Monday I went to my regular physical, during the process I showed my Doc a hard spot on my nose. He called it AK and froze it with some nitrogen.

AK is, Actinic Keratosis…hard skin cells (https://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/actinic-keratosis/)


From what I’ve been able to gather, it’s a precursor to skin cancer and freezing it and killing it now is a good thing.

So now I have a blister (which I just drained) on the side of my snout. I guess I’ll use some SPF 80 or more in the future, as I don’t want skin cancer. But I have these blotches all along the side of my neck and cheeks from exposure to the sun when I was a sailor in the CG and spent hours on the ocean just doing my job, riding around saving other mariners and checking out girls in nice boats. Should I wear some kinda neck gator to prevent further damage or is a SPF 80 or higher good enough? Should I wear a hat (I do wear a tilly hat when mowing to keep the sun off my thinning head…)

Hat, sunscreen and a rasher shirt if at the beach. I have similar problems and a collection of very nice panama hats.

Ask your derm guy what he recommends. Also there are full face covers that you can wear (the boating guys do it all the time on the water). I’ve also had a small site above my lip burned off, same reason. I use an spf 45 rx by my derm. Best of luck.

Under Armour makes long sleeve "heat gear."

I wear it when dove hunting in Yuma.

To be obvious, keep an obsessive eye on your problem areas and see your dermatologist even more regularly. My pos ex-pcp wouldn't refer me to a dermatologist - claimed that's her job - and now I'll be on the Keytruda. Vigilance!

A couple years ago I got Melanoma on my ear. They cut out a pretty good chunk.
From now on I'll wear a hat with a brim and sunscreen. Don't want to go through
that again.

Haul ass asap to a Dermatologist.

Best wishes to you.
.

I visit my dermatologist twice a year and have a standing privilege to get right in when I call for extra visits. I have between 12 to 30 such procedures per year and average having a basil cut out per year. Hazards of being of fair skin and a youth spent out in the sun. I wear a hat whenever I go out and if I'm going to be out in the sun, I put on the heaviest sunscreen I can find and often wear long sleeves. Another thing I make sure I wear a shirt with a collar to protect the neck. Find yourself a dermatologist and visit at least once a year for a full examination. With proper monitoring skin cancer is easy to avoid but ignore it and it can have serious consequences. Good luck.

 
I have had an annual dermatologist "skin check" for 25 years now, and he always finds one or more "PAKs" (precancerous actinic keratosis), and freezes them off.
 
Do what you can to shield from the sun, but he also says most of these are the result of earlier in life sun exposure. I asked once, and he told me about 60% or so of these could eventually turn cancerous if left alone. So far, my annual checks have discovered only PAKs, no true cancer.

I've had so many Basel Cell and Squamous Cell carcinomas removed I no longer count them. Face, neck, arms, back and, surprisingly to me, on my lower shins. Find a good Dermatologist and get checked regularly.

Sounds like I will need to schedule an visit with the dermatologist. Thanks guys.

Due to my problems I have been instructed to always wear a SPF hat (Columbia makes many great ones) candor spa 100 sun screen on my head...I'm not bald yet, so it's a bit messy to use...search and there are less messy ones out there. Take it seriously. Cheers.

I wear a Columbia Booney Hat whenever I'm outdoors in the summer. For the most part it keeps the sun completely off my head and neck. It's also light and it keeps me cool. My wife hates it, but I wouldn't be without it.

I see a dermatologist twice a year and in the summer I am almost like a vampire and avoid sun exposure as much as possible.

Keep an eye on the daily UV index and dress accordingly.

As mentioned above get a connection with a good dermatologist since you know you have skin issues. Their specialty is this area and a GP can't know everything about everything. You need to get checked over annually and maybe more often than that. Sunscreen, broad brimmed hats and minimum sun exposure!

During the middle of my treatment for colon cancer I went to a dermatologist for a spot to look at. Turned out to be melanoma. Drama, drama, drama, end result big scar it was all lopped out and no signs of any spread. That being said I am now on the 5 year plan of visiting a dermatologist every 3 months for a full body check. You need to start seeing a derm on a regular basis.

Skin cancer if caught early is one of the more readily treated/removed types of cancer. If you wait too long it is a known killer. Don't do that.

On vacation in Oregon in '18, I came back with a SCC on my right cheek. That was in early September. By the middle end of October I'd had some pretty unsightly surgery necessary to get rid of it, including 74 stitches above and below the skin that were still coming out a year later when I had two more less invasive BCC, removed from my hooter and left hand. My own car here in UK is left hand drive and I habitually drive with my hand out of the window or on the door frame.

I have lost around 75% feeling in my right cheek area, but the nose and hand are just fine, if scarred. My right cheek looks like somebody got at me with a small but very sharp decorative cutter, but so far I'm clear.

So, for me it's Factor 50 sun-guard, even here in UK, and being a Northern boy, I've never liked heat anyhow, so staying out of the sun is no big deal. Allegedly having vampires in my ancestry must help, I guess...

And yes, I was a fair-skinned redheaded boy, looking much like a milk bottle with hair on top.

Pedropcola above has wise words to say - catch it early and you'll probably live.

My sister in law is a dermatologist and she actually prefers treating more in the cancer realm than the cosmetic stuff. Apologies for the opportunity to brag on her but she’s a rock star in her field. She is religious about sunscreen application and reapplication. She usually uses spf 50 and her opinion is that it’s better to use a lower spf that you keep reapplying than to just use a strong spf once that doesn’t get reapplied as it should. She’s also an advocate for seeing your dermatologist now so they can get together a baseline for you. She would (and has) absolutely suggest that you see a dermatologist sooner than later. Good luck and glad you took care of this small bump before it became a bigger one.

I'm not at risk for skin cancer but I do get sunburned on my face. I finally relented to my wife and religiously wear a hat and put sunscreen on my face and arms. On my iwatch, I put up the UV rating to remind me when I definitely need protection (UV rating of 3. I think it goes up to 9).

Do what others have suggested and wear UV protection anything: shirts, sleeves, hats, etc.

It's a simple, no-brainer strategy than thinking you're invincible against the sun.

I have been seeing an excellent dermatologist every six months for several years now. Find a dermatologist that you like and stay with him or her so they can have a baseline and watch from there.