Valentine’s Day is upon us once again with another a way to show your love, and show your skin!  According to the Skin Cancer Foundation couples with close bonds are about three times more likely to perform a mutual skin exam. Unofficial sources suggest those couples have more fun, too!  But kidding aside, we all need to find every opportunity to scrutinize our skin, from head to between the toes. Here’s how.

While dermatascopes and the analyses used at MoleSafe are the most effective in detecting skin cancers and Melanoma, being vigilant by starting with your own naked eye exam is important, too.  AND it’s important for doctors to mandate that as well.  Shockingly, only 59.6 percent of family practitioners and 56.4 percent of internists conduct regular full-body skin exams, compared to 81.3 percent of dermatologists. (We would like to know why it is not 100% of dermatologists, though.)

According to a story in Bloomberg Businessweek last month,

“The most common reasons for not performing this type of examination were patient embarrassment/reluctance, time constraints, and other patient illnesses.”

About half of the internists and family practitioners cited time constraints as an impediment to conducting the naked eye exams.

I find all those reasons unacceptable since taking five minutes is nothing compared to a diseases that takes lives.

Our post in 2009 here on Melanoma Updates publicized the suggestion that not only should medical students be trained in naked eye exams no matter their ultimate specialization, but asking your doctor to keep an eye open while checking your lungs and seeing your back, or seeing your legs while checking your reflexes.

So, show the love this year and start by checking yourself, check your mate, and check with your doctor.