TikTok is the latest trend in social media. While we knew it could save many people from a few moments of boredom we didn’t think it could save a life, until now. A recent TikTok poster told his story about a video that he posted that caused people to contact him with some surprising information.
Alex Griswold, 24, is a TikToker with 476,000 followers. His videos, therefore, get many many views. For each video that he posts he gets numerous comments and replies on how bad or good people think it is. On one video “What’s it like being married” he was surprised by a number of the comments he received.
The video featured Alex talking about how having your partner scratch an itch on your back can often result in them popping your pimples. He showed an image of his back to show his point. It had some pimples and a mole on it. The mole caused alarm to many. Alex started to receive comments from his well-wishers that he needed to get the mole checked out.
One comment, in particular, stood out to Alex. Lizzie Wells a melanoma survivor contacted Alex and told him a number of reasons why the mole looked dangerous. She follows the ABCDE rule. It suggests that you should look for asymmetry (when one half looks different to the other half), border irregularity, different colors, large diameter (bigger than a pencil top) and changing size, shape or color.
Alex went to the doctor and found he had to remove the mole as it was on an early path to melanoma. If he hadn’t acted soon it would have developed into something nasty.
The story is a good lesson for all. If you are a TikTok influencer then make a post featuring a large shot of your back. If not then check yourself, get a loved one to check, or a doctor. Don’t wait for bad news to find you, find it first.