Spot on chest

[Melmo1]

In the past week I've noticed a spot about 3/4 the size of my fingernail, appear on my chest/neck area. It just appeared out of the blue.
I've never had anything like this and
I'm quite worried. I've attached a pic. Any ideas? I'm going to ring docs in the morning too.

It looks like sun damage to me. These changes can be a precursor of skin cancer ( doesn't look nasty per as) but you need to apply lots of sun protection iron cream in future

Thanks olympicsroc I wear factor 50 and stay out of the sun as much as possible. It wasn't there one day and appeared the next. I'm really quite worried. Can I ask- have any experience of this kind of thing? I'll attach another pic. Thanks

You really do need to have it properly diagnosed - It looks very much like the spot the father of my child has on his chest (when it first appeared) that unfortunately has turned out to be a skin cancer (that can be cut out and removed). Please note that it can just as well be something else, but have it checked out!

Thanks Neonmist. I'm going to ring doctors first thing in the morning for an appointment. Did your child's father get referred to a dermatologist?

My dad had something similar removed but although it was cancer it was only a day procedure and no other treatment. Good luck x

I had something similar that developed quite quickly. It was pre pre cancerous. I was referred pretty quickly to a dermatologist who did a biopsy and I then used a cream to get it off.

So yes, see the doctor but it's not an emergency.

Yes, he was eventually referred to the dermatologist - so make sure you ask for this immediately. In case of my child's father, he left it quite late to go to the GP in the first place, not until the spot had grown and had become quite sore. They tried antibiotics which of course didn't work, and he was then referred to the dermatologist.

It does look suspicious for a basal cell carcinoma, which is technically a type of skin cancer but slow growing and almost never spreads to other parts of the body. If that's what it is, they'll suggest having it removed simply because it will otherwise just grow (albeit slowly) over time.

It is not a skin cancer in the same way as some others (e.g. melanoma) that are much more dangerous. In the past, doctors would often call these "rodent ulcers" instead of skin cancers to avoid alarming patients and because they behave so differently to the other types.

Definitely book in to the next available GP appointment but don't worry in the meantime!

It could be a small skin cancer (not the scary type). My sister had two removed from her face recently. She wasn't rushed through urgent or anything but you do need to get them removed (nothing to worry about though!).