GILBERT, Ariz. — The Arizona sun can be a blessing for outdoor enthusiasts who want to escape the bitter cold in other parts of the nation. The downside however—skin cancer.
"It's one of the higher states obviously with the amount of sun exposure and amount of sunny days we have," Dr. David Kelly said from his office in Gilbert.
Kelly is a board-certified plastic surgeon who says the job is becoming increasingly busy.
"There's no downtime, no summer vacation it seems like," Kelly said.
Over the past few years, Dr. Kelly said the amount of work he and other plastic surgeons are doing is increased mainly by the number of skin cancer survivors looking to fix scars.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts more than 80,000 new cases of skin cancer in the United States this year, which is up about 50% over the last two decades, according to the same agency.
Dr. Kelly said Arizona is on the higher end of states, which means it has a higher number of people needing treatment.
"Especially in younger patients, they are coming in and getting diagnosed in their 30s and 40s," Dr. Kelly said.
The age of these patients does matter in predicting why plastic surgery is a "necessary" option.
"They're still working, so they are worried about showing up to work in the next day or two, so they're a lot more aware of their appearance as they're going out," Dr. Kelly said.
The social media generation might also play a role in the need for cosmetic surgery in the wake of skin cancer removal. Dr. Kelly remembers several instances where a patient citied selfies and other pictures as a reason for fixing their scars.
"These younger patients are looking at themselves in the camera much more often," Kelly said.