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. In studio with me, Dr. Wise. And I’m hesitant to express this in this way, sir, but I’m looking at your cheek and I’m looking at what looks to me like sunburn. Is it, or is something else at play here?

I’m really glad that you’re so observant, Phil. No, unfortunately it’s not that I spend too much time at Big White. I actually had a pre-cancer treatment a week ago where one of my colleagues treated my pre-cancers. And this is like the minister having an affair. This is my sun exposure that I’ve had as a teenager, played a lot of tennis, I do a lot of endurance running. And when I was younger, you know, a lot of DNA damage happened from that UV exposure. What of course is amazing is that our immune system keeps these abnormal cells at bay, keeps them in remission. But unfortunately, the older we get, the more our immune system struggles to keep these abnormal cells in remission. And this is where we develop what we call actinic keratosis or sunspots or precancers.. And if we don’t manage those precancers, they can develop into squamous cell cancer, which actually can be a really bad cancer to have.

Squamous with an IS cell cancer? Right.

Right. Yeah, it’s definitely one of those that we want to be— I always tell my patients, those are my emergency appointments every day because they grow really rapidly.

And if I’m one of those who has not yet had cause to contact Dr. Ben Wiese, instead I’m letting letting Dr. Google work on my behalf, am I really, in this case, if I hear you, putting myself at risk?

Definitely, because I think, you know, with precancers, most people think that it is just dry skin. And, you know, of course, Dr. Google is just going to give you what it also gives you, the algorithm. And I think this is where you can very easily be misdiagnosed, unknowingly having these precancers. And that’s why it’s so important that you get diagnosed. But also if you’re at risk.

Is my natural inclination not to think, you know what, I’m just going to moisture cream this away?

Right, absolutely. You know, when you put moisturizer on, interestingly enough, these little spots actually do get a little bit better, but they’re quite rough. And I always say that if you feel your skin and it’s almost like a little bit sandpaper-like, those are the precancers that’s sitting there. And your poor immune system is working really, really hard in suppressing that to decrease your risk of developing that squamous cell cancer.

Does my immune system succeed in this ongoing fight or generally is it predicted that I’m gonna lose?

Good news, no, 90% of these precancers won’t become squamous cell cancer. So thank heavens for our awesome immune systems, it will take care of us. But again, that’s why it’s so important to use sunscreen, protect your skin, And definitely think about niacinamide orally to decrease your risk for skin cancer.

Dr. Ben Wiese, where do people find you?

The easiest would be my website, drbenwiese.com.