According to dermatologists and the American Dermatology Association, people whom have experienced sunburns when they were younger have a much greater chance or risk of developing skin cancer.  Sunburn and excessive UV rays can actually damage or alter the DNA in melanocytes (the cells that give skin its color).  Melanocytes tend to conglomerate together in moles and birthmarks.  When the DNA in a melanocyte is damaged and causes it to replicate uncontrollably that is the start of cancer.

Some skin cancers are worse than others with the dreaded melanoma being the worst (there are several types of melanoma and all are bad, but nodular melanoma is the worst).  It is very important to catch skin cancer in its earliest stages as there is a 80-90% five year survival rate when it is caught early, whereas if the cancer is allowed to start spreading there is only a 10% five year survival rate.  That is a huge difference and shows how deadly skin cancer is when it starts to spread.  So it is very important to catch any skin cancer early.  It is also very important to limit sun exposure, wear sunblock and sun protection, and at least once a year be checked by a dermatologist or plastic surgeon for skin irregularities.

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You can also help by checking yourself and if you notice anything out of the ordinary tell your doctor.  Out of the ordinary would be a birthmark or mole that’s new, growing, discolored, oozing, infected, a wound that doesn’t heal, new bumps, etc…  Basically a doctor will probably take a small sample or biopsy of the area and in some cases remove the area if it is small and looks like cancer.  They will then send it to be tested for cancer.  Many times it will come back as non-cancerous, but it may be pre-cancerous.  Pre-cancerous means it a abnormality that has a high probability of becoming cancerous in the near future and should be removed as a precaution.  Many doctors will either use a laser or TCA peel to remove and treat pre cancerous areas rather than a scalpel as they are less invasive and have a much shorter healing time.

It is obvious that many diagnosis of skin cancer are a direct result of over exposure to the sun and sunburns.  What most people don’t know is that tanning beds are just as bad if not worse.  There are thousands of documented cases of people developing keratosis (abnormal pre cancerous growths) after repeated use of tanning beds.  Regardless what the tanning salon says, there is no such thing as safe UV rays or a safe tanning bed.  The only safe method of tanning is to spray tan.  Especially stay away from the extreme or high intensity tanning beds.  You can actually feel new keratosis on your skin (especially on your back) after just a few of these treatments.  If you receive a burn while under these machines you are at an even higher risk than from a natural sunburn for skin cancer. 

Regardless the fact that everyone sees a tan as being sexy and attractive, the risk of developing a serious skin cancer like nodular melanoma is just not worth it.  It is much easier to protect oneself from skin cancer than to treat it and cope with the fact that it is a time bomb and you could die a very painful death from it.  One must wonder why tanning beds and centers do not come with surgeon general warning labels like cigarettes do.  Article courtesy of Bestskinpeel.com