Has anyone ever heard of a person getting cancer on the palms of your hand or the sole of you feet?

Asked by Pandora (32436

) May 20th, 2013

I was curious and began to wonder why our palms and soles don’t tan. Even if you are laying down facing the sun. It is because we have very little melanin there. However, we do not burn.

Melanin is suppose to protect us from the sun. The more we have, the less we tend to burn. But I’ve never seen anyone with sun burnt palms. I suppose if you really try, you can but I’ve never seen it. So it had me wonder if the soles of your feet and hands are actually better at preventing sun damage. Other than it being thicker skin, can there be something else to it?

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6 Answers

I did the research for feet, including soles. (I’ll let you do the same for hands, since I am busy.)

“Be sure to look at the soles of your feet and between your toes and have someone check your scalp to find lesions that you may be unaware of.” Source

(Melanoma can appear on the palms also, it seems.)

gailcalled (54647

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@gailcalled, It’s not what I’m really wondering. I get that cancer cells can happen anywhere. I’m just wondering why is it we don’t seem to burn in those areas, and if that is what decreases our chances of getting cancer in those spots. Is it the thicker skin? If it is the thicker skin, does it decrease your chances of getting skin cancer if you naturally have thicker skin? I’ve known people who are caucasian and don’t burn easily. Their skin seems thicker than most fair skinned people.

Pandora (32436

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The skin on the palms and soles is slightly thicker so takes longer to burn. As the skin of the wrists is much thinner it burns much much quicker so you would be in pain and out of the sun long before the skin on your palms gets close to being burnt.

Lightlyseared (34907

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