Are you gonna hit sunbeds this summer?
Wednesday 30 June 2010
We all consider cheating before we head off on our summer holidays: adamant not to look paler than Edward Cullen of the Twilight fame when we first arrive on the beach, many of us take the ‘fake it’ approach.
A quick 10 minutes on a sunbed and we can arrive on the beach looking like we’ve been there for days. But is it worth the risks?
Schoolgirl Jude Hoare, 14, certainly regrets her 6 minutes on a sunbed, which resulted in severe burns. Aware that she was too young to use a sunbed, Jude attended a coin-operated machine at an unmanned salon.
The risks which are constantly drilled into our heads became a reality for Jude, her mother claiming ‘the pain was so bad she’s started crying’.
And ladies, please say we don’t have to remind you of the high risk of skin cancer associated with these machines. Mum-of-eight Teresa Zawadzki, 31, died two nights ago after using a sunbed once a week for 10 years.
She admitted that she never sunbathed outside, and it appears her regular use of her sunbed was the cause of the cancerous mole diagnosed six months ago.
A law to ban under-18s from using sunbeds is going through but Teresa’s mother claims this is not enough, saying: ‘I think they should be banned’.
Terrifying True Facts.
More than 10,400 cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the UK every year and rates of melanoma have risen faster than any other cancer.
Over half of all people that die from malignant melanoma are younger than 70.
Over-exposure to the sun causes your skin to age early making it look coarse, leathery and wrinkled.
We certainly don’t think it’s worth the risks so grab your sun cream and stay clear of sunbeds! Spray or bottled tan offer a safe way to look gorgeous this summer.
Or perhaps you could set a trend this summer. Is pale the new tan...?
By Sophie More