A friend of Dr Mejia’s in Dallas shares her melanoma story. Her daughter was brushing her hair one day and found a spot in her scalp thinking it was hair dye. Her mother had her take a picture of it and went to the dermatologist the next day who immediately did a biopsy and was then diagnosed with melanoma.
Dr Mejia urges everyone to know the ABCD’s of melanoma symptoms so you are educated ahead of time in case of an unforseeable situation just like what happened to Lynn. Her hairdresser had seen that spot for five years and didn’t think it was anything abnormal.
In this video, Dr. Mejia explains the symptoms of melanoma and the brochure above gives you a good visual so you know how to spot.
TNS Recovery Complex is human growth factors or protein. Humans have growth factors when we are born and as we age, we lose them. They take a greater amount of time to heal. TNS Recovery Complex allows growth factors to produce more collagen which allows to lift, firm, tighten, and help to consistently plump new skin. It is typically used for the face, neck, and chest.
Mainly used as an anti aging product but is also a must have after a laser or peal procedure because it helps greatly with the healing process. After one month of using this product, the texture in skin will improve as well as noticeable reduction in fine lines and deep lines of the skin.
After three months a sixty percent growth of collagen in the “grin zone” area of the face occurs. Clients mention that this product holds moisture and hydrates the skin the best.
For the full list of of Skin Medica products please visit this page: Skin Medica
Solar Keratosis also known as Actinic Keratosis are precancerous cells that have a possibility of developing into Squamous Carcinoma.
It is important to keep an eye on any symptoms and take care of these is because over time you are taking prevention from developing another skin caner. At Jupiter Dermatology we have a plethora of preventative therapy with various different treatments in an effort to reduce the amount of precancerous skin cells that exist on the face, arms, chest, back and other multiple areas they can be found.
The treatments for Solar Keratosis or Actinic Keratosis to help reduce the precancerous cells are some of the following:
Blue Light
Photo Dynamic Therapy (Explained in detail in this blog post)
Creams available at Jupiter Dermatology
Chemical Peels
Dr. Mejia tells his patients to think of their skin as a car engine. Many people do treatment once and think it will be enough. However if you want to keep your car in good condition, you must check the oil often times throughout the year. The same applies to your skin, depending on your history and the procedures you have done. You and your dermatologist have to decide how many times it is necessary to check your skin. It may be only once a year or it may have to be four times a year, but it is in your best interest to have your skin as a top priority.
To prevent the progression of Solar Keratosis into Squamous cell carcinoma, at Jupiter Dermatology we advocate preventative and aggressive treatments in order to reduce that risk so hopefully you do not need to have surgery in the future.
We were honored to receive this award yesterday at the Palm Beach School District Wellness Celebration. Dr. Mejia is one of the medical educators that has partnered with the Palm Beach Medical Science Academy. Students come to Jupiter Dermatology to learn from Dr. Mejia on how to be a doctor and give them insights on exceptional patient care.
Here is a short video by Dr. Miguel Benevente, head of Medical Science Academy during the event.
A treatment that uses special drugs, called photosensitizing agents,along with light to kill cancer cells. The drugs only work after they have been activated or “turned on” by certain kinds of light. PDT may also be called photoradiation therapy, phototherapy, or photochemotherapy. (more…)
Our patient, Pat has had numerous skin cancer all over her body for 32 years. She came to our office to remove three squamous cell carcinoma on her chin and jawline. Pat was very nervous about the removal of the skin cancer on these areas because she had multiple skin cancers in the same area previously which were were removed at the University of Miami. The current scar tissue was her main concern. This video was taken two weeks after the squamous cell carcinoma was removed. (more…)
Our patient, Marvin had reconstructive surgery after Mohs skin cancer on the side of his face. Recently he came back to the office for another Mohs skin cancer surgery on his nose. He shares in this testimonial how some other plastic surgeons commented on the good results with no scarring. We have been sharing some testimonials from our patients recently to ease any anxiety you may have about this procedure. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment or contact us for any questions or concerns.
Pictures of skin cancer before and after Mohs surgery. You can see the results in the video after complete healing. (more…)
In the video below, Dr. Mejia shows before and after pictures from a skin cancer surgery when a patient came to the office to get her sutures removed.
Explanation and images of before and after begin at 0:34—2:15
In this video below, Dr. Mejia explains the procedure for Mohs skin cancer from start to finish. You can see before and after pictures in these time markers in the video:
6 min. 56 seconds (before & after + suture removal)
8 min. 15 seconds (before & after + testimonial)
Before and After Basal Cell Surgery with Mohs
Below you can see some more in-depth pictures of before and after skin cancer. This young woman in her 30’s came in for a check-up after having Mohs skin cancer surgery a month ago on her forehead. She had squamous cell carcinoma. In a previous video, we showed you Don’s testimonial for reconstructive surgery where he now advocates for the early prevention of skin cancer after his 11 Mohs surgeries. Although this patient’s surgery was much smaller with only six sutures, Dr. Mejia was able to spot another basal skin cancer on her nose that had previously gone unnoticed by other dermatologists, and subsequently removed it. As you can see in the before and after skin cancer pictures, she has no scarring.
Squamous Skin Cancer On Forehead Before Mohs Skin Cancer Surgery
Skin Cancer Picture After Removal (Note: In video, this is labeled before Mohs in error)
Reconstructive Surgery After Skin Cancer
One Month After Surgery – No Scarring
Testimonials from Patientsafter Skin Cancer Surgery with Dr. Mejia
A dysplastic nevi is an irregular mole. We all have many different types of moles in our body and many times dermatologists biopsy these moles that look a little bit abnormal and have a different shape or different configuration. Primarily we are looking for the rules of melanoma or the A, B, C, D’s:
A: Mole is asymmetrical
B: The borders are irregular
C: The color is irregular.
D: The diameter is usually greater than six millimeters or a mole that is evolving or changing. (more…)
Moles sometimes appear out of the blue and in this case, this patient wanted to get it checked to make sure that it is not a cancerous mole. Dr. Mejia inspects the mole by using a dermatascope, a magnification device which allows for close up view of moles. After inspection, he sees that it is a cutaneous horn which is an overgrowth of skin but sometimes can be underlying skin cancer, pre-cancer or a wart. The treatment for this is to do a biopsy and remove it. (more…)
