Two Reasons Why I WON'T Tan Anymore

C

catwoman

Cathlete
1) I had a mole removed from my abdomen a few years back. It was the scariest couple of weeks of my life, wondering if they were going to come back and tell me I had skin cancer.

2) About the time the mole was removed, I read an article in our local newspaper about a girl who was barely 21, and had been using tanning beds since the age of 11. At 21, she had already had several surgeries to remove cancerous cells from all over her body. She had so many scars - they showed a picture of her back and shoulders, and she looked like she been used as a carving board. It was awful. She'd said that her senior year she'd worked so hard to develop the perfect tan for her prom, and the paper printed her prom picture. They called it a tan to die for. And, it WAS a gorgeous tan...and all the other girls had been so envious of her...until a few months later when she got her first skin cancer diagnosis. Yes, it WAS a tan to die for...because she most likely will die from all her years of tanning.

Now this girl wonders if she'll even live long enough to see her own daughter graduate from high school. Every time a new mole pops up on her body, she has to get it checked out. She can't even go outside in the sun, anymore, and has to put on SPF 35 sunblock all over her body every single day. Her entire life now revolves around skin cancer, and she's only in her mid-20's.

If I can find this story archived in the paper's online records, I will post it, but it's been a few years ago, so I'm not sure how successful my search will be.

Mothers, do NOT let your daughters tan in tanning beds. Do NOT let them lay out in the sun without at least a moderate-level sunscreen (SPF 8 or higher) on. I don't care how much they pressure you...just find them some articles about young people with skin cancer and have them read those. Tell them that this is what they have to look forward to if they want to use a tanning bed.
 
I hear you!! I just had a mole removed from the back of my leg. It was the scariest couple weeks of my life too!!! No more tanning for me!
 
I heard a story like that...was probably the same gal.

I also heard a few other stories of tanning gone bad....

A girl literally went tanning every single day (which you are not supposed to do), I think maybe even 2x a day....after about a week I think..she was dead. She died in the last tannning bed she hit...she cooked herself to death literally.

Another young woman got extremely drunk and went outside to get a tan. She slathered baby oil all over her body and laid down outside on an astronauts blanket (or something like it). They are made to absorb heat, etc. Being as drunk as she was, she promplty passed out...she was found dead too...fried herself to death. It is claimed that her skin was literally sizziling on the blanket when she was found.

These are all *extreme* cases but scarey none the less....

Have a great work out!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN
 
she hit...she cooked herself to death literally.
>
>Another young woman got extremely drunk and went outside to
>get a tan. She slathered baby oil all over her body and laid
>down outside on an astronauts blanket (or something like it).
>They are made to absorb heat, etc. Being as drunk as she was,
>she promplty passed out...she was found dead too...fried
>herself to death. It is claimed that her skin was literally
>sizziling on the blanket when she was found.
>
>These are all *extreme* cases but scarey none the less....
>
>Have a great work out!
>
>~Wendy~
>


OMG!! That is horrible!!
 
Those 2 stories were actually told to me by the guy that owned the tanning salon I went to!!

He said that going to a tanning salon that actually monitors/controls to some point the tanning habits of it's customers-which they DID actually do-to make sure they are not overdoing it is the safest form of tanning that there is...now that could have been his "sales pitch" too..who knows but I thought the source of the stories was intersting none-the-less...

Have a great work out!

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

http://lilypie.com/days/050519/1/0/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?WENDYMIN
 
I couldn't find the story I referenced in the archives of my newspaper, but I found two others. Interestingly enough, one of the stories referred to a a couple of 16-year-olds who were visiting the tanning salon for the 3rd day in a row. I wonder if they realized they could've died. The other story was another skin-cancer-at-age-16 story. The girl was diagnosed with melanoma at age 16 and in a subsequent interview, she admitted that she didn't think it was any big deal at the time. It wasn't until later that she realized how serious her situation had been. Teenagers think they are invincible...and they don't understand that even as a teenager, they can still die.
 
RE: Urban Legends

I won't tan anymore either...atleast not in a bed. I worked at one for a few years and am convinced that all the free tanning MUST have quadrupled my chances for skin cancer......not to mention the wrinkles that have popped up in the last two years. I am darker complected so my chances are less, but it still worries me....
 
