My sunbed and tanning addiction left me with deadly skin cancer and a crater in my face
FOR 13 years, Natalie Trout was so desperate for a tan she used sunbeds at least twice a week. From the age of six years old she shunned sun cream, suffering sun burn so severe she was left covered in painful blisters. While working in Uganda, teaching English, she spent days by the pool unprotected […]
FOR 13 years, Natalie Trout was so desperate for a tan she used sunbeds at least twice a week.
From the age of six years old she shunned sun cream, suffering sun burn so severe she was left covered in painful blisters.
While working in Uganda, teaching English, she spent days by the pool unprotected from the blazing African sun.
Despite warnings from friends, she didn’t listen. Inspired by the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera’s tans, she said she feared the thought of being pale.
Now, the 38-year-old from Indiana, US, is speaking out to raise awareness of the dangers of sunbeds after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
Natalie was left with a giant hole in her cheek after developing melanoma – the deadliest form of the disease.
Her warnings come a week after Fabulous launched the Dying For A Tan campaign to highlight the dangers of sunbeds, the signs of skin cancer – and urge people to put their lives before their vanity.
In 2015 – a year after moving home from Uganda – Natalie noticed a dry, red spot on her right cheek but dismissed it as a rash.
Symptoms of melanoma
The most common sign of melanoma is a new mole or a change in an existing mole.
In most cases, melanomas have an irregular shape and are more than one colour. The mole may also be larger than normal and can sometimes be itchy or bleed. Look out for a mole which changes progressively in shape, size and/or colour.
The ABCDE checklist should help you tell the difference between a normal mole and a melanoma:
- Asymmetrical – melanomas have 2 very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will be a mix of 2 or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are larger than 6mm (1/4 inch) in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
Source: NHS
But when it didn’t go away, she booked in to see a dermatologist, who warned the spot was pre-cancerous and needed to be removed.
The doctor used liquid nitrogen to try and freeze the spot off Natalie’s face in the hope it wouldn’t turn cancerous.
However, a year later a mole appeared in the same place.
Every week it changed shape and size, so she went back to see her dermatologist, who performed a biopsy.
“There was a darker spot in one area, but it was a lighter colour in another area,” Natalie said.
“I was pretty worried about a mole growing in the spot’s place.”
Two weeks after seeing her doctor, Natalie’s worst fears were realised. She was diagnosed with stage one melanoma.
Her doctor warned removing the cancer could leave her with facial paralysis, but without the op she could die.
Dying For A Tan
There are an estimated 7,000 tanning salons in Britain, with some offering sessions from as little as 50p a minute.
Kids as young as EIGHT are using sunbeds, with seemingly little understanding they are playing Russian Roulette with their health.
According to Cancer Research UK, Melanoma skin cancer risk is 16-25 per cent higher in people who have used a sunbed (at any age), compared to people who have never used sunbeds.
This is because sunbeds pelt the skin with such strong UV rays which increase the risk of developing malignant melanoma – the most serious form of skin cancer.
Just 20 minutes on one is comparable to four hours in the sun – with many stronger than Mediterranean rays at midday.
In many cases the damage is invisible until it’s too late, as it can take up to 20 years to become apparent.
Around 16,000 new melanoma skin cancer cases are diagnosed in the UK every year – that’s 44 every day.
There are around 2,300 melanoma skin cancer deaths annually – that’s more than six every day.
It’s part of the reason the World Health Organisation has deemed sunbeds are as dangerous as smoking.
This is why Fabulous says it is time to stop Dying For A Tan.
“When I heard the news at first I was in disbelief,” Natalie said.
“It could have been a lot worse, so I was glad it would hopefully be fixed with surgery.
“I remember driving to my parents’ house and I hadn’t even cried yet.
Being tanned was very important to me in my 20s, I felt like it made me look better and even thinner
Natalie Trout
“I saw my parents and broke down. I had skin cancer and not just any skin cancer, but the deadliest kind.”
Natalie was referred to see a plastic surgeon, who warned that the op could leave her with facial paralysis but added without it, she could die.
She said: “I remember him telling me, ‘We don’t have a choice. If we don’t get rid of the melanoma, it will spread and that could be fatal. This has to be done’.”
After the op, Natalie said she was left with a scar that looked like she’d been bitten by a dog.
Now, she has regular check ups to keep a track of all her moles and blemishes, and is passionate about raising awareness to prevent others facing the ordeal she has.
“I would use sunbeds at least twice a week in my 2os,” Natalie admitted.
“During the summer I wouldn’t use them, but I did lay out by the pool a lot, where I would get burned and/or tanned.
“In the winter I would typically use sunbeds a few times a week.
“Being tanned was very important to me in my 20s, I felt like it made me look better and even thinner.”
The 38-year-old said she would usually burn but didn’t think anything of it.
“To me it was better to be burned than pale,” she said. “Pale was almost unacceptable at the time.”
So determined was she to be tanned, Natalie endured agonising blisters all over her chest and back regularly.
When she was living in Kampala, Uganda she spent days in the sun without an ounce of sun cream to protect her.
“People warned me about the intensity of the sun when living on the equator,” she admitted.
“I never really listened.
“I often made jokes when I would burn, posting photos on social media like it was a badge of honour.
DYING FOR A TAN
“It never occurred to me how much harm I was doing to myself.
“I never thought it would happen to me. But it did. Skin cancer doesn’t discriminate.
“They say it takes only one sunburn to increase your chances of skin cancer.
“Being tanned is not more important than being healthy.
“Take care of your skin, and if you see any suspicious spots, don’t wait to see a dermatologist. Even if it turns out to be nothing, at least you know.”
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