4 Secrets Dermatologists Will Never Tell You, And 4Things They Want You To Know

1. Please stop asking us to take a "quick look" at your lumps, bumps, blemishes, and moles.

Our friends, acquaintances, and Tinder dates just can't seem to resist the urge to drop their pants in front of us to show us a "weird skin thing". Please don't, especially when we're not working and we're just trying to have a nice time. Make an appointment with us instead, and get your weird thing seen to properly.

1. We're not lying about the importance of sunscreen.
   
   You really need to use it every day, especially on your face. Sun damage isn't necessarily visible to the naked eye, but if you look at your skin under a UV lamp, it tells a different story. In the US alone, melanoma kills one person every hour, so please use sunscreen correctly, and stay in shade.

2. Which is why we're the party poopers on holiday.

Yeah, we know that you're sick of hearing us smugly announce that "tanned skin is damaged skin" while sitting in the shade wearing Factor 100, under a giant sun hat. But if you saw the number of melanoma cases we do every week, you'd be a lot more careful too. Coppery, bronzed skin just isn't worth dying for, sorry.

1. Yes, we are "real doctors".
   We can't count the number of times we've been asked if all we do is pop pimples and rub in lotion for a living. Nope. In actual fact, medical dermatologists treat serious medical conditions and perform operations on skin cancers including melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinomas. It's heavy going.

2. And no, we don't just "deal with acne."
   Not that there's anything trivial about acne, of course: it can seriously affect people's lives and self-esteem. But we see far more skin cancer patients than we do acne patients, as well as people with debilitating skin disorders like impetigo (pictured). We take a lot of time and work closely with the patient to try to figure out the cause of their condition (if any), and help them get it under control.