I went to pop a pimple and it turned out to be skin CANCER – these were the warning signs I missed

A woman has been diagnosed with skin cancer after mistaking a malignant growth on her nose for a pimple.

Michelle Davis, 52, from Orewa, New Zealand, saw the red bump on her nose in April 2022 and thought it was just a spot until it got “really painful.”

But when she tried to burst it with her fingers, no pus came out, but the spot continued to bleed, prompting her to seek medical attention.

Her doctor immediately thought it was cancer and after a biopsy on Ms.

Davis, diagnosed basal cell carcinoma – a common form of skin cancer that affects four million Americans each year.

Ms. Davis (pictured two weeks before surgery) said she would cover the pimple with concealer. At some point it turned purple, but she still turned it down

Mrs Davis has had surgery to cut out the cancer and the skin of her nose has been stretched to cover the hole it left behind.

The account manager is now recovering from surgery at home and needs no further treatment.

Ms Davis said when the pimple first came on she thought, ‘What am I doing to get a pimple at 52’. and that it would soon disappear.

But that didn’t happen, she said, adding: “It would flare up and go back down. I remember squeezing it and nothing came out.

“Then it bled and bled and bled — for a week. I was in shock when I found out. I had never heard of basal cell carcinoma.’

Michelle first noticed the “pimple” a year ago and spent a year using concealer.

She said, “It was really hard. Like a volcano under the skin. I went for a walk with my girlfriend and it turned purple and she pointed it out.

“I said, ‘It’s just a pimple,’ I was in denial.”

But in January 2023, the spot got “really bad” that made her try to squeeze it.

She said, ‘Nothing happened. Then it bled and bled. I thought ‘that’s not normal’.’

Michelle went to her doctor the following month and was told it looked like skin cancer.

A biopsy confirmed she had basal cell carcinoma and she underwent emergency surgery to remove the cancer. There was no sign that it had spread to other parts of her body.

Michelle underwent nasal flap reconstruction at Ormiston Hospital, Auckland, in April 2023 to remove the cancer and pull the nasal skin over the hole.

She said, “They cut my nose in a zigzag. They carved out a crater. There was a hole in the tip of my nose.

“Then they take down the skin to cover it.”

Michelle was left with terrifying and differently shaped nostrils, but said it was healing well. She is also grateful that she still has a nose.

She said, ‘It’s still healing. My nostrils are different shapes because they stretch the skin.

“The scar tissue is hard. The nerves are numb.

‘[But] some people end up losing their noses, so thank goodness.”

Michelle will need to come back for checkups once a year, she said, because she’s more at risk for skin cancer if she’s had it once.

She had the pimple (pictured) for about a year before getting it checked

She is thankful the cancer has not gotten to the point where she has to have her entire nose amputated (shown above after surgery)

She’s shared her story to raise awareness of the condition and urge others not to ignore pimples that won’t go away.

“If I had continued to ignore it, it would have gotten much bigger,” she said.

“Maybe I had gotten to the point where they couldn’t stop it.

“I really thought it was a pimple. I thought skin cancer was a mole.’

She wasn’t sure why the cancer had started, but said she never used skin block growing up — though it’s now part of her daily skincare routine.

Michelle said: ‘At first I thought I’m 52 and single, now I’m getting a horrible nose.

“But it’s been pretty powerful. It’s only skin deep. It’s about the inside.’

According to figures, approximately 4.3 million Americans are diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma each year.

But the vast majority survive the condition, with about 2,000 cancer deaths each year.

It is normally caught in the early stages before it has spread to other parts of the body, allowing doctors to quickly remove it during surgery.

The number of cases has been on the rise in recent years, which doctors have linked to more sun exposure, light-colored skin and people living longer.

The cancer is more common in men than women, which researchers have linked to their being more likely to work outdoors.