Orange Regional Medical Center Offers Free Skin Cancer Screenings

Orange Regional Medical Center will offer free skin cancer screenings at its Outpatient Services Building located at 707 East Main Street in Middletown, during the week of May 20.

Screening participants must be age 18 and older, not under the care of a dermatologist or plastic surgeon in the past year, and have not been diagnosed with skin cancer. Pre-registration is required. To register, please call the Orange Regional Medical Center Health Connection at 1-888-321-ORMC (6762). Physicians volunteering at this year’s screening include Ray Basri, MD, Jeffrey Bowden, MD, Stefan Chevalier, DO, Galia Meiri, MD, MaryBeth Parisi, MD and Jay M. Weitzner, MD.

A skin cancer screening is a visual inspection of your skin by a medical professional. Often the first sign of skin cancer is a change in size, shape or color of an existing mole.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States. Risk factors for skin cancer include excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or artificial sources, fair complexion, severe childhood sunburns, family history and multiple moles.

Skin Cancer Prevention Tips:

• Avoid the mid-day sun (from mid-morning to late afternoon) whenever you can.
• Wear long sleeves and long pants of tightly woven fabrics, a hat with a wide brim, and sunglasses that absorb Ultraviolet rays.
• Use sunscreen lotions with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15.
• Do not use sunlamps and tanning booths.
• Get screened for skin cancer annually.