Is That Fake Tan Really Worth it?

That bronzed year around glow you love so much comes at a much bigger price than you realize.  Those who chose to tan indoors are 74% more likely to develop melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, than those who have never tanned indoors.  People die from melanoma every 57 minutes.  As if that isn’t reason enough to not fake tan, just one indoor tanning session per year in high school or college boosts the risk of basal cell carcinoma by 10 percent. That risk is increased to 73 percent if one tans six times per year. 

Nearly 30 million people visit the tanning bed every year in the United States alone; 2.3 million of them being teenagers.  As a girl who has visited the tanning bed off and on for the last four years, I thought I was on the “safe” side of it.  I didn’t go 2 days in a row and I never stayed in the bed for the maximum time so why am I having a mole cut off and sent in for skin cancer testing?  

My dermatologist assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that they had caught it early.  If not detected early it could have grown deeper in my skin and spread.  The procedure would consist of a couple of numbing shots, a football shape cut out of the skin about a centimeter deep, and several stitches.  It was not a huge procedure, but knowing that I was actually having a piece of skin on my arm removed due to pre cancerous skin cells was frightening.  Afterwards I was to clean it, dab vaseline on it, and bandage it up for about 10 days before coming in to have the stitches removed.  

Now I am left with a half way healed purple scar about an inch long on my forearm. 

As a result of this I have vowed to myself to never go back to tanning bed again.  To some, having a little pre-cancerous skin bump removed would simply be a bump in the road.  A nip and a tuck and they are on their way back to “fake and bake” with hopes that this doesn’t occur again.  For me, this was an ending point.  No year around glow is worth having something like this happen again.  And next time it could be on my face; a risk I am not willing to take.  How far are you willing to go to achieve that faux glow?  Is risking your health and life really worth it?  Ironically, girls of all ages tan to enhance their appearance, and 1 in 3 of them will end up with a scar like mine.  Two steps forward and three steps back.  

Over the past 40 years melanoma rates have increased by 800% in young women.  The desire for a year around bronze has never been greater, and the risk that goes along with it has never been higher.  Knowing what to look for is a vital step in identifying a pre cancerous mole.  I made an appointment with my dermatologist to have the mole removed because I thought it was ugly.  Unfortunately they removed it not for that reason, but I am so thankful I made the appointment when I did and no later.  There are a multitude of other options to get a tan. You could simply embrace you lighter skin color during the winter months.  If not, companies such as Neutrogena, Nivea, L’oreal, and Jergens offer self tanning lotions.  So, how much more damage are you going to cause your skin?  

For more information, visit  http://www.skincancer.org/