Is that spot changing between check-ups?
Drop a numbered marker on the body map for each mole or spot you're keeping an eye on, name it, and log a dated observation — size, colour, anything new — at every check. The ABCDE Check teaches what to look for; this map remembers where and when. Everything stays on this device.
The printout is both figures with the numbered markers plus each spot's dated log — worth bringing to a skin check, or folding into your Derm Visit Prep sheet. For spots you're actively watching, keep dated photos in the Photo Tracker too — a photo settles “has it changed?” better than memory.
Saved only on this device — and browsers erase site data. A history clear, a private window, or Safari's automatic deletion after seven days without a visit will take this log with it. The fix is a free Dermington account: it backs this up automatically and puts it on every device you sign in to — details in how storage works.
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How the mole map works
Skin self-examination has a memory problem: by the next check-up, nobody reliably recalls which shoulder the dark mole was on, how big it looked, or when they first noticed it. This tool fixes the remembering. You place a numbered marker on front and back body figures for each mole or spot you're watching — the map names the body site automatically from where the marker lands — then give it a label and log a dated observation whenever you check it: size measured against a ruler, colour, border, whether it's flat or raised, any itching or bleeding. Each spot builds its own dated timeline, so “has it changed?” becomes a comparison between two written entries instead of an argument with your memory. The whole map prints as a one-page report — both figures plus every spot's log — made for handing to a dermatologist at a skin check.
What to write in those entries comes from the ABCDE criteria that dermatology has used for four decades: the ABCD warning signs were set out by Friedman, Rigel and Kopf in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (1985), and the E — Evolving — was added by Abbasi and colleagues in JAMA (2004), because change over time is the single most telling sign of the lot. That division of labor is the point of this tool: the ABCDE Check teaches what to look for, this map remembers where and when, and the Photo Tracker keeps the dated pictures that settle whether a spot has truly changed. Your records never leave the browser, and the printable map slots straight into a Derm Visit Prep sheet.
Common questions
Can this tool tell me if a mole is melanoma?
No — and it deliberately doesn’t try. The map is a documentation aid: it remembers where each spot is and what you observed on each date, which is exactly the information a dermatologist wants when deciding whether something has genuinely changed. Any spot that is changing, bleeding, itching, or new and different from your others should be examined in person regardless of what your notes say.
How often should I update my mole map?
A monthly self-check is the rhythm dermatologists commonly suggest for people watching their skin, and it maps neatly onto this tool — walk the figures, glance at each numbered spot, and log a dated observation for anything you measured or noticed. Between check-ins, log immediately whenever something catches your eye; the date on the entry is half its value.
What should each observation actually say?
Concrete, measurable things beat impressions: size in millimetres against a ruler, the dominant colour and whether it is even, the border, whether the spot is flat or raised, and any symptoms like itching or bleeding. The ABCDE Check tool walks through the classic warning signs — Asymmetry, Border, Colour, Diameter over 6 mm, Evolving — and those five words make a fine checklist for writing a useful entry.
Where are my spot records stored?
Entirely in your own browser on this device — nothing is uploaded to Dermington or anywhere else, and there is no account requirement. The trade-off is that clearing browser data erases the map, so once you have a history worth keeping, download a backup from Your data. A printed copy before each skin check is also cheap insurance.
Why pair this map with photos?
Because memory is the weakest instrument in skin self-examination — a dated photo settles “has it changed?” in seconds where recollection argues. For any spot you are actively watching, take a photo in the Photo Tracker each time you log an observation here, ideally at the same distance and lighting, with a ruler in frame. The note records what you thought; the photo records what was there.