Mike McIntyre, a hairdresser of 34 years in Christchurch, folded down his client's ear to get a "clear workspace" for his clippers and spotted an angry-looking skin lesion.
"Mate, I have never seen this before. Have you been aware of this?" he asked his regular client.
McIntyre, who works at Surreal Hairdressing, didn't have formal training for spotting skin cancer, but he used the know-how from his own skin-check appointments with a doctor and encouraged the client to investigate it further.
Two weeks later, the client called him to say a biopsy of the lump revealed an aggressive cancer. McIntyre finding the hard-to-see lump meant the cancer was caught early enough to be treated.
"It came back as a full-blown melanoma. You are talking months before it could be really not good for you," said Adam, the 54-year-old client who did get yearly cancer checks. He declined to use his last name.
Hairdressers, beauticians and nail technicians are in an ideal scenario for keeping tabs on worrisome skin lesions. The nature of their work often brings them up close to clients at regular intervals providing a prime opportunity to find moles or other spots that have taken a cancerous turn.
Hairdressers and beauticians with a formal New Zealand qualification often have some training on how to spot skin cancer. Then, there are professionals like McIntyre who take a personal interest in skin cancer to keep watch over their clients.
Wendy Duckett is a nurse who has more than 20 years of experience in skin cancer. As part of her role at Henderson Medical Centre's Skin Cancer Clinic in West Henderson, Duckett reaches out to those in the beauty industry with information on what to look for when it comes to skin cancer on clients.
"You're just looking for change. Don't worry too much about what that change is," Duckett said.
A few years ago, the manager of a local beauty business asked Duckett to train staff on spotting skin cancer after a client blamed staff for not picking up on a cancerous lesion.
They were beauticians who were not trained in skin cancer progressions.
"However, it did get me thinking - these people look at skin, these people who do nails in clinics and hairdressers, they are looking at skin a lot and they have a lot of regular patients so they are in a prime position to pick up anything that's changing or looks different."
About 10 per cent of Duckett's patients come to the clinic at the urging of a beauty professional, she said.
Dr Louise Reiche from the NZ Dermatological Society advised those who have a regular hairdresser to ask them to keep an eye out for changing skin lesions.
"Massaging scalps as part of the washing process picks up tactile lumps and blow drying the hair helps separate different parts of the scalp enabling better viewing than doctors and patients themselves often can."
However, some hairdressers are better equipped than others to take on this role, according to Jess Corbett, head of operations at Premier Institute of Education, a college for hairdressers, barbers and beauticians.
Hairdressing in New Zealand is unregulated meaning anyone can open up shop and start cutting hair without proper training, including on skin cancer, she said.
Corbett advised people to find a hairdresser with a formal qualification.
"[Premier's] hairdressing qualification contains several unit standards dedicated to consultation, including performing comprehensive hair and scalp analysis as well as identifying and understanding contagious and non-contagious diseases and disorders."
Hairdressers who are members of Hairdresser and Barber NZ, an industry organisation, can upskill with an online melanoma course through its website.
