How often do you get skin checks here?

[Travis179]

If you have a history of skin cancer (which I do). It's recommended to get bi-annual full body scans with a reputable dermatologist (I use Dr. Waraporn at PIH). And between visits, do your own scans at home. If you find anything questionable, get it checked ASAP. If you're fair skinned, the tropical sun here can be brutal. 

[Tiger1980]

On 6/22/2025 at 11:03 AM, Nemises said:

Cheaper (for some) to return to their homeland (whilst visiting family, friends etc) for free skin checks and free subsequent treatment. 

Not necessarily so, a few yrs back I went to a Thai hospital with a suspect cancer spot the Dr immediately scraped the spot and sent for a biopsy, quick result negative.

This year in the UK I went to our local GP with a suspect growth, Dr said he wasn’t trained to take a sample and instead photographed the spot and sent it to the local hospital, two weeks later instructed to go to the local hospital in another two weeks where the dermatologist inspected and proclaimed it to be a Basel cell carcinoma, again she could not treat it so I have now been waiting 7 weeks for for an appointment to take out the spot.

This shows that in many instances your options for first class medical treatment is in Thailand and not the UK.

[Sheryl]

11 hours ago, srowndedbyh2o said:

At your suggestion I went to see Dr. Anna Jaruwarn at BKK Hospital Pattaya where she did a full-body visual checkup, and punch biopsy of a suspect site on my forehead. She is very knowledgeable, and speaks excellent English. (I think she worked in the U.S. for many years) I am very confident in the service she provided and will be doing annual checkups with her. While BKK Hospital Pattaya is relatively expensive (BHT 15,260), I submitted a claim with my U.S. based insurance and they paid for all but a small copay of about BHT 1,200.

Yes, Dr. Anna will do complete skin check.  But she's pretty unique, and in Pattaya. 

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, petertucker48 said:

I'm 77 years British  living 20 years in Thailand.

Problem nose peeling front area only for 2 years.

Apply an over the counter gel ointment Mecylic.

Any ideas?

See a dermatologist. Could be skin cancer. 

[scubascuba3]

59 minutes ago, Tedly said:

 I've never heard of aldara 5% cream, would that work on skin tags, I think I need to try to find it somewhere. Thanks for the info. I try to avoid doctors if possible.

Skin tags you usually can just tie cotton thread around them in a tight knot and they fall off hours later.

 

Aldara can also be used for genital warts. Aldara is more expensive than gold so i wouldn't use it for warts

[QPRFC]

I go to Chiang Mai Ram Skin Clinic for annual check-ups now and Dr Amy burns a few spots with the liquid nitrogen.

Previously, as in 7 years ago on my first visit she burnt 10 spots and I was going back every 3 months until she got them all (37 spots) over a year period.

I then went to 6 monthly visits for a couple of years and now annually.

 

Costs were 2,000 - 2,800 baht each visit.

[kimothai]

On 6/22/2025 at 4:46 PM, xylophone said:

Yes and in my haste to post I omitted to include the fact that I had many (10+) solar keratosis burnt off at the same time with liquid nitrogen, as well as letting the dermatologist have a quick check on my back and neck etc. He also put a couple of stitches in as well.

 

After my second visit he said a greater area had to be treated/excised so sent me to the Plastic Surgeon to carry this out. Now this Dr was great and said that he would treat me and would give me a "special price", which he did and it cost me the same price as the initial biopsy.

 

And of course the hospital charges for everything these days, including taking your BP and all the other paraphernalia which they carry out in order to stack up the bill!

I paid almost the same here (20,000) in Pattaya. Had 2 bumps on my back removed (one cancerous & one not) and used the spray nitrogen on my head. The bumps went to pathology and was given the all clear. Cost included a couple of follow up appointments. Luckily I have insurance that will pay the majority of cost. 

[newbee2022]

On 6/22/2025 at 3:05 PM, xylophone said:

Being very fair skinned and having ginger hair and also freckles in my youth, I am susceptible to sunburn in a short space of time and when I worked in Africa (the Sahara desert) sunscreen as we know it now, just wasn't around, so I never used it of course.

 

Now every six months I go to the dermatologist at the hospital here who gives me the once over and often burns off a few solar keratosis spots on mostly my hand and my arms, whilst often giving me a check over.

 

This time however I pointed out to him a small raised spot about the size of a match head which kept coming back on my cheek, no matter what I did with it, so he took a biopsy there and then, which wasn't cheap (22,000 baht) and put a couple of stitches in and told me to come back next week, which I did.

 

He confirmed that it was a basal cell carcinoma and that they had to do a bigger excision to make sure that all of the cancer cells had been removed, so back I went and they removed a piece of skin which was quite deep and about the size of my forefinger, along with a total of eight stitches in all.

 

Went back a few days ago to get the stitches removed and the biopsy result was good in as much as all of the cells had been excised, so another sum of money paid out and just waiting for the wound to completely heal now.

 

Now this little spot I had on my cheek was the most unassuming spot and I would have never picked it as potentially cancerous...... so to all of the oldies on here and especially those who are fair skinned, my advice is to get regular skin checks.

Do it Every year in Thailand. Highly recommended.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Tedly said:

 I've never heard of aldara 5% cream, would that work on skin tags, I think I need to try to find it somewhere. Thanks for the info. I try to avoid doctors if possible.

For skin tags and warts I use a solution called "Verrumal" and it is very effective. I bought it here in Thailand....And getting back to the Aldara subject, I now remember my doctor in NZ (a fabulous Dr) telling me that because it was so expensive, he recommended to his patients that they get the small sachet of Aldara and rather than cutting the end off and squeezing it all out, he suggested using a pin to prick the end of it and squeeze a little Aldara out onto the necessary area, then seal the end and put it in the fridge till it was needed again.

 

Worked for me!!

[blaze master]

2 hours ago, Globalres said:

No it’s not.  You get very little D3 from food.  The human body (just like plants, actually, needs sunlight and cholesterol to get usable D vitamin. The worst skin cancer, melanoma, is often found on the body where the sun doesn’t reach.

 

Mushrooms. D2 is ok not as good but still alright.

[scubascuba3]

35 minutes ago, xylophone said:

For skin tags and warts I use a solution called "Verrumal" and it is very effective. I bought it here in Thailand....And getting back to the Aldara subject, I now remember my doctor in NZ (a fabulous Dr) telling me that because it was so expensive, he recommended to his patients that they get the small sachet of Aldara and rather than cutting the end off and squeezing it all out, he suggested using a pin to prick the end of it and squeeze a little Aldara out onto the necessary area, then seal the end and put it in the fridge till it was needed again.

 

Worked for me!!

Yes i managed to get the Aldera to last about two weeks of daily application, applied a minute amount

[cardinalblue]

I paid 7k for 2 biopsies…both turned out to be Basel cell so will have a dermatologist  remove them… quoted 10-12k each….

 

also had a plastic surgeon quote a price…40k for each….was speechless 

 

procedures will occur in Chiang Mai