Skin cancer screening.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Germany, and rising. Non-melanoma skin cancer (basal cell, squamous cell) is usually well treatable; melanoma can be life-threatening – detected early it is curable in over 90 percent. Early detection is therefore the most important 'skin treatment' of all.

The screening: statutorily insured people in Germany are entitled from 35 to a full-body examination every two years at a dermatologist or trained GP; many insurers offer it earlier. Privately insured usually yearly. The examination takes 15 minutes and is unspectacular – which is exactly why it gets forgotten.

The ABCDE rule for self-checks: Asymmetry, irregular Border, several Colours, Diameter over 5 mm, Evolution (change, growth, itching, bleeding). A mark that looks different from all the others ('ugly duckling') likewise. Each of these observations is a reason for the dermatologist – not for waiting.

What this has to do with aesthetics: before peels, microneedling, PRP and pigment treatments, conspicuous moles are assessed – you do not treat over an unclear mark. Only those who have had pigment spots classified dermatologically may 'lighten' or 'laser' them. VIVA DERM does not perform skin cancer screenings and refers every conspicuous finding.

Sun protection is cancer prevention: the same measure that prevents wrinkles prevents skin cancer. Daily SPF, shade, hat – and no sunbeds: they markedly raise melanoma risk and are banned for under-18s in Germany.

Warning signs that do not wait: a new mark after the age of 40, a wound that has not healed after four weeks, a shiny nodule that bleeds easily, a fast-growing dark mark – also under a nail or on the sole of the foot.