Pimples come and go, but sometimes a simple pimple can turn out to be something more serious. When the 41-year old Jodie Dominy noticed a pimple on her chin, she thought it was caused by stress and that will go away in a couple of days. When the pimple didn’t go away in a few days, she visited the doctor who said that her bump on her chin was a fatty cyst.
“The doctor explained I could have it removed for cosmetic reasons, but there was no harm in leaving it alone. I decided not to bother,” says Jodie.
Jodie’s bump continued to grow and she asked a plastic surgeon to remove her bump during a procedure to remove a benign skin cancer on her lip. The doctor removed the bump and when he analyzed it, he discovered that it was a rare type of skin cancer.
“Most cases of DFSP have been found on the arms, legs, or back. In Australia, there are only eight reported cases of DFSP, and I am the only one ever to have it on my face,” wrote Jodie on her Facebook.
Jodie’s doctor explained that her cancer has spread around the bump and that it has formed deep roots. Jodie had to undergo a really extensive surgery to remove the cancer from her bottom lip, chin, jaw, left cheek. Jodie also underwent a reconstructive surgery.
You must be thinking: All of that happened from a simple pimple? Is this something I should worry about?
“It is not common—only about 0.8 to five people are diagnosed with it per million people a year in the U.S.,” explains dermatologist Marie Leger, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at NYU.
The problem about this type of cancer is that the tumor branches out like the roots of a tree and that can come back after surgery.
Dr. Leger also explains that people have mistaken cancerous bumps for pimples.
“I have seen this before in my practice, more commonly with basal cell carcinomas, in which a person will dismiss a bump on their face, chest, or back because they think that it is a pimple,” she says.
Dermatologist Jill Waibel, M.D., medical director and owner of Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute in Miami, explains that pimples appear and go away. If you have any bump that’s not healing, bleeding, a bump that’s changing in color, size, shape, a bump that’s itchy and painful then make an appointment with your dermatologist.
“Many people mistake things like flesh-colored moles and pimples as cosmetic inconveniences. “However, they should be checked out by a dermatologist to ensure that they are not cause for serious concern like cancer,” says Dr. Waibel.