This is my extremely speckledy back. Those many many freckles are largely the result of a mis-spent youth lying on the beach covered in all manner of oils in pursuit of a tan. My arms and chest are similarly spotted, but the remainder of me less so.

Of course now being elderly and more sensible, I try to be good about sun protection, but sometimes careless application of sun-screen results in horrible sunburn like that shown in the photo, obtained during a beach walk in Vietnam.

Inside the green circle is the large (and flat) mole I had biopsied and which came back as on its way to becoming a melanoma. Obviously I can’t see my back, but I would never have considered that particular mole to be anything of interest – I’d have thought the darker ones would be potentially more troublesome. But this is why I am not a dermatologist and why one should leave this sort of thing to the professionals.

As it is I think I need photos of my back taken on the regular, there’s a lot there to monitor and because of the recent less-than-favourable results I need to be more vigilant.

You should really go get a skin cancer check.