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Humans have mostly abandoned the grooming strategies of our chimp cousins. So there's a good chance your scalp and the back of your head go largely unexamined. But this inattention can leave skin cancers undetected.
Fortunately, there are some people who have a more intimate knowledge of our heads and necks than even we do: barbers and hair stylists.
Many folks see their hairdressers more often than they see their doctors. And a new study finds that hair salon workers are already in the habit of checking their customers for signs of skin cancer.
Researchers found that more than half of hair care professionals surveyed said they had suggested to at least one of their customers that they see a doctor for an abnormal mole. And more than a third said that they checked customers' scalps for suspicious spots. The findings are reported in the Archives of Dermatology. [Elizabeth Bailey et al., "Skin Cancer Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors in the Salon"]
Since hair professionals are already checking scalps, the study’s authors recommend the creation of a program to give stylists “expert training and effective health communication tools to become confident and skilled lay skin cancer educators."
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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4 Comments
Add CommentI was just about to recommend this to a friend who owns a hair salon. My dentist has been checking for oral cancers for years. I can see potential problems with false positives but better than not knowing when there is one.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a barber ... If I see anything suspicious 1st I tell them I am not a doctor, 2nd I tell them they should have a doctor look at what I see. I haven't been wrong, yet. There have been 5 cases of confirmed melanoma. You should also check the tops of the ears ... many men wear those baseball caps & rarely if ever use sunscreen especially on their ears.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere's a tip for hat wearers ... If you hold your hat towards the sun & you can see through the cloth/or straw weave that means your scalp is "not" protected from the sun's harmful rays.
Its a good idea to educate hair stylists.On a global scale its very difficult to acheive. I hope abnormal moles or early stages of skin cancers get detected, if any of those would appear on their skins to everyone in the whole world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn 1980 my hair stylist told me that I had a mole on the back of my neck,which didn't look "good" to her. It was an invasive melanoma. I was lucky, thanks to her... I lived.
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