Health Hub · Skin cancer
Nobody sees your skin more often than you do. Cancer Council recommends getting to know your own skin and checking it regularly, so you can notice a new or changing spot. Your GP can advise how often to self-check based on your personal risk. Here is how to do a proper self-check, and what to look for.
Key points
- ✓Check your whole body regularly, in good light, at an interval advised by your GP
- ✓Use a full-length mirror plus a hand mirror, or ask someone to help
- ✓Include scalp, ears, soles, between toes, and under nails
- ✓Use the ABCDE guide for moles, and watch for sores that do not heal
- ✓Anything new, changing or odd: book a spot check rather than wait
How to do a skin self-check
Undress fully and work through your skin systematically so nothing is missed: face, ears and scalp (a comb and a hand mirror help, or ask your hairdresser what they can see), neck, chest and trunk, both arms including armpits and palms, then legs, feet, soles, between the toes and under the nails. Use a full-length mirror with a hand mirror for your back, or better, ask a partner or family member to check the areas you cannot see. Doing it the same way each time makes changes easier to spot.
The ABCDE guide
There is one more informal sign worth knowing: the ugly duckling. Most of a person’s moles resemble one another, so a spot that looks or feels different from all your others deserves attention even if it does not tick an ABCDE box.
What the ABCDE rule does not cover
ABCDE is designed around melanoma-type changes. The two most common skin cancers, BCC and SCC, often look nothing like a mole: a pearly lump, a scaly red patch, or a sore that heals and breaks down again. Our guide to the three main types of skin cancer covers what each can look like. The practical rule: any spot that is new, growing, bleeding, tender or simply not healing within a few weeks belongs in front of a GP.
Found something? Here is what to do
Do not diagnose it from the internet, and do not wait for your next routine check. Book a spot check, a quick appointment where a GP examines the specific spots you are worried about with a dermatoscope (here is how dermoscopy works). If a spot needs a definitive answer, a biopsy can usually be done promptly on site; our guide on what happens after a skin biopsy explains that process.
Self-checks work best alongside professional checks
A self-check is a safety net between appointments, not a replacement for them. A full body skin check with a GP examines your skin in a detail you cannot manage at home, and for higher-risk patients, mole mapping with OptimaScan adds a whole-of-skin photographic baseline your GP compares over time. See how often you should have a professional skin check for a schedule matched to your risk.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I self-check?
What is the 6 mm rule?
I can never remember what my moles looked like. Any tips?
Seen something that worries you?
Book a spot check at 71 Main Street, Pialba. Consultations are bulk billed for eligible Medicare card holders, and a specific spot can usually be looked at quickly.
This article is general information and is not a substitute for individual medical advice.
External guidance checked 7 October 2026