A benign skin lesion is a breakdown of tissue such as a wound, sore, abscess, or tumor. This term is used to describe a nonmalignant condition that will not spread or grow back after removal.

Melanoma (mela-noma) is a group of cells containing melanin (mela-nin). Melanin is the dark pigment found in the hair, skin, and eyes. Melanomas are mostly benign (be-nine), which means they cause little or no harm.

Most people have benign growths on their skin, such as moles and birthmarks. Birthmarks are present at birth; moles begin to appear in childhood. The majority of birthmarks are dark brown and flat at birth and may become lighter and slightly raised as time passes.

The next time you think of going out in the sun unprotected, consider this: the sun gives off three types of harmful ultraviolet rays, each of which can penetrate deep into the skin, gradually destroying its elasticity, causing premature aging, and contributing to skin cancer.

Unprotected, prolonged exposure to strong sunlight is a leading cause of skin cancer. There are three types of skin cancer: basal (BAY-suhl) cell, squamous (SKWAY-muss) cell, and malignant melanoma.

Long term exposure to the sun or repeated sun burns can break down the elastic tissues in your skin and may cause solar keratosis (care-a-toe-sis). solar keratoses are flat, pink, scaly spots that grow on sun-damaged skin.

Repeated exposure to the sun has been shown to enhance wrinkles and other aging effects of the skin. In addition, long-term exposure to strong sunrays also increase the risk of getting skin cancer.