This is Ask Okanagan with Phil Johnson, a quick take with trusted local professionals. This is Ask Okanagan, brought to you by the Dr. Ben Wiese Private Skin Cancer Clinic.

Dr. Wise, I, I have run into a couple of people of late who’ve talked to me and said that they are going to go for a mole mapping. Can you talk to me about what that process is?

Mole mapping or full body photography is where we take pictures of your whole body. We use a machine that’s all automated. You stand in different positions and the machine will then take photos of literally every part of your skin. We cover about 92%. Of course, there’s areas that we just can’t take photos of, in between the fingers, scalps, and so forth. But this is where we almost get a blueprint of your skin.

I always tell patients when I see them for the first time, if there’s going to be a big cancer on your skin, I will find it. But the question is, can we do better? And this is where full body photography can be very helpful because when we have a blueprint of your skin and each time you come in and we can compare those photos, we can actually see what’s new and what’s changing.

I love that phrase you just turned full body photography as opposed to mole mapping. How often should I have this done?

It really depends on your risk. So patients who has had melanoma, the recommendation is to get a complete skin check every 6 months for the first 3 years, and that will be in conjunction with full body photography. Luckily, after 3 years after discovering a melanoma, your risk actually goes back to where it was before being diagnosed with melanoma. So the first 3 years is the most crucial. After that, we typically see patients once a year, and that will give us enough interval to make sure that we monitor anything that is on your body, specifically making sure that we find those micro melanomas.

What do you say to people who think they have something happening? They’re almost afraid to talk to you about it. You can tell by the language they choose to describe what’s going on with them. Fear is a big challenge for people who do what you do, I’m sure.

Absolutely. And we see that every day. It is really a very uncomfortable topic, you know, when you are, you know, afraid of what could be found. But there’s also some liberty in knowing what is wrong. And sometimes actually knowing what’s wrong is better than not knowing. And if there is something that you’re concerned about specifically on your skin, it’s always a good idea to, you know, go to your healthcare provider, let them have a look, and at least get the answer what you’re probably in any case searching for. You were just probably hiding it away.

Dr. Ben Wiese from the Ben Wiese Private Skincare Clinic. Where do people find you?

The easiest would be on my website, drbenwiese.com.