Eyelids and Skin Cancer, an Overlooked Danger: Notes from a San Francisco Bay Area Dermatologist

Did you know that the eyelid region is one of the most common sites for non-melanoma skin cancers?  Recently, and article was published in the Skin Cancer Foundation Journal bringing attention to this important topic.

The thinness of the skin  around the eyes and the lack of proper sun protection, makes it very susceptible to skin cancer and sun damage.  Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the most typical cancers we see in the eyelid area.

Generally on the body, non-melanoma skin cancers appear as spots or sores that don’t heal.  However, skin cancers in the eye area may present with a scar-like appearance or texture or as a mass or tumor-like growth.  These cancers must be removed to keep the cancer from spreading into other ocular structures and causing further damage.  If caught early, you can minimize the amount of tissue that needs to be removed to treat the cancer, giving a more pleasing cosmetic result.  The Moh’s micrographic surgery technique used for removal has a five year cure rate of 99 percent for basal cells and 98.1 percent for squamous cells.

The best way to prevent skin cancer in the eye area is to examine the area yourself often or take pictures on occasion for comparison and see if any changes have occurred.  If you notice any differences have them checked out by a dermatologist as soon as possible.

Wearing sunglasses that block 99-100 percent of the sun’s UV rays helps prevent cataracts and skin cancers.  Broad-spectrum sunblock is also important on your eyelids.  If you find lotions too irritating, choose a dry sunblock and lightly dust it over the area.  We carry Colorscience mineral sunblocks and makeup that would be a good choice to protect the eyes.  They also make a product specific for the eye area called Colorscience Eyescreen that is silky, light and provides good protection.  Contact our office for more details.

Tags: colorscience, eye area, eyelid, eyes, moh's micrographic surgery, non-melanoma, skin cancer, sunblock, sunscreen, uv rays

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Products, Skin Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.