Think I'm addicted to tanning

[minkydog]

Yeah, my grandmother was one of those little old ladies who spent their lives in the sun. She battled with several bouts of squamous cell skin cancer and had to live with scars on her face and ears from having them taken off. Her face was leathery and wrinkled from the age of 35. She never had melanoma, but she had breast cancer, uterine cancer, and colon cancer(twice!).

My step-brother lost his life to cancer at age 46. Never been sick a day in his life but he had spent a lot of time in the sun. Got a pimple that wouldn't go away, finally took himself in and it was stage 4. He lived 9 months during which time the cancer metastisized to his jaw and neck. He had to have the jaw and 1/2 the neck tissue removed--truly horrible. So young. He left a teenage son and a wife behind.

 

[AmyPond]

Recently there was a study of identical twins who lead very different lifestyles. It showed how lifestyle choices really effect a persons looks.

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyl...its_like_smoking_and_tanning_can_dramati.html

There was a better article about this same study and it had more pictures of other sets of twins but I can't find it.

The photo in the link above is of two twins. One is a sun worshipper.

 

[Tina]

When I was young, my best friend's mom was just like the OP. She laid out in the sun every day in the summer. Sure, she looked great when she was 30. I used to wish I could look as great as her! I ran into her about 2 years ago. She's in her 50's now and she looked like she was 120! Seriously. She looked like Mother Theresa. Horrible! If you want to continue to bake in the sun, that's your choice, but I hope you can live with it later in life. I'd rather be pale.

 

[FireDancer]

Well, over tanning in your 20's is the best way to look like beef jerky in your 40's so if that is the look you are going for keep it up.

As for cancer, sure, you could tan your whole life and never get it or never tan and get it. Look at lung cancer, there are people who smoke 60 years and never get lung cancer and people who never smoke and do. That doesn't mean you take the added risk as far as I'm concerned because some people beat the odds.

I do think that getting some sun is beneficial in regards to the creation of vitamin D but there is a big difference between some sun and laying out there like fast food under a heat lamp.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

How do you know that "little old ladies" in FL have been tanning in the sun all these decades and "never" get melanoma?

Who knows how many sun lovers never even made it to an old age, how many of those little ladies are transplants from the north, and how many of them aren't sun worshippers?

Let's remember that it used to be that white, pale skin was considered beautiful, so woman avoided the sun as much as possible (remember Marilyn?).

I just remembered that I read a few years ago that it used to be that being tan was associated with manual labor (regarded as poor people) so being pale meant you or your family had money because you didn't have to get out in the sun and work. And yes, Marilyn avoided the sun at all costs. She glowed on camera and being tan probably would have affected this. And like you pointed out, people didn't tan on purpose back then, it wasn't in style.

My dad had a non cancerous spot removed from his ear and his dermatologist told him to wear sunblock at all times when he was outside, even in the winter. And to always wear a hat and avoid the sun completely whenever possible. I'm thinking "Umm, how is he supposed to get Vit D?" I know he could have taken a supplement, but I think the dermatologist was being unrealistic.
I learned a long time ago, that most (but not all) things are ok in moderation. Just use common sense....something I CANNOT drill into my DDs heads. I begged, pleaded, ordered etc for them to use sunblock when they are swimming or out in the sun all day. One daughter is at the beach now and she told me she got a little burnt. Other daughter went to an all day concert today and came home with a pink face. They either are completely ignoring me or they are only applying it once and not realizing that just once in one day is not adequate protection (despite the fact I have told them this a billion times), even with the highest sunblock. It only takes one burn and it can be in your childhood and you can end up with skin cancer decades later.

When DH and I went to Vegas in 2001, he ended up with sun poisoning on his forehead. His forehead was swollen! I am so fearful this will end up haunting him down the road.
Personally, I don't get enough Vitamin D and am on a prescription for a supplement. I am just more of an indoor kind of girl, I guess. LOL

 

[mookie]

On the flipside of this, there are others that still get color even WITH sunscreen. I am pale white and burn easily, but my daughter can wear 50 sunblock all summer long and still get golden brown. It's just her genetics. (Must be from her dad's side!) I remember when she was a toddler a woman yelling at me in a store telling me that that I was a "vein mother" and needed to protect my child. What she didn't know was that I WAS!

