of waves if I am lucky) then, when I get out, I jump in the car, and I’m gone. I don’t get that much sun. I never get sunburned.
No. I don’t put sunscreen on my chest. Why would I do that? Not sliding off your board is hard enough for someone like me even without the addition of slippery sunscreen.
Rash vest? Gimme a break!
No. I don’t put sunscreen on my back. Who is going to do that for me? Years ago I asked someone on the beach to help me out by putting a few dabs of sunscreen on my back and I almost got punched. Not doing that again.
No. I don’t wear a wetsuit or a rash vest. Even in winter. I can’t stand the heat and restrictiveness of a wetsuit. The water just isn’t that cold. And a rash vest? Gimme a break.
Yes. I do put a dab of sunscreen on my nose, lips and cheeks. But never on my forehead. Sunscreen on the forehead means sunscreen in the eyes five minutes after you enter the water. Ouch. I prefer being able to see while I am surfing.
Obviously, I am at greater risk of a skin cancer problem than the average punter who doesn’t surf. But how much of a greater risk? Not that much I’m betting.
Surfing is fun. But I’ll tell you what’s not fun.
Receiving a phone call from a nurse at your doctor’s surgery who calls to let you know that the biopsy taken (when you had a skin lesion removed at your last appointment) reveals that the spot was “complex, aggressive and invasive” is not fun.
Having to wait a week to see your doctor who you know has got bad news… but you’re not sure how bad the news is… is not fun.
Waiting in the clinic waiting room for that appointment is especially not fun.
When your turn to see the doc finally arrives, being told that though the news is not good, but that the problem is eminently fixable, is not so bad. In fact, it’s a relief. But then comes the bigger surgery where you end up with a big slash and lots of stitches that will keep you out of the ocean for even more weeks. That’s not fun. You’ve only just gotten back in the water from the last excision!
Then, waiting for a week for the phone call to let you know that the pathologist has determined that the surgeon removed the lesion with sufficient margins (meaning the cancer is gone) definitely isn’t fun. The good result is fun… but the waiting isn’t.
She was reading my mind
Actually, I was a bit lucky the last time this happened to me. While I was sitting in the waiting room, feeling very uncomfortable and anxious, one of Australia’s best ever surfers entered the room, spotted me sitting there with my glum face, then walked straight over to me and sat down. She didn’t know me personally. She just knew my face… and thought that I might like to have someone to chat to. Almost like she was reading my mind. After twenty minutes of comparing surgical scars and complaining about the impact that our favourite sport has had on the health of our skin, my doctor appeared and called me into his scary office. Thanks to the gun surfer I was able to greet my doc with a smile rather than a grimace.
Several years ago, I knew that, as a surfer, I was at greater risk of skin cancer and melanoma than the non-surfing community, but I was willing to bet that the risk was not that great. Five big scars later courtesy of multiple BCCs, SCCs and a Melanoma (which were described with such scary words as complex, irregular, aggressive and invasive), I now know differently.
To all those folks who think that their outdoor lifestyle doesn’t increase their risk of skin cancer very much, it would make sense to take heed of the research conducted by Southern Cross University in recent years.
Associate Professor Mike Climstein (and colleagues) knew that an outdoor lifestyle potentially increased the risk of deadly skin cancers but there was no available data on how great a risk having fun in the sun actually was. He decided to change that. The word was put out through an extensive media campaign that surfer, swimmer and walker/runner volunteers were needed. The hundreds of volunteers who were selected for the study were given whole body examinations by skin specialists who were aided by artificial intelligence and a range of skin lesions that the test subjects previously knew nothing about were identified.
Not only were these skin cancer lesions then able to be treated (potentially saving the lives of some of the subjects) but the incidence of skin cancer among people who carry out outdoor activities was able to be compared to the general population.
120 times more likely!
How big is the risk? Dr Climstein’s study found that a surfer’s odds ratio for malignant melanoma against the average Australian population was 119.8. In other words, a surfer is 120 times more likely to experience malignant melanoma than a non-surfer! That’s not a miss-print. One hundred and twenty times more likely to contract a potentially deadly form of skin cancer.
I was wrong. The risk is not small. The risk is huge. If you surf… or swim or run for that matter… you are taking a huge risk if you don’t take care of yourself. I asked Mike Climstein what he felt his research should mean to surfers and other outdoor enthusiasts. His response could be summarized with two words. Prevention and examination.
Prevention means wearing a wetsuit or rash vest or even a t-shirt (if the surfer finds the rashy or wetsuit options deeply offensive). Prevention means wearing sunscreens on all other exposed parts of the body. Prevention means wearing an appropriate and effective sun-screening hat.
Examination means keeping an eye on your skin through looking for potential lesions regularly and showing them to a doctor if something looks suspicious. Even more importantly examination means getting your skin checked at least once a year by a doctor with expertise in skin cancer. Mike Climstein added that, for surfers who do find that they need to have skin lesions treated, they should consider having checkups done more regularly than once per year. Six monthly check-ups are a minimum for people who have had melanoma.
Surfers are at a higher risk of skin cancer than the average Australian population. Some would argue that this is obvious. Some would even argue that this is obvious and boring. But the most recent research indicates that the risk is not minor. Or even moderate. It is huge! Surfers are 120 times more likely to experience malignant melanoma than other Australians. Surfers must take care!
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