Brenna Cooper
A man has urged others to be vigilant about changes to their skin after discovering the devastating truth about an 'ingrown hair' on his face.
When 50-year-old Simon Heaton noticed a pinprick-sized spot appear on his face three years ago, he believed it was simply a spot or ingrown hair and decided to grow his beard to cover the bump up.
After successfully covering the spot with his beard, the Abbey Hey Football Club manager carried on with his life.
However, the lump would later grow to 4mm in diameter, leading Simon's mother urging him to get it checked out at the doctor's.
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It was here that the football manager would receive life-changing news.
After visiting the GP in July 2023, Simon was referred to a dermatologist, who believed the spot could be a cancerous growth called basal cell carcinoma.
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a type of non-melanoma skin cancer that starts in the top layer of skin.
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According to the NHS, BCC accounts for around 75% of all skin cancers, they are typically very slow-growing and usually don't spread to other parts of the body.
The main symptom of a BCC is a persistent spot on areas which have been exposed to ultraviolet light, which comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds. According to The Christie hospital, BCC is easily curable when detected early. The NHS advises regular use of suncream on areas of skin regularly exposed to sunlight in order to decrease your risk of developing a BCC.
For Simon, he now has an agonising six-week wait to find out whether or not his lump was cancerous after having the spot surgically removed from his cheek.
The dad-of-two is now hoping to use his experience to raise awareness about the importance of having any changes to your skin checked out straight away.
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"I thought it was a spot, left it, it disappeared, then a couple of weeks later it came back a little bit bigger," he recalled.
"It wasn't sore but I knew it was there and it was annoying me."
Explaining why he decided to grow a beard to cover the spot up, Simon added that he is a 'smartly dressed guy' who takes pride in his appearance so didn't want to 'mess with it'.
The business development manager also explained that he believed his love of the sun and tanning could've contributed to the growth.
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"I would go on sunbeds three times a week for six minutes without using suncream," he said.
"I love the sun and I love my holidays and that's what they put it down to - sun exposure."
Putting his hesitance to visit the doctors down to 'male stubbornness', Simon urged anyone in a similar situation to book in with the GP. "My advice to blokes who think it's just a spot or ingrowing hair would be to 100% go to your doctors and get it checked out," he added.