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ddphillips12
3 Posts |
 Posted - 04/05/2014 : 14:48:38
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| Hi everyone, I am 26 years old and about 6 weeks ago I discovered a pink and slightly raised lesion on my left temple. It was about 6 mm wide. I originally scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist to have it looked at. Meanwhile, I did some reading online and decided to applying some coconut oil and an exfoliating scrub to it each day. It has been 2 weeks and I would say that about 2/3 of the lesion has healed. As a result, I cancelled my appointment thinking it was no longer necessary. Now I'm wondering if it was a mistake to try to treat this lesion without having a doctor look at it. Should I still have this looked at by a doctor to know what it actually is before I continue to try and heal it completely? Or can I assume that I am in the clear if it is healing with coconut oil and exfoliation? Thanks for the help! |
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dan
611 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2014 : 20:28:14
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On one hand, it seems to be healing with the coconut oil. On the other hand, this is a tough call for you because at your age you probably have no experience with skin cancer. You especially need to rule out melanoma. The safest course is to see a doctor for a diagnosis and to get an overall health assessment. While there is no reason to stop the coconut oil if it is working, seeing a doctor is a good idea to get a diagnosis. You can always refuse or delay any treatments prescribed by saying you want a second opinion.
Personally, if I am concerned that a lesion may be skin cancer, I give it the orange oil test. I simply apply a small amount of orange oil and wait about a minute. If I feel a stinging sensation (it is usually not subtle) then I think it is probably skin cancer or at least precancer. The stinging sensation will subside in about 20 minutes. A small bottle of orange oil is available at most vitamin stores for about $5. Topical orange oil is a simple test for skin cancer that has worked for me but it is not medically vetted so take the results with a grain of salt. It also does not indicate the type of skin cancer.
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ddphillips12
3 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2014 : 11:24:32
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| Thanks for your reply, dan. I tried the orange oil trick today. It produced a very mild sting for only a second or two. I can't help but wonder if it would have felt worse two weeks ago before I started the other treatments. I'm not sure what to think at this point. However, I scheduled another derm appt in two weeks which I will go to in case this lesion has not healed by then. |
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dan
611 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2014 : 04:51:50
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| Sounds like a negative on the orange oil test for skin cancer. That's great! I think your plan is a good one. |
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Should I still have this looked at?
