New York State Podiatric Medical Association news<\/p>\n
The Centers for Disease Control declared May as \u201cSkin Cancer Awareness Month\u201d and the New York State Podiatric Medical Association, which represents more than 1,200 foot specialists across the Empire State, is urging New Yorkers to pay special attention to the skin on both the top and bottom of their feet.\u00a0 While harmful sunrays may be the primary cause of skin cancers on parts of the body that receive sun exposure, skin cancers of the feet are more often related to viruses.<\/p>\n
Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPMs) are foot specialists, trained to recognize and treat conditions that present on the skin of the foot.<\/p>\n
Skin on the feet, especially on the bottom, is often overlooked during routine medical exams.\u00a0 According to Dr. Gary Stones, NYSPMA\u2019s President and a practicing podiatrist, skin cancers of the feet have several features in common.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost are painless, but often there\u2019s a history of recurrent cracking, itching, bleeding or ulceration,\u201d he said. \u201cThese cancers often go undiagnosed until another issue presents itself near the affected site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Checking for warning signs is something anyone can do, paying particular attention to changes such as non-healing sores, bumps that crack and bleed, nodules with rolled edges or scaly areas.\u00a0 Examining the bottom of the foot is critical.<\/p>\n
Basal cell cancers may appear as pearly white bumps or oozy patches that can get crusty like other open sores.\u00a0 On the foot, basal cell cancers often look like non-cancerous skin tumors or benign ulcers.<\/p>\n
Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer of the foot.\u00a0 They usually are confined to the skin and do not spread; however, when advanced, some can become more aggressive and spread throughout the body. This form of cancer can begin as a small scaly bump, which may appear inflamed.\u00a0 There can be cracking or bleeding.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it begins as a hard projecting, callous-like lesion.\u00a0 While painless, this type of skin cancer may be itchy.\u00a0 It can resemble a plantar wart, a fungal infection, eczema, an ulcer or other common dermatological conditions.<\/p>\n
Skin cancers on the lower extremity may have a different appearance that those arising on the rest of the body.\u00a0 So to test, the podiatrist will perform a skin biopsy.\u00a0 This is a simple procedure in which a small sample of the skin is obtained and sent to a lab where a skin pathologist examines the tissue in greater detail. If it turns out the lesion is skin cancer, the podiatrist will recommend the best course of treatment.<\/p>\n
Each year, approximately two million Americans are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancers. Early detection and treatment are the goals of NYSPMA\u2019s observance of Skin Cancer Awareness Month.\u00a0 To find a doctor-member of the New York State Podiatric Medical Association in your community, visit NYSPMA.org and click on the \u201cfind a podiatrist\u201d button or call toll-free at 866.996.4400<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York State Podiatric Medical Association news The Centers for Disease Control declared May as \u201cSkin Cancer Awareness Month\u201d and the New York State Podiatric Medical Association, which represents more than 1,200 foot specialists across the Empire State, is urging New Yorkers to pay special attention to the skin on both the top and bottom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}