Of all the spots on the body skin cancer can develop, the top of the head is probably the toughest for you to scope out yourself. That’s where hair stylists come in, doubling as lesion detectors for customers. Researchers in Houston found that half the stylists surveyed had detected cancerous lesions on customers’ noggins.
MSNBC reports the study was led by a Harvard University School of Public Health lecturer who says regular hair appointments can double as cancer screenings:
“The scalp is not a place that people can easily look at on their own, and we don’t think a lot of physicians are looking for melanoma on the scalp. Most people make 10 visits or more a year to see their hair dressers and barbers and they tend to look more carefully for mold and legions on the scalp.”
The researchers hope to start formal screening programs that will help turn stylists into expert screeners who really earn those tips.
Surprising skin cancer spotter? Your hair stylist [MSNBC]
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So wait… they’re looking for mold and army units? No wonder physicians aren’t finding them.
It took me a while to decode that, too. Also: ew.
I spent five ghastly years at the Hairdressers’ Training Centre at Totnes. Can you imagine what it’s like cutting the same head for five years? I didn’t want to be a barber anyway.
I wanted to be a lumberjack.
Leaping from tree to tree! As they float down the mighty rivers
of British Columbia! With my best girl by my side!
The Larch!
The Pine!
The Giant Redwood tree!
The Sequoia!
The Little Whopping Rule Tree!
We’d sing! Sing! Sing!
Oh, I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay,
I sleep all night and I work all day…..
I thought you were so butch!
It’s a little funny, since I’m actually in British Columbia and Vancouver, the main metropolitan centre in BC, also has a strong GLBT community…
I’m surprised our sister city isn’t San Fransisco. We have a large city park at the end of a long suspension bridge, they do too. We have the 2nd largest Chinatown community, right behind them. We have a strong GLBT community and so do they. We are a western port, they are too. We are both known for our liberals, hippie/pot smokers and environmentalists activists…. The only thing really setting us apart is that we are Canadians =P Well maybe also the rain we get =P
And I thought you were soo rugged!
The thought of tying my super-cut to my long term health seems like a bad idea.
Heh.
The Supercut stylists may very well be expert cancer screeners, but they never seemed to be able to cut my hair worth a shit.
Hmm, I wonder if I could weasel my extended health benefits to pay for my haircuts as a cancer screening…
I figure their company weasels will out weasel my weaseling though. =P
“Most people make 10 visits or more a year to see their hair dressers and barbers and they tend to look more carefully for mold and legions on the scalp.â€
I don’t go 10 times a year. I go maybe 2 or 3 times a year because it’s usually around $60 each time and Mr. Pi goes about 10 times a year, so that eclipses my $100-$150 expense per year.
I haven’t been properly “styled” in ages, relying on supercuts for the most part. My hair gets less less noticeable with each cut. Pretty soon I’ll be able to recruit my sister and a bowl to bring my costs down even further. I’ll be back to the dorothy hammel cut of my youth any time now.
Chinese hair stylist:
“You can have Moe, or Moe, or you can have a Moe.”
Unfortunately there isn’t too much styling you can do with the type of hair I have… I have the choice of a small afro or a large one. On the bright side, I only need to visit a barber at $12 a visit every 3 or so months…. so that’s like $50/year in hair maintenance…
I was also thinking I could maybe get my hair done even cheaper by going to the local petting farm and visit the sheep pen when they do the sheering. =P
Hell, I might be screwed. I haven’t had my hair cut in almost two years.
Yeah…That statement made me feel like a weirdo for only getting haircuts once a year or so.
Is that mold or moles?
Legions or lesions?
I was assuming the client may coincidentally have demon possession – hence the mold and legions.
Holy geez… Mold and legions?!?
I imagine it’s a better idea to squirrel away an extra $25/month into one’s HSA and see a dermatologist once a year.
I think you have to pay extra extra to get the dermatologist to cut your hair.
Sweet, now I don’t have to worry about these strange, asymmetrical spots I’ve started to find on my skin after going outside naked all day for most of the summer with no sunblock, because my hair stylist hasn’t said anything.
Naked? Are people of the opposite gender swarming all over you or are they running away screaming?
The people who cut my hair could use some training on this subject. I have actinic kerotosis (and occasionally skin cancer) on the top of my head and it freakin hurts when they bang the clippers on the bad spots.
Maybe I should go to Great Clips just after a scrape and burn session to remind them to be more careful.
I recently had a benign cyst removed from my scalp and every time, the (corporate-chain) stylist would inform me that I had a bump and then promptly cut my hair so it wouldn’t show.
I must be doomed. I was losing my hair anyway so I shaved my head 15 years ago. I cut it myself with clippers, so I haven’t seen a hair stylist since 1996.
On the up side, I guess if I remind the doctor to check out my scalp he’ll have an unobstructed view of it.
Mold and legions, huh?
How about moles and lesions?
One of my coworkers has a suspicious spot on his head. I told him about it and he flippantly replied, “Yeah, I know; it’s probably skin cancer or something.” After surviving surgery to remove his entire colon and reconstruct his digestive tract to avoid a certain death by colon cancer, it would be ironic if a stupid mole ended up killing him.
It’s a bit like watching the chemo patients on the loading dock, smoking a cigarette.
They said something similar when the tried to recruit letter carriers (the mailman) to act as eyes and ears and watch out for senior citizens on their routes. It was a good idea. Let the people who see the old folks most often do a minor level of welfare checking.
What happened in my area is that the USPS suddenly mandated curbside mailboxes so the actual carriers no longer get close to the houses and almost never see the seniors they are supposed to be watching over.
The policy was effectively shot down by people who have no actual interest in complying with it.
The one thing they can still do is notice if someone isn’t picking up his/her mail. That’s probably more important than getting close to the house itself.