The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal

MAY 2014

The 2012 edition of The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal features medically reviewed, reader-friendly articles such as tanning, the increasing incidence of skin cancer diagnoses among young women, & the prevalence of melanoma among white males over 50.

Issue link: https://skincancer.epubxp.com/i/319518

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 15 of 103

H airstylists and other beauty professionals are in a unique position to spot potentially danger- ous moles on the heads and necks of their clients. Deborah S. Sarnoff, MD, Clinical Professor of Dermatol- ogy at NYU School of Medicine and Senior Vice President of The Skin Cancer Foundation, knows this f rst- hand. In 2012, her longtime stylist noticed a black mark on her scalp that looked a lot like a life-threaten- ing melanoma. It turned out to be benign, but the scary experience inspired Dr. Sarnoff to create a pro- gram with The Skin Cancer Founda- tion to train hairstylists to stay on the lookout for potentially dangerous skin growths on their clients. Physicans have been eagerly downloading the Heads Up! guide at the Foundation's website, SkinCancer.org. Using the guide, dermatologists can host Heads Up! events to educate beauty profession- als about skin cancer warning signs and how to inform their clients of suspicious growths that should be examined by a dermatologist. Research shows that melanomas found in the diff cult-to-check regions of the head and neck are on average twice as deadly as those found on other areas of the body. This means beauty professionals can literally save a clients' life by detecting potential melanomas at an early stage, when they are almost always curable. HEADS UP, HAIRSTYLISTS! L eave it to a teenager to turn the viral pop song "What Does the Fox Say?"into a powerful sun safety message. Texas high school student Cassidy Prestidge, who lost her grandfather to melanoma, was among f ve winners of the Founda- tion's recent "I Am Sun Smart" vid- eo and poster contest. Her colorful, hand-drawn poster combined lyrics from the hit song with six sun smart steps. Another memorable winning submission, from f ve California high school students, was a black and white, silent era homage f lm with a strong anti-tanning message. With some 200 video and poster entries submitted by middle and high school students last fall, the "I Am Sun Smart" contest helped raise skin cancer awareness among teens and pre-teens. To be eligible for the competition, educators f rst had to download and teach the "Rays Awareness" lesson, which is part of the Foundation's Sun Smart U, an interactive education program. "Our hope is to inf uence youth behavior at a very crucial time in their development, when it comes to making sun protection decisions," said Skin Cancer Foun- dation member Jessica Krant, MD, who medically reviewed the Sun Smart U program. The student win- ners received iPad minis, and their teachers received iPads. The contest was made possible by a grant from the Prevent Cancer Foundation, a non-prof t organization focused on cancer prevention and detection. POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE Dr. Sarnoff's haircare professional discovered a suspicious mole on her head. YOUR BEST BEAUTIFUL: USE SUNSCREEN The Skin Cancer Foundation is partnering with Procter & Gamble's Olay skin care brand to feature the stories of skin cancer survivors and raise awareness of the disease. The "Olay Stories" campaign allows skin cancer survivors to relay the dangers of skin cancer through their personal stories, while off ering tips for prevention, such as sunscreen use and dermatologist skin checks. The brand partnered with award-winning portrait photographer Sue Bryce to capture their stories via visual storytelling. The f rst video in the series fea- tures four-time skin cancer survivor Hillary Fogelson, who stresses the importance of yearly skin checks with dermatologists: "I always tell people, once a year, go to your dermatologist and get naked, it could save your life." The Skin Cancer Foundation used its extensive network of skin can- cer survivors to help Olay identify the women prof led within the campaign – such as melanoma survivor Amy Elford. The videos, which will be viewed by millions of women around the country as a result of a robust marketing campaign, can be viewed online at OlayStories.com and within the True Stories section of SkinCancer.org . Women are invited to share their survivor stories using #OlayStories on social media. To help drive awareness of skin cancer, Olay is mak- ing a donation to the Foundation. The Foundation is actively promoting the campaign through its social media channels, including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Amy Elford, a melanoma survivor, is featured in Olay's "Best Beautiful" Campaign. S K I N C A N C E R F O U N D A T I O N J O U R N A L 14 Foundation News

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal - MAY 2014