QVH supports sun protection campaign

Siva Kumar (pictured) and Sam Orkar, both consultant plastic surgeons at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, have given their clinical expertise to a sun protection campaign for gardeners called ‘Watch Your Back!’

The campaign, created by East Grinstead based charity the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund, has also gained the support of celebrity gardeners including Charlie Dimmock, Alan Titchmarsh, Andy Sturgeon, David Stevens, Toby Buckland, Anne Swithinbank, David Domoney and Joe Swift, and 170 gardening retail groups across the UK.

Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in the UK and one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer. The campaign is targeted at all gardeners but specifically men over the age of 50, who are 70 percent more likely to develop melanoma, typically on their backs and in areas that are hard to spot. This makes the warning signs easier to miss, and leads to later diagnosis.

Siva Kumar and Sam Orkar, from the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Unit at the Queen Victoria Hospital, have worked with the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund to create helpful tips, facts and advice for the campaign, to encourage people to protect, detect and prevent. This includes:

• top sun protection tips for gardeners
• melanoma and men: top 10 facts
• The ABCDE code for spotting skin cancer
• Advice on skin checking

They said: “When melanoma begins to grow downwards into the deeper layers of skin and beyond it is at risk of spreading to other parts of the body. So if you have a mole that is getting bigger, particularly if it has an irregular edge, it is important to go and get it checked…immediately.”

Siva Kumar and the team from QVH will be joining the team at a free skin check clinic on Saturday 3 June from 10am-3pm at the Blue Room, Trinity Methodist Church, East Grinstead. You can book a free appointment online here (places are limited). People are welcome to also go along for advice and information.

For more information about Watch Your Back! and Siva and Sam’s top tips click here. You can find out more about QVH’s skin cancer services here.