Can picking spots cause skin cancer?

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Ryan

A spot and a mole are two different things....

That's exactly what I was thinking.
Picking spots won't do much except give you little scars, if you're unlucky. Picking moles isn't advisable, as far as I'm aware, it won't cause cancer, but they will scab up, and might turn nasty and infected. Cancer occurs because of mutations during DNA replication. This can occur naturally, but is speeded up by mutagens, tar for lung cancer, Xrays, UV light, benzene - not the physical action of 'picking'.

Reply 21

Jonatan

Friggerpants

Look at it this way:

Anything with Carbon or Hydrogen in it can cause cancer.

Word.

Yea, but some things are much more likely to cause it. Burned food will be way worse than Water, and smoking will be way worse than eating burned food ...

Skin cancer is typically caused by UV rays in the sunlight. Watch out for moles that suddenly start changing colour or shape, small wounds and rashes that won't heal. Also, sunbathing can get you skin cancer even if you never get burned. I personally never deliberately try to get brown. Colour doesn't matter, so whats the point risking your health about it?