Sunbeds and Sunlight
Well, we’re all sat here waiting for some sunshine and in anticipation it seems that all the mags are catching up with the dangers of sun bathing and sunbeds. It’s great to see some really good articles on the dangers of the sun, both in relation to ageing and more importantly skin cancer. ‘New’ magazine had a really good article this week about the dangers of sunbeds, with Rebecca Russell, manager of Cancer Research UK’s SunSmart campaign making some pertinent comments about the dangers associated with Sunbeds. Rebecca states that evertime you use a sunbed ‘you are increasing your risk of developing skin cancer and making your skin leathery, coarse and wrinkly’.
A recent survey carried about by the World Health Organisation has found that people who use sunbeds during their teens, twenties and early thirties are 75% more likely to develop malignant melanomas. Even using a sunbed once a month or more can increase your risk of skin cancer by more than half and cause premature ageing of you skin. Surely, these facts should be enough to make us turn to the safety of self tanners (I’m still a lover of St Tropez, though Decleor and Lancombe also do a really nice facial tanner), which have no risks associated with sun damage at all. Just remember that having a ‘fake tan’ doesn’t protect you from the UVA/UVB rays of natural sunshine and it’s still important to wear a good quality sunscreen, whenever you’re likely to be exposed to sunlight.
The World Health Organisation advises;
- Use a UVA and UVB sunscreen of at least SPF 15
- Avoid the sun between 10am and 4pm when it is at its strongest
- Wear sensible clothing, hat and sunglasses to give extra protection
- Don’t let your skin burn