Just had probable BCC removed

Hi BikePiglet

I think you've had replies in other threads, plus from a nurse in the ask a nurse section of the community, about the best ways to remove your dressing. 

Hopefully, it'll turn out not to be a BCC but, if it is, usually the excision you've had is all the treatment you'll need. However, it won't have been caused by the rubbing of headphones but by exposure to the sun or using a sunbed. It's therefore very important to be safe in the sun from now on to try and prevent further BCCs. If it is a BCC I'll link you to the information I was given about how to be safe in the sun but I'll wait until you find out.

x

Hi latchbrook,

Thanks for your good wishes.

I know that UV exposure is one of the most common causes of BCCs, but they can also be caused by trauma of various sorts. I didn’t describe above the trauma caused by the constant rubbing of my headphones, but they did cause visible daily trauma at the site of my probable BCC over a period of several years. This is something I’ve discussed with the dermatologist.

I stand corrected BikePiglet as I wasn't aware that BCCs could be caused by trauma.

Hi BikePiglet,

I've had several BCCs, including one right by my ear like you a year ago. 

In general, soaking any dressing that does not come off easily in the shower is the most gentle way to remove it without causing trauma. Start by wetting the area where the dressing is. Then wash the rest of your body and return to the dressing area removing the dressing slowly as the water runs over it.

Just in case your BCC is sun-related or a combination of sun and friction, taking care in the sun is still good advice. My first BCC was in 2014. Three years later I had melanoma and have had a total of 14 BCCs removed at this stage. I guess a lot of the damage was already done to my very fair skin but I wish I had taken the dermatologist more seriously when she said in 2014 that getting a BCC was a sign that my skin was no longer able to handle exposure to sun. 

On the positive side always wearing sunscreen and hats has significantly reduced the fine lines on my face. I never tanned but I used to get a very weather-beaten look which never happens now. My skin is much healthier now.

I hope your recovery continues to go well.

Take care

Miranda

Thanks Miranda2 - that’s enormously helpful.

I’ll definitely be taking more care in the sun now - I tend to get the weather-beaten look you’ve described too, and I’ve not been careful enough in the past about using sunscreen. What you say about your skin looking healthier is very encouraging!

Thanks again - I appreciate your help, and I hope you’ll have no further BCCs.

Best

BikePiglet

What does your face look like because the one I had removed from my nose 5 years ago still looks unsightly, that was on the front of my nose at the end, the one I had removed from the side doesn’t look so bad, but I dread the latest one on my nose virtually the same sight as the last one, I and 5 years ago. I have been fanatically careful since then.

Hi Hutchm,

As I mentioned before I had two BCCs removed from my nose, one on the bone just above the fleshier part at the tip, and another just to the right of the bone on the side of my nose and at the same level more or less as the first one. Both were on rather bony parts of my nose, so possibly parts that are harder to graft. Yours is on the tip if I understand correctly?

The grafts for my nose were taken from the skin above my collar bone, just like the skin for the larger melanoma graft on my cheek.

The result: The nose grafts did not take. The skin grew back over about 4 weeks. It is whiter than the rest of the surrounding skin and is also slightly indented, so the result is not great.

The same surgeon did both the graft on my cheek which took well and the grafts on my nose which did not.

In your place I would follow whatever treatment approach your doctor suggests. Everyone's skin is different and unless you have some medical knowledge of this yourself, it is impossible to know what the best solution for your skin is. Among other things, it depends on the elasticity of the skin, how damaged it is, the margins required and the likely esthethic outcome. What works or does not work for one person may not be a viable option in every case.

You could ask if it would be possible to neaten the old scar during the forthcoming surgery. You could also do some serious massage in the meantime to make the skin as smooth as possible before the next surgery. Massage on dry clean skin with dry hands. No Bio oil or anything like that. The word my surgeon uses is to "knead" the area. Apparently it is never to late to get some improvement on a scar though the best and quickest results are when it is reasonably recent.

I hope this helps.

Miranda