 

[luvthatdisney]

My DS who just turned 20 was diagnosed with melanoma at age 15.5. He is fair skinned and had maybe 1 or 2 slight sunburns in his life to that point, but had never had a sunburn in the area his melanoma was found (his temple area). After his diagnosis, I learned so much about melanoma that I never knew.

It seems the medical community is not 100% sure why someone gets melanoma and someone else will not. There is evidence that hormones, environment and possibly genetics play a part. DS had just gone through puberty when his was found and there are many pregnant women that are diagnosed, so it shows that hormones may jump start mutations in skin cells.
I know melanoma specialists recommend that women who have already been diagnosed, not get pregnant as it could cause the melanoma to progress elsewhere in the body.

One thing I would like to clear up...when melanoma is removed from the skin it is not always 100% removed. Melanoma can enter the bloodstream or travel via the lymph system and spread to other organs/areas of the body. For many it does get it all, but you will never know. Doctors have no way to know if they have it all. They can tell if there are clear margins around the lesion when it is removed, but cells can break off and infiltrate the body and cannot be detected.

If you already have melanoma you are at a higher risk of getting new lesions, but everyone is at risk. I used to tan, but after seeing what this cancer really is and can do, I do not tan anymore. Why risk it? Yes we all need Vitamin D and if you do your research you will find that about 15 min in the sun is all you need on a daily basis. Sunscreen does allow the UV rays in so you can get the D you need. I take a supplement, but you have to make sure you take D3 not D2 as D2 is not absorbed by the body as well.

Everyone needs to educate themselves, but sadly the education usually comes a little too late.

 

[Mermaid02]

I used to be quite a "tanner" I found now that I'm older I really don't have the time or the patience. I don't have wrinkles, or look like leather, but I do have some of those nasty little brown spots on my face. I'm 42 btw.

 

[leahjade]

I think next summer I will start fresh and try the spray tan or "embrace the pale". I know it will be a hard habit to break - being tan makes everyone look thinner and nicer in shorts and skirts. Wearing a bathing suit in middle age without a tan is torture - the tan hides so many imperfections!
But as far as the melanoma goes, I just fear that people think they are safe when they use sunscreen and that has proven not to be true. People stay out in the sun longer and feel protected,thus increading the amount of time they spent outdoors.
It is scary feeling like we can do everything right and still get cancer. It's a hard feeling not being in control and that a lot is just the luck of genetics!

 

[SamRoc]

I don't tan but my friend K does. She starts in May and never uses sunscreen. She is 43 and says she hates the way sunscreen feels so she won't touch it. I love Nicole Kidmans skin and wish i had her beautiful complexion! OP just be careful, if you really enjoy doing this and like others have said, go to a dermatologist and just have a complete check up to make sure there is nothing suspicious starting on your skin.

 

[ckay87]

I do see a dermatologist and have never had any suspicious moles.
How come little old ladies in Florida have been lying in the sun all year for all these decades and never get melanoma? Yet a 19 year old boy who never sunbathes and whose mother always put sunscreen on him dies from melanoma? I guess I'd just like some answers from science for some things that just don't make sense! A woman at work had a melanoma mole on her butt yet she never has been in a tanning bed or a nude beach!
I guess I'm trying to rationalize my behavior but it just seems like the medical community doesn't have a lot of the answers either.

That is hardly a good scientific sampling of the population. For one thing, you don't see little old ladies in Florida with melanoma because melanoma kills you (thus hindering your ability to become a little old lady.) You're not guaranteed to get skin cancer from the sun, where did you hear that?

If I applied your arguments to smoking, people's brains would explode. Can you imagine.... "I see lots of little old ladies smoking at the casinos, so smoking must not be bad for you." LOL!

 

[leahjade]

Had a friend who never drank, smoked or ate junk food. She sat under the unbrellas always at the beach or pool, exercised daily and was think and fit. Of course, she died of breast cancer at 36. Just makes you want to say "the heck with it all" and do what feels good and you want to do!

