sunburns and skin bumps

As I have gone through pregnancies, and as I age, my hair has changed drastically. I no longer have thick, naturally curly hair. I now have short, fine hair and a balding scalp. I don't really like this change, but I do what I can with what I have. I never gave much thought in taking care of my balding scalp, however, so it always got sunburned in the summer.

In March, when my friend Amanda was doing my hair at her salon, she noticed little spots all over my scalp. I had known they were there, because I'd felt them, and they were increasing in number and size. She was worried that they were cancerous, as her uncle died of Melanoma, and she'd seen spots like that before on him. I suddenly felt nervous about the condition of my head, and made an appointment with a regular doctor in town for the following week.

At the doctor's clinic, the doctor looked at my scalp and said it was Folliculitis--an inflammation due to blockage in the follicles on my scalp. We attributed it to a new kind of hairspray I was trying called "freeze spray" because the increase in the amount of spots started happening after I started using the new hairspray. I stopped using that hairspray, got some antibiotics, and within 10 days, my scalp was feeling better.

But there were still 2 big spots that I could still feel on the top of my scalp that didn't go away. I went to a free skin cancer screening clinic in April, and the dermatologist looked at my head and said I had keratosis. This is a description of it from the Cancer Foundation: "Actinic keratosis (AK), also known as solar keratoses, are scaly or crusty growths (lesions) caused by damage from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.  They typically appear on sun-exposed areas such as the face, bald scalp, lips, and the back of the hands, and are often elevated, rough in texture, and resemble warts.  Most become red, but some will be tan, pink, red, and/or flesh-toned. Untreated AKs can advance to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common form of skin cancer, and some experts believe they are actually the earliest stage of SCC."

I made an appointment to have the two spots removed in May. The dermatologist used a freeze application, and it was a simple procedure. Within a month, the two spots were completely gone from the top of my head.

Even though I feel better about the spots being gone, I have been much more careful about my exposure to the sun. I purchased a sun hat in April that I have been faithfully wearing, and I spray my scalp with sunscreen when I know I'll be in the sun, too. Amanda even got me a sun exposure kit with shampoo, lotion, and skin spray to help me in my efforts! (Thanks Amanda!) I did so well all summer long about not getting sunburned--not once did I burn my scalp this summer, and I'm so proud to say that.

However, at the beginning of September, I got my worst sunburn of the summer season. I went to Jonah and Micah's first football game of their season in Salmon the Saturday after Labor Day. They were supposed to be there an hour and a half before their game started, and the 6th graders from our town were playing during that time, so I just sat in the bleachers and watched the 6th grade's game, followed by the 5th grade's game. It was super hot and sunny that Saturday morning, and I felt like I was prepared. I wore my sun hat, my big sun glasses, and a scarf around my neck to keep from getting sunburned. But sitting on those bleachers facing the sun for 4 hours still managed to get to me--my nose, my arms, and part of my neck (that was above the scarf) got sunburned something major!

Please forgive the sight of my underwear showing

My skin is the type that burns and peels, burns and peels; I am not so lucky to tan like Josh and my boys do! But strangely enough, this particular sunburn never peeled, so now I have a nice farmer's tan!

My mother has warned me for years to take better care of my skin, as she's had some skin-cancer scares herself, but it wasn't until the doctor was looking at my skin and saying the words "Pre-cancerous growths" that I really took her advice to heart!