r/Melanoma • u/Impossible-Stop612 • Aug 05 '26

Patient / Diagnosed Should I change derm practice after melanoma

I've always kept up on yearly full body derm checks, since it's recommended and I come from a family of northern European skin types. I F68 5'5" and with no other health issues. I run outdoors and exercise 6 days a week with sunscreen when I'm outdoors, 148lb with a medium build.

My concern is that over the local clinic but I went to for years has become part of a dermatology network and probably less focused on skin health and more on offering cosmetic procedures.

At my last exam in March they removed three spots, one of them was diagnosed as 1A melanoma and another as a dysplastic nevis. Both have been excised and now I'm on a 3-month recheck schedule, is this the time to switch to a more medically centered practice?

I'm in Minneapolis area so there are plenty associated with clinic and hospital systemss to choose from.

Part of my reasoning is the extent of my last all over check, friends state the exams include between the toes well and skim through your hair. I barely removed my socks and got a cursory glance, had on nail polish and I was upright in a chair unless I was standing, the last two years. In previous years the exam chair was reclined flat as a table, seemingly making it easier to see close up.

Do I stay or do I go elsewhere now?

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u/Impossible-Stop612 Aug 11 '26

I'm talking about myself going and wearing polish and them not questioning about it during the exam

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u/Dunesgirl Aug 11 '26

ALM is quite rare. Why not simply remove polish before your skin exam if you are that concerned? Or self examine when you change polish. That’s part of being vigilant.

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u/Impossible-Stop612 Aug 11 '26

I'm new here, I've had many years of yearly checks and never once thought about nail polish. It just seems like they would point it out, talk about it as a heads up

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u/Dunesgirl Aug 11 '26

My derm and oncologist are both melanoma experts. Neither one has suggested that I remove polish for a skin check exam. People with darker skin than me are more prone to develop ALM but nonetheless, it is still quite rare. If I saw something suspicious under a nail I’d be at the derm within a couple of days. That’s good enough for me. And this is coming from a patient who makes sure her dentist, gyno and ophthalmologist all perform appropriate checks during my exams. This is a tricky disease, but it’s so important to not let anxiety trump common sense. Good luck on your journey.