Our mission on both MySkinCareConnection and SkinCancerConnection is to give you the facts you need to make wise choices about your skin. One of the more controversial topics we discuss on our skin sites is about the use of tanning beds. We get a lot of comments to older posts from representatives of the tanning bed industry. I think it is time to dispel a lot of the myths being perpetuated about the use of tanning beds so that you can make wise decisions, based not upon marketing schemes, but upon facts.
One fact to consider is that melanoma is no longer an “old person’s disease.” In recent decades, there has been a dramatic increase of melanoma among young people and especially young women. When we hear about women in their twenties being diagnosed with a potentially deadly melanoma, there is something wrong. This should not be happening. Most experts agree that the increase in melanoma rates in people so young is directly correlated to an increase in tanning including the use of tanning beds. Beyond the facts and figures, the rhetoric, and the arguments, there are real people who are being told that they have melanoma skin cancer following years of tanning bed use.
There are many comments posted to our skin care article, The Dangers of Tanning Beds but one comment stands out among all the others. A member called Concerned Mom writes to us to share her daughter’s story.
My daughter is 28 years old. she has used tanning beds for about 10 years...none in the last year and a half. we have zero incidence of cancer in our family (except prostate) on either side and it goes back generations with no other cancer. we were told for years that tanning beds were safer than the sun..why did we listen to that? I don't know but my baby girl has been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. from the research I have done, this is the #1 cancer in young women 19-29 with breast cancer second among 30-34 year old women. (experts please correct me if I have my info incorrect) the incidence is increasing in younger women. melanoma has more than tripled in the last 10 years. This is NO JOKE! Taking a chance with your life is not worth it. Our family is devastated and from everything I have read, tanning beds are a big part of this increase in melanoma. Don't be stupid like we were. we will deal with this forever now as once you have it you must be very careful. We are waiting on final pathology report to come this week after her second surgery in one weeks time. PLEASE be safe everyone. I sure wish we could have a DO-OVER! Good luck...get a complete body mole check every year and to those working in tanning salons, get that check up immediately. You are ignorant if you think it cannot happen to you!
Despite the tanning industry’s attempts to convince us that tanning beds are safe, there are many young people who will be diagnosed with a potentially deadly melanoma. If you think that Concerned Mom’s story is unique guess again. She is accurate in her citation of statistics that melanoma is now considered to be one of the most common types of cancer for young adults in the United States.
