Why You Should Be Checking Your Soles and Palms If You Have a Dark Complexion

Your hands and feet may be telling you something about your health. (Photo: Getty Images)

We’re going to go ahead and guess you don’t look at the soles of your feet every day. It’s not typically at the top of most people’s to-do lists. But new research suggests that those with darker complexions may want to add their feet (and the palms of their hands) to their self-exam agenda.

A new study from NYU Langone Medical Center shows that people with darker skin types are 33 percent more likely to have pigmented lesions on their soles and palms. In rare cases, these can be an aggressive form of skin cancer, called acral melanoma.

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For the study, published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, researchers at NYU evaluated 1,052 patients that visited dermatology clinics in New York City and Miami over the course of a year and a half. They found that 36 percent had acral pigmented skin lesions, on either their palms or soles.

Of those with darker skin, 40 percent had acral pigmented lesions; only 30 percent of non-Hispanic white patients did.

“We don’t know why patients with darker skin types have more of these acral benign lesions,” lead study author Jennifer Stein, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone Medical Center, tells Yahoo Health. “It is a good question that needs further study.”

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While there is no specific number they can give for how often these lesions become cancerous, Dr. Stein notes that the researchers think the majority that pop up on the hands and feet remain benign. “However, acral melanoma is the most common type of melanoma in blacks,” she adds. In fact, Bob Marley died from an acral melanoma that first developed under his toenail.

Patients with darker skin types are generally less likely to develop skin cancer because they have more sun-protecting melanin, Stein explains. But when a melanoma does grow, it tends to be found later, leading to a worse prognosis–melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and early detection is key.

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So what can you do? Stein (and any derm you’ll talk to) recommends checking your own skin, from head to toe, regularly. “Skin cancer can appear on any part of the body, not only on sun exposed areas,” she adds, so be thorough. If you notice any spots or growths that are new or changing, make an appointment with your dermatologist.

You should also go in for a routine skin exam once a year–more often if your doctor thinks you’re at high risk for skin cancer–to make sure you get a clean bill of skin health.

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