Dr Sonja Bodley

01/10/2025

October is melanoma awareness month and Aotearoa has one of the highest incidences and mortality in the world.

Just a reminder that melanoma NZ is the only registered charity for melanoma in NZ providing advocacy, education and raising awarenss.

They also provide free spot checks throughout the country and free counselling to those affected by Melanoma and their Whanau.

Check out Melanoma New Zealand for more information.

16/10/2024

Sorry to hear that Celeste Barber has had surgery for skin cancer

A great reminder that skin cancer does t discriminate and that you need to check your skin regularly and get anything new or changing checked by your GP it other skin health provider.

Also a good reminder about the importance of sun safety - wear your sunscreen, cover up and stay out of the sun.

Heal well Celeste and thanks again for sharing!

01/08/2024

Here’s a little something I wrote for my specialist GP colleagues. It’s pretty tough for them at the moment and they are doing the absolute best they can for their patients and communities.

So if you can - show your GP a little kindness - a kind word goes a long way.

15 minutes
To meet and greet
A friendly smile
please take a seat

15 minutes
To determine if you’re alright
Order some tests
A prescription to write

15 minutes
To enquire and query
To hear your worries
Postulate a theory

15 minutes
To remove a mole
And listen to how your job
Is taking it’s toll

15 minutes
To share in your life
The birth of a child
The loss of a wife

15 minutes
To share your fears
Your aches and pains
Pass a tissue for your tears

15 minutes
Just isn’t enough
To support you through life
When its getting tough

So if I’ve kept you waiting
Past the booked time for your visit
It’s because someone really needed me
For more than 15 minutes

24/06/2024

I spend a lot of time in schools and with community groups doing sun safety education….. but at times it feels like an uphill battle when I see advertising like this.

This is just a selection of product descriptions that bombard all of us but especially young women.

The message that their own natural skin colour is not acceptable.

The message that ‘bronzed’ is better.

The message that looking ‘tanned’ and ‘sun kissed’ equates to looking healthy.

Don’t get me wrong - using a product to achieve this is much better than using the sun to do it - but honestly this messaging has to change.

Let’s start giving the message that your own natural skin colour is beautiful.

20/06/2024

It’s winter in NZ right now and I know lots of people heading to warmer places for a wee break. 🏝️

It’s great if you’re in a position to be able to head away.

What’s not so great is how many times I hear people talking about getting a ‘base tan’ before they go on holiday. 😱

Tanning of any description is a bad idea. Even if you’re not getting a sun burn - your skin changing colour is a sign it’s being damaged - which can lead to skin cancer and premature aging. ☹️

Let’s normalise loving our skin for its natural colour and protecting it with sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses,clothing and shade.🧴👒🕶️👚⛱️

14/06/2024

Anytime is a good time to protect your skin is it not? 😉

Will you embrace this practice to protect your health and enjoy the sun safely? We certainly hope so. ☀️🧴

12/06/2024

I was scrolling social media today and came across a makeup video by a makeup artist.

She started by going through her skin care - including using sunscreen - excellent, love that!

But then she started explaining how she has a summer and winter shade foundation because her face is more tanned in summer - eeek!

The issue I have with this is simple - if you’re adequately protecting your face - using sunscreen but ALSO hat, sunglasses, getting into the shade then you shouldn’t need to have 2 different foundation shades because your skin should be staying the exact same colour all year round.

If your skin is changing colour, regardless of your natural skin colour, then damage is being done. Sunscreen alone is not enough.

So please - protect your skin. Don’t accept ‘tanning’ as normal or desirable. It’s not

22/05/2024

I’ve done a post on this before - but thanks to circulating social media misinformation - I’m going there again. Some posts are suggesting sunscreen and sunblock are different products doing different things. They’re not. It’s just terminology.

‘SunBLOCK’ is not a thing! ❌

In fact, the term ‘sunblock’ is not allowed to be used for products in NZ and many other countries - because it implies 100% protection, which simply isn’t true and is misleading.

SunSCREEN is more accurate - a ‘screen’ still allows some UV to pass through which is exactly what happens. Some UV still gets through no matter how good your product or application is. ✅

It doesn’t matter what’s in it, how it’s made or how it works - no product can block 100% of UVR.

You need to be clear on what you’re buying and what it can do - and that’s exactly why we have tight regulations around product labelling in Aotearoa.

Now we have cleared that up - put some on every single day 🧴🙂 (and cover up with clothing, hat, sunglasses and shade 👍🏻)

19/05/2024

It was lovely to get this feedback following a presentation I gave to a local community group last week. Education is so important when it comes to sun protection and skin cancer awareness.

It’s always a privilege to be welcomed into these group and communities.

Prevention is key!

18/05/2024

Today is world family doctor day!

To all the GPs and family docs all over the world who work harder than most can appreciate and don’t get anywhere near the recognition they deserve.

To those who work through lunch doing paperwork, who miss their kids activities and family gatherings.

To those who hear ‘just a GP’ or ‘not a real specialist’ more times than they can count.

To those who stay up long into the night checking through test results and worrying about the wellbeing of all those individuals, families and communities you care for.

To those who are trying to keep their businesses a float amongst a crumbling healthcare system.

I know how hard you work. I know how frustrated and sad you are and I know how hard it is to keep going. I know you’re tired.

So from this GP to all the other GPs and family docs out there…..

Thank you.

Thank you for caring.
Thank you for your hard work.
Thank you for your professionalism and skill.
Thank you for hanging in there.

And in case nobody tells you this today - You’re amazing!

15/03/2024

What’s the difference between a ‘screen’ and a block’?

No this isn’t some weird dad joke

It’s actually as simple as it sounds - a screen will let some things through and a block won’t.

What does all this have to do with sun safety I hear you say?

Well it’s all got to do with the language we use around sunSCREEN. You won’t see any product advertised by a manufacturer as sunBLOCK - because that would be false advertising.

It’s called sunSCREEN because it still lets some UVR though. Used perfectly (and let’s face it we don’t use it perfectly) an SPF 50 gives approx 98% protection.

This is why you can still get a tan with sunSCREEN on. Some of the UVR inevitably gets through and induces skin damage. It’s also why you need to cover up and get in the shade.

So next time you’re tempted to believe wearing sunSCREEN means you can lie In the sun, or you think it’s a safe way to get a tan (there’s no such thing btw!), or not cover up - think again, remember these pictures and remember it’s not called sunBLOCK for a very good reason.

12/03/2024

One of the unique things about skin cancer is its one of few cancers that we can see with the naked eye.

This means that theoretically we can catch it early and treat it successfully - but we can only find it if we’re looking!

This is why it’s so important to check your skin regularly. So if you’re not already doing that - start today! If you find something new, changing or not healing, get it checked asap.

Stay tuned over the next wee while and I’ll show you some other examples - you may be surprised to see that they are not always brown moles and often cause no symptoms.

Photo courtesy of DermNet