# A spot has appeared on my thumb **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956 "2008-11-29T19:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/1 "2008-11-29T19:09:20Z")
I have a few freckles in random places. But I’ve never had one appear on my hands. And particularly never right in the middle of my thumb. I had thought I had made a mark accidentally with a Sharpie, but this has survived a week of showers and hand-washing. It’s definitely in the skin. [http://i36.tinypic.com/farnds.jpg](http://i36.tinypic.com/farnds.jpg) Does this look like anything I should have checked out? Sorry the picture is a bit out of focus. No matter what film comedies may claim, taking a perfectly in-focus picture of one’s thumb is a lot harder than it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/2 "2008-11-29T19:37:32Z")
I work in a dermatology office, and I think you should definitely get it checked ASAP. The border and color looks irregular, and it’s a new growth- all warning signs of melanoma. It can take weeks to get in with someone, so call Monday for an appointment with a dermatologist, not your PCP. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/3 "2008-11-29T19:52:26Z")
It looks more like a healing blood blister than a freakle to me. Pinched your thumb with anything lately? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/4 "2008-11-29T19:55:40Z")
It’s a bad pic, but I don’t like the look of it either. Get it checked, just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/5 "2008-11-29T19:56:21Z")
It doesn’t really look like a blister, though- unless it’s just the photo playing tricks on my eyes. If it is a blister, you should be able to deroof it with a sterile needle and peel it off. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/6 "2008-11-29T20:07:09Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It looks more like a healing blood blister than a freakle to me. Pinched your thumb with anything lately? It’s definitely not a blood blister. I would remember pinching myself there. I’ve had enough of those. Like millions of other Americans, I don’t have any insurance. Looks like a trip to the Fantus Clinic at Cook County hospital for me! ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/7 "2008-11-29T20:09:52Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Like millions of other Americans, I don’t have any insurance. Looks like a trip to the Fantus Clinic at Cook County hospital for me! Well, that sucks. Please go as soon as you can. If it is melanoma, early detection is the key to a good cure rate. Doctors that are not dermatologists usually don’t know very much about skin problems- if they don’t want to do a biopsy, _insist_ upon it. Please. And please update us when you get the results. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/8 "2008-11-30T10:05:02Z")
Not to tell you not to get something checked if there’s a chance it should be looked at… But (twice now) I had something that, to me, looked _exactly_ like what you have there. It wasn’t raised, didn’t realize that I’d pricked myself on anything or cut myself at all… Just turned out to be a blood blister. Lasted for some time, can’t remember how long, exactly, but it wasn’t a few days and it wasn’t a few months. The first one I happened to have a physical around the same time and I mentioned it. He said it was probably nothing. The second time I just ignored it and it went away. Again, I’m no doctor… So this is just my own personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/9 "2008-11-30T12:19:15Z")
No doctor but had several hundred sun spots burned off. They often appear under the finger nail and go unnoticed (melanomas). If it has irregular edges I would get it checked. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/10 "2008-11-30T12:48:34Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > The border and color looks irregular, and it’s a new growth- all warning signs of melanoma. It can take weeks to get in with someone, so call Monday for an appointment with a dermatologist, not your PCP. Can one get melanoma on the bottom side of a thumb? I thought it came from exposure to the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/11 "2008-11-30T13:02:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Can one get melanoma on the bottom side of a thumb? I thought it came from exposure to the sun. The skin is one organ and while exposure does do the damage, the damage can appear anywhere- from soles of the feet to inside lips and nostrils. They can appear on genitals which may have had very limited exposure (pun intended). That being said I don’t know that a new appearance is a worry (unless it fills other criteria). It is often an established mole that changes appearance (happy to be corrected here). ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/12 "2008-11-30T15:40:43Z")
Yes, actually 30 percent of melanomas occur in places that never even see the sun. You can get them anywhere- including genitals, soles of feet, retinas… anywhere. Please, OP, don’t let anyone discourage you from getting it checked. This is your life we’re talking about, not theirs. Maybe it is a blood blister, maybe it’s nothing. But don’t take a chance. If it is a melanoma, you want to get that caught sooner rather than later. Trust me on this. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/13 "2008-11-30T15:41:56Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > That being said I don’t know that a new appearance is a worry (unless it fills other criteria). It is often an established mole that changes appearance (happy to be corrected here). Actually, no. Most melanomas are new growths, not from moles. Of course, they can arise from dysplastic moles, but much more commonly just appear one day. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/14 "2008-11-30T16:23:12Z")
Yeah, the soles of the feet thing really threw me the last time I was having my moles checked at the dermatologist. He was very interested in two freckles on the bottom of my feet (but I’ve had them since childhood, with no changes in characteristics). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/15 "2008-11-30T22:24:53Z")
I’ll have it checked out. I’m in Georgia right now working to get Jim Martin elected (we’re going to need 60 votes to get any health care through the Senate). ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/16 "2008-12-01T04:38:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The skin is one organ and while exposure does do the damage, the damage can appear anywhere- from soles of the feet to inside lips and nostrils. They can appear on genitals which may have had very limited exposure (pun intended). > [@](#): > > Yes, actually 30 percent of melanomas occur in places that never even see the sun. You can get them anywhere- including genitals, soles of feet, retinas… anywhere. I never knew this - thank you for sharing! This is very important info. I would have never thought that a spot on a thumb could be cancer! ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/17 "2008-12-01T08:58:57Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > I never knew this - thank you for sharing! This is very important info. I would have never thought that a spot on a thumb could be cancer! Ditto! I always thought that there was a direct connection between sun damage on a particular spot and skin cancer. You learn something new every day! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/18 "2008-12-07T17:56:16Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’ll have it checked out. I’m in Georgia right now working to get Jim Martin elected (we’re going to need 60 votes to get any health care through the Senate). So, you get it checked out yet? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/19 "2008-12-07T18:35:26Z")
Yeah, did you? I’ve been wondering. Even if you have to go to an ER, I really think you should get it checked soon, if you haven’t yet. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956/20 "2008-12-07T21:48:51Z")
I had a similar mark on the pad of my baby finger a couple of times. When it appeared, I also thought it was from a marker, but it stuck around for years, then slowly faded away. Then it reappeared in the same spot years later with the same result as earlier. I asked about it in someone’s “ask the dermatologist’s assistant\*” thread but they didn’t know. I’d be interested in finding out what you learned too. \*or something like that [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-spot-has-appeared-on-my-thumb/474956.md?page=2)