Sunbed Shock

[SansaStark90]

I’ve been really stupid and gone on the sunbed for twenty minutes and the burns I’ve got - I’ve never seen skin as red. I’ve got like indents to my skin as though I’ve woken to stretch marks on my chest. Will these disappear? I’m in agony. I’ve never burnt and so didn’t know it could cause this kind of pain. I’m shaking shivering. I did this yesterday. Can someone reassure my health anxiety that these indents will all calm down?

Stop listening to your mother who is not a medical person AND GO TO A+E

I just checked online and there are just two tanning salons in my city (not a huge city but about 200k population). They used to be on every street corner so use of them has definitely dwindled. Maybe in some areas of the country they are still going strong, eg Liverpool or Newcastle but in many parts they seem to have died a death.

This. A mid 50’s friend is currently end of life due to cancer, the primary being a melanoma most likely from subbed use in her younger years 😞.

Don’t bother ….. these places should be outlawed!

^^ sunbed not subbed!

Also don’t listen to your mum - people sometimes get third degree burns for these things and it’s very very serious. If you’d spilled a vat of boiling water on yourself you’d not hesitate to go to a&e so please go.

I think people are just concerned about her - it’s well publicised that sun beds are dangerous. You can’t compare it to eating sweets or not doing enough exercise, both of which are harmful but are unlikely, on their own, to cause serious long term damage unless they go on for decades.

You can’t turn around sun bed damage - once it’s done, it’s done. I know so many people who are having cancers removed in their fifties because of sun damage in their teens - it’s scary. One friend nearly lost her nose and needed multiple plastic surgeries due to multiple melanomas. Thankfully she was already being treated for BCC and they were spotted in time.

I think people get quite blasé about sun burns because you generally recover quite quickly and there’s rarely any visible damage after a week or two. But each burn or sun bed use increases your risk of melanoma - and lying on one for twenty minutes and giving yourself 80% burns is a huge risk. It’s scary what OP has done and I’m personally concerned about the symptoms she’s described and the fact that she’s not sought medical treatment. Burns like this can kill you.

I agree with this. You can literally give yourself cancer from one bout of bad sunburn. I remember reading about a cricketer who died of skin cancer and he said he knows he got it from one time when he didn’t apply cream and burned himself badly. Having a bit of a blowout with food doesn’t do nearly as much damage and nor does a bit of belly fat. It’s really really dangerous - su beds are much stronger than the actual sun which is why 20 minutes does this much damage.

Hope you're ok op.

Is it a properly licenced tanning place? I'd be worried that it isn't legit

Its eye-opening that some people equate deliberately damaging your skin to an addictive or pleasurable, tempting treat version of something you'd be doing anyway - like eating fatty foods.

I had no idea sunbeds had this kind of pull! Are they really enjoyable?

How are you feeling OP?

No, I can honestly say I haven't. I genuinely thought they'd all been replaced by places where women get botox and laser treatment to reverse the damage they did to their skin from trying to get a tan years ago.

Maybe they are more common in some areas than others.

No legit tanning place should allow 20 mins anyway should they? Let alone a first time. Clearly the staff haven’t been giving proper training and health and safety training.
I don’t use sunbeds myself, don’t judge others for doing it but to be honest op Why would you think 20 mins is okay? I like a tan myself, I sunbathe a lot on holiday and use fake tan, so not coming from a place of judgement just more a lack of common sense ?
anyway, I hope the soreness has calmed down a little this morning, does sound like sun stroke with I do think would warrant medical advice regardless of what your mom says.

Hope you're ok OP. How horrible for you and I hope you're getting some treatment to relieve your pain right now.

Sunbeds are getting more 'popular' again. They're everywhere and it's young people using them. They say it's good for their mental health as the rays and colour make them feel better...they'll end up heavily paying for it when they're older if they get skin cancer. I wish the government would ban the places. The fact they exist means that people think they can't be that bad for you.

Did you go?
tbh you say you have health anxiety but it’s letting you down badly if you’re not in a&e. You have burns on 80% of your body. It doesn’t matter how you got them. A&e see too many people to worry about the how so you’re being very silly not going. Delaying could make it a lot worse!

I think the whole “tans are healthy” myth has a lot to answer for. Look at all the posters on this thread alone who think it’s a good idea to build a base tan before going on holiday, and who are encouraging OP to go back again once she’s recovered 😬

Like previous posters I don’t recall seeing any tanning places around me but it turns out there are several! My really local ones all LOOK like nail bars but have tanning too it turns out!

As for times - this is the price list I found for one a few miles from me….. there times go to 28 minutes!

I did this! Went on for 12 mins 1 month after giving birth my skin usually tolerates this but didn’t and I was the same! Get some aloe Vera gel and after sun and make sure you constantly smother yourself in it keep both in the fridge too as it’s nice on the skin when it’s cool! Drink lots of water! Will help speed the repair of the skin that’s damaged!

Thanks for sharing . I would never use a sunbed but like the op would have no idea the recommended time to go into one. This is crazy when people are saying they got badly burned after 9 mins . The salon should have provided guidance

They've been banned in Australia because they also cause cancer if you use them regularly

Well I was wrong !! 28 mins seems such a long time though? I’m guessing it’s for the seasoned tanner !

How are you feeling today?
I used to work in a sunbed shop when I was young and you wouldn’t believe the amount of people that came in and asked for 15-20 mins…I would never let anyone on for 20 mins. 15 mins was maximum and that was for very dark skinned regular users. I refused to let anyone on for that long. Was there staff? I know a lot of sunbed places these days are self service so this must happen a lot.
we are all guilty of getting sunburn and kicking ourselves after. All you can do is learn from this and try and be careful with your skin from now on. I kick myself all the time for the sunbeds I had when I was younger and even though I’m careful now, I still got burnt on my last holiday. Hope your feeling better - sunburn is the worst pain

"Also" cause cancer? What, as well as the cancer everyone's talking about here?

Your mum is a fucking idiot.. normally i'd say 'no offence but.. ' but in this case i mean to offend. What she said is stupid and dangerous and incredibly bad advice.

Please go to A&E, this isn't 'a bit of sunburn' this is a whole body burn that needs medical attention.

The nurses at A&E are perfectly capable of telling you to seek help elsewhere if they don't think they need to see you there.

we are all guilty of getting sunburn and kicking ourselves after.

There’s a massive difference between getting caught on a surprisingly sunny Spring day and ending up with 80% burns because you’ve fried yourself on a sunbed for 20 minutes 😬