As the classroom instructor for the IST Magazine Sun is Life® Training & Certification course, I find that this month’s “Industry Watchdog” column speaks to me on a personal level. Surfing along, checking out “who’s saying what” about indoor tanning, I found this nugget: “I survived melanoma and I want you to know: indoor tanning is dangerous.” (See cancer.net/blog/2018-01/i-survived-melanoma-and-i-want-you-know-indoor-tanning-dangerous)
[gap height=”15″]
Well now, let’s take a look at some of the points made by the young woman who is the subject of the article.
[gap height=”15″]
“I was instantly addicted to everything about them – the warmth, the humming noise, the way a tan boosted my confidence. For 6 years, I worked in the tanning salon industry, including 3 years in management. I attended trainings to learn about each layer of the skin and how the different types of ultraviolet (UV) rays affected the body. But I never thought that indoor tanning could be dangerous.”
[gap height=”15″]
Every day, folks enjoy the warmth of a UV session and the look of a cosmetic tan; we are a look good-feel good industry! But, I’m not so sure about the addictive quality of humming noises … let’s go to the next point in her statement. She claims to have attended training to learn about UV light and layers of the skin. Really? Well, if she took tanning industry training, she would have learned that melanoma has several risk factors: moles on the skin, fair skin, blue eyes, freckles, family history of skin cancer, history of sunburn, weakened immune system and the lifetime of (possibly excessive) exposure to all UV sources. This young woman lives in Florida, and the article gives zero information on her lifetime UV exposure, sunburn incidence or family history of skin cancer. In the SIL class, she also would have learned that the latency period (time from the UV exposure to clinically developing melanoma) can be from 10 to 50 years.
[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]
While I understand her concern, she does a huge disservice to anyone who read her personal opinion of indoor tanning.
[gap height=”15″]
“In 2013, I noticed a large freckle on my lower back. It grew rapidly for a few months before I went to the dermatologist for a biopsy. I received the call a few days later that confirmed what I already knew: it was melanoma. I was quickly scheduled for my first surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes in my left groin area. A second surgery was scheduled a week later because another lymph node was found to be cancerous.” Around this time, she also found out she was pregnant.
[gap height=”15″]
Melanoma is serious and can be fatal. In Sun is Life Training, we teach the A, B,C, D & E of melanoma: Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter, Evolving. Had she taken Sun is Life, she would have learned that any such changes in moles are warning factors! Since the inception of modern sunbeds dating back five decades, millions of indoor tanning sessions have been delivered in moderation and with responsibility. Think about that. Consider all the salons and sunbeds in use since 1979 in the U.S. Think about how many sessions are delivered annually and multiply that by 40 years. That is a substantial number of exposures! But remember, people who are predisposed to skin cancer should avoid ALL forms of UV exposure.
[gap height=”15″]
She ends with: “For almost 10 years I promoted indoor tanning, the very thing that increased my risk for the cancer that threatened my life and the life of my baby. Now I wish I could take back every positive word about tanning salons.”
[gap height=”15″]
While I understand her concern, she does a huge disservice to anyone who read her personal opinion of indoor tanning. Note that in her article, no doctor told her she got melanoma from a sunbed. As a Floridian, she offered not one single comment about avoiding overexposure and sunburn from natural sunlight. SMH.
[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]
