Tanning Bed Stories About Cancer

There are all kinds of stories about cancer and tanning beds. Tanning beds are dangerous and can be worse than lying in the sun. When a person climbs into one those beds, the ultraviolet rays are right above you, just inches away. These rays are damaging, though you get beautiful brown skin. Young girls put themselves at risk using these beds at an early age. This beauty regimen can have dreadful results.

• The perfect tan

Lesions and Moles

• More and more women are going through agony after developing skin cancer from tanning beds. Moles and lesions are the consequences of tanning salons, according to one young woman, who started using tanning beds at the age of 14. By the time she turned 18, she went from tanning beds to a hospital bed. She has had over 40 lesions removed. Some of these were diagnosed as being the common basal cell carcinomas, while the others were spreading squamous cell carcinomas. Because of returning moles and lesions, this skin cancer patient has an unpredictable future.

Five Years of Ultraviolet Rays

• It doesn't take long for something to go wrong when it comes to tanning beds. For example, a tanning bed client used a tanning salon from the age of 16 to 21. Her case began when she noticed a tiny freckle above her knee. In a matter of months, the spot began to grow. By the time she had it removed, the biopsy showed that the freckle was malignant melanoma. This was the result of using tanning beds and the sun. It seems that she had a double or triple dose of the dangerous ultraviolet rays. Though she is cancer-free today, she wears the scars of tanning bed use.

The Misconception of Tanning Beds

• Many people believe the myth that tanning beds are safer than tanning in the sun. This option also comes with high risks. You can still get lesions and moles that have to be treated. Tanning beds causes wrinkled, thin and blotchy skin. Take for instance two twin sisters who had a fascination with beautiful tans and tanning beds when they were in their 20s. Their complexion looked flawless and beautiful after going under the UV lights. However, at the age of 50, their obsession has left no elasticity in their skin.

A Little Too Late

• It has been said that healthy-looking skin looks beautiful and tanned. People are replacing hours in the sun with overtime in tanning booths, thinking that this method will be safer. One person in particular waited too long before she took the warning signs of tanning beds seriously. She died because of her excessive visits to tanning salons. She was 14 when she started using tanning beds, going twice a day for six years. She did stop once she found out the dangers. But by then it was too late, the damage was already done. Skin cancer took her life at the age of 29.

You Are Not Out of the Woods

• If someone tells you that tanning beds do not cause cancer as the sun does, they are misinformed. One cancer survivor found this out the hard way, after finding a pesky mole on her stomach. The concern came when the mole began to itch and turned dark. She had the mole removed, but by then she found out that she had Stage 2 melanoma. She had her lymph nodes removed. Even though this person is cancer-free today, she still has a higher risk for melanoma developing in her than someone who has never had the disease.