 

[AmyPond]

Yeah. Heck with it all. I think I'll stop wearing sunscreen. Stop wearing a seat belt. Stop getting regular check-ups at the doctor. And I'll stop eating healthy food too. And no more exercising for me since I don't like it.

 

[AJ12345]

Yeah. Heck with it all. I think I'll stop wearing sunscreen. Stop wearing a seat belt. Stop getting regular check-ups at the doctor. And I'll stop eating healthy food too. And no more exercising for me since I don't like it.

agreed. the world's supposed to end in 2012 isn't it? let's live it up!!!

 

[Darsa]

Had a friend who never drank, smoked or ate junk food. She sat under the unbrellas always at the beach or pool, exercised daily and was think and fit. Of course, she died of breast cancer at 36. Just makes you want to say "the heck with it all" and do what feels good and you want to do!

I'd rather do what I can to up my chances of a long healthy life, rather than do everything I can to make sure I kick off as soon as possible. My mom never drank, ever... and this March she died of liver failure. She had just turned 66; even the funeral director said "oh, she was a young lady!". So, yeah... you could chance it, or you could work on lowering your chances of an early death. Your choice, certainly. I know what I chose.

 

[AmyPond]

My great-grandmother lived a pretty healthy life. Even up until the end. She died at the ripe old age of 109.

 

[FergieTCat]

I do see a dermatologist and have never had any suspicious moles.
How come little old ladies in Florida have been lying in the sun all year for all these decades and never get melanoma? Yet a 19 year old boy who never sunbathes and whose mother always put sunscreen on him dies from melanoma? I guess I'd just like some answers from science for some things that just don't make sense! A woman at work had a melanoma mole on her butt yet she never has been in a tanning bed or a nude beach!
I guess I'm trying to rationalize my behavior but it just seems like the medical community doesn't have a lot of the answers either.

According to my mom, who does in in Southern FL, the little old ladies regularly go to the dermatologist to get their melanomas scraped off.

Also, do you really want your face to look like leather when you get older?

 

[ckay87]

Had a friend who never drank, smoked or ate junk food. She sat under the unbrellas always at the beach or pool, exercised daily and was think and fit. Of course, she died of breast cancer at 36. Just makes you want to say "the heck with it all" and do what feels good and you want to do!

Do you have any idea how good it feels to be healthy? That's pretty much the reasoning behind why most people do things to take care of themselves.

I look at my body as a vehicle to get me around. I'm going to take good care of it so that not only will it get me around for a long time, it will also get me around fast and with as few breakdowns as possible. Now, it's true that no matter how often I get a tune up or change the oil, I may just crash it into a pole and total it. A tree might fall on it and smash it. Hey, "stuff" happens. But at least I'm doing my part, upping my chances for a sweet, long ride.

 

[Feralpeg]

I'm not sure that stats will show that melanoma is the result of sun exposure. I believe that is it just a mole that has become malignant. That can happen to anyone...just like any other cancer.

Skin cancer from sun exposure is more likely to be basil cell. Although this isn't nearly as deadly as melanoma, it is not something to let go. Over time, it can be very disfiguring and even deadly.

I've never been one to tan, but I have had some wicked burns in my younger years. On occasional day at the swimming pool often left me with blisters. In those days, no body wore sun protection. I have had skin cancer removed from my back. I was really surprised when the dermatologist told me that I had it. It left a four inch scar on my shoulder blade. I go back next month for a follow up.

Not to toot my own horn, but I am 58 years old and have very good skin. Many people tell me I don't look my age. I have a friend who is a good 15 years younger than me. She looks much older. Her skin is very aged looking. She is a heavy smoker and tanner. I never smoked and have never been one to tan. OP, give you skin a break and cut back on the tanning. In the long run, you'll look much better!

 

[Rora]

OP- I know you must be scared but make an appointment with the dermatologist and get checked out.

It's a tough habit to kick but thanks to technology today there are many spray tans that look convincing!