When your pimple might be cancer — and how to recognize the signs

It’s a zit you can’t zap, derms are warning.

Docs are warning of a common skin cancer symptom that often goes unnoticed. 

“Patients will come into the office and say they’ve had a pimple that hasn’t gone away for months,” Dr. Fatima Fahs, board-certified dermatologist and skin care expert based in Michigan, told the Post. “This is not normal!”

In fact, the doctor goes on, it’s highly likely that it’s one of the most common forms of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma. 

“Basal cell carcinoma often has bright red blood vessels within it and can look shiny,” Fahs, who goes by @dermy_doc on Instagram, explained. “If you have a non-healing pink or red bump on your skin, please get it checked.”

This type of skin cancer starts in basal cells — a cell type within the skin that produces new skin cells as the old ones die off, according to Mayo Clinic. 

Symptoms can range from looking like a pimple that doesn’t heal, to a shiny, skin-colored bump, a white or waxy lesion, a flat, scaly patch, or a lesion that is black, brown or blue. Like other types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinomas can develop later in life — after years of sun exposure — and the treatment typically involves cutting it out of the skin entirely. Experts recommend that people should be screened for skin cancer annually — or more often if you are higher risk.

It’s common to see this type of cancer pop up where the sun hits your skin — neck, arms, face and head — but that doesn’t mean other parts of your body can’t get it. 

“You can also get skin cancer where the sun doesn’t shine — yes, like around your vulva or penis,” Fahs warned. Even though it might sound embarrassing, if there’s a new “pimple” or sore that just won’t heal, it’s worth going to see a doctor. 

What’s more, Fahs added, your hands and nails aren’t exempt either. 

“New dark streaks or growths in and around the nails should always be evaluated too,” Fahs said. “Melanoma of the nail bed is possible and can be more deadly.”

A quick search on social media reveals just how common the problem actually is — with doctors on TikTok warning of the often overlooked symptom.

“I cut these out daily as a board-certified skin cancer surgeon,” Dr. Neera Nathan, a dermatologist who goes by the moniker @dermatologysurgeon, explained recently on TikTok. 

In the video, which has already been viewed nearly 20,000 times, the doctor goes on to warn that if the pimple isn’t healing, you need to see a doctor.

“And the way you differentiate these [is] they just get bigger, and sometimes they bleed or develop a sore,” Nathan advised. “My rule is that if you’ve had a ‘pimple’ for more than one month go get it checked out by a doctor because it could be a skin cancer.”