Raising Awareness to Check Your Skin on National Melanoma Monday

They held a free screening for patients who are at risk for skin cancer and advised them on some next steps to take

FARGO, N.D. — May 7th is National Melanoma Monday and Sanford Health is raising awareness for the importance of getting your skin checked.

They held a free screening for patients who are at risk for skin cancer and advised them on some next steps to take.

Medical professionals with Sanford say it’s important to form a habit of checking your skin regularly and noticing changes.

There are common signs like a change in color or a rise in the birthmark or mole, but those aren’t all the signs.

“Melanoma in particular, which is one of the main reasons to have this, is to looking for moles that look abnormal but they don’t always look the way you would assume that it would look but it’s also just educating and teaching people the importance of watching themselves from head to toe,” said Thomas Matzke, a Dermatology Physician with Sanford.

Doctors say everyone should be seeing a dermatologist regularly in order you are taking proper care of your skin.