The melanoma men do not see

Melanoma incidence has been climbing for decades. Men, especially after forty, account for a disproportionate share of deaths. The lesions are not rarer. They are found later — on the back, the scalp, the ear, the places a man does not look and a barber sometimes does.

A 2024 brief from the American Academy of Dermatology put it bluntly: men are less likely to wear daily SPF, less likely to see a dermatologist, more likely to present with thicker tumours. UV does not care that the face is ‘oily’ or ‘tough’. Collagen cross-links, DNA adducts, and immune surveillance all take the same hit.

The back and the scalp are where men’s melanomas like to hide. A mirror is not vanity. It is coverage.

SPF is not a summer product

UVA passes clouds and glass and drives ageing as much as burning. A moisturiser with SPF 30, used on the face and ears every morning, is the unglamorous intervention that compounds. Hats on the run. Shade at noon. The rest is folklore.

• Asymmetry, border, colour, diameter, evolving — the ABCDE rule still earns its keep.
• Ask the barber to glance at the scalp. They see more of it than you do.
• A gold tan is collagen debt. There is no elegant version of that sentence.

Journal notes are for curiosity, not diagnosis. Speak to a clinician before changing medicine, supplements, or training.