RE: Urban Legends

I add to this only as a cancer treatment nurse. I work radiation oncology where, unfortunately we see most of the skin cancer patients.
I am so guilty of past sun worshipping. I actually remember a time (in high school, in the 80's mind you;-) We tanned with baby oil and SALT??? what the heck was that??? salt water/oil????
Anyway, fake tan for me now. DH complains i won't wear a bikini, and i tell him, my stomach has been way over exposed in the past (fair headed and skinned gal here) and it would be unsafe:) :)

Anyway i can get out of wearing a bikini }(
 
RE: Urban Legends

yeah, the dying in the tanning bed is an urban legend, i've heard it many mamy times.

however, the original post of this thread is a big reality. i've personally never seen the attraction of tanning beds, they turned my skin orangy the one time i used it (i tan quick).

the only reason i will continue to tan in the natural sun, in moderation of course, is because it actually helps my skin. sounds so weird, but i have not the best skin in the world and when i tan i don't break out as much. odd...
maddie
 
My mother died of melanoma. I have red hair and fair skin and several other risk factors, so I wear sunscreen everyday and have a dermatologist check my skin once a year, but I love the outdoors and am probably not as careful as I should be.

I think your decision to do what you can to avoid skin cancer is an excellent one.

Maggie
 
I posted this over on the other tanning thread, but I will say it again. Don't tan! I did have a cancerous mole removed - it was melanoma - and I was very lucky that it was found early enough to just leave me with a scar as a reminder.

These threads on tanning have made me really start thinking - why do we women (and let's be honest, it is us more than men) do things that are harmful to ourselves in the name of beauty? Why do we discard our common sense and continue to engage in practices that ultimately lead to negative ends? Everyone knows that the sun is harmful and yet so many people are horrified at the thought of not being tan. And I am just using tanning as an example. I think a lot of it is the ability to think "it won't happen to me" and continue to do what you know is harmful to your body. Anyways, just something I have been thinking about lately.

So, put your sunscreen on and have a good day.
Tracy
 
Did you all know that tanning beds are on the FDA's list of known carcinogens?:eek: Wouldn't you think they would be illegal. Also, my good friend DIED of melanoma that her oncologist, a specialist in the field of melanoma, said was caused 100% from tanning bed use. Hmm, forget excessive tanning bed use, ANY TANNING BED USE is harmful.
 
I know I already posted on this thread, but I just had to add that if you catch the melanoma mole and have it removed, your chance of survival is excellent.

If you miss the mole and the cancer spreads (as in the case of my mother) your chance of survival, even with chemo is around 2%--it is a deadly cancer. Of course this is the information we had from her oncologist 12 years ago--perhaps there are more effective treatments now.

My mom died 5 months after her melanoma was discovered.

take care
Maggie
 
The chances of getting skin cancer is so scary. I try to wear sunscreen whenever possible (except the winter, I keep forgetting) and I even wear a hat when I am push mowing our lawn or running outside. To me it is not worth the risk. Besides I am fair skinned and burn so easily, especially on my nose. Hence why I wear a hat. My skin is so white I put Casper to shame, but I can live with that if it reduces my chances of getting skin cancer and keeps me from getting wrinkles prematurely.

However one of the girls I work with never even thinks about getting skin cancer. She is 25 years old and has had at least 20 moles removed from all over her body. To make things even worse every weekend in the summer she goes to the lake and sunbathes. She still uses the tanning bed occassionally too. Unfortunately it might take getting skin cancer for her to realize this is not something you take lightly.
 
Just this past month there was a study that came out linking sunlight exposure to increased survival in melanoma, which is strange, to say the least. And there are some (extremely controversial) dermatologists who say that sunlight is not as horrible as we make it out to be and that we actually need sunlight (for vitamin D synthesis for one thing--not just getting it from supplements). I'm not advocating tanning and/or tanning beds--but it will be interesting to see how and if our view of whether or not sun exposure is healthy/cancer-causing may change with more research.

Here's a link to an abstract of the melanoma/sunlight study if anyone is interested.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15687362
 
In the book, "The Maker's Diet," is this excerpt:

"Civilizations throughout history have understood that the sun is vital to human health. The human skin uses the energy from the sun to manufacture vitamin D for the body. This hormone/vitamin is important for many reasons, including its role in strengthening immune system function and proper mineral absorption.

Critics claim that exposure to the UV rays of the sun cause higher rates of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. This might be true for a small population segment -- those with compromised immune systems who don't consume adequate nutrients (especially healthy fats). However, the people who actually get the most exposure to sunlight in different parts of the world exhibit the lowest incidence of skin cancer. The only logical explanation is that exposure to sunlight is no unhealthy.

What is unhealthy is exposure to sunlight with the diets we consume. Rex Russell, M.D., notes that when sunlight activates the phytochemicals in healthy foods, consumption of these foods not only blocks the harmful effects of UV rays, but they also produce 'antiviral, antibacterial, and anticancer components, as well as pest repellents.' "
 
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