Tanning Skin Cancer - Symptoms And Treatment

Although most women love to be under the sun and work on that golden tan, they often don’t realize that in the long term this is the biggest contributing factor to skin cancer. Even if you use tanning beds for an artificial tan, the ultraviolet radiation produced by these lamps also contributes to tanning skin cancer. The immediate effects of tanning skin cancer may not be felt or seen early on, but in your later years this will show through wrinkles, fine lines, and may also lead to cancer.

To prevent tanning skin cancer, one must always take precaution to protect their skin by avoiding the harsh rays of the sun, usually from 10am to 3pm. Furthermore, it is recommended to always use sun block even on cloudy days, and protect parts of your body that are also exposed to the sun such as your lips, head, neck, and forearms.

Precaution against tanning skin cancer, even if you do not always spend time under the sun, entails regular observance of symptoms in your body. These are symptoms of tanning skin cancer that you should watch out for:

• A red spot or mole that is firm to the touch;
• A mole that changes color or shape;
• A mole that has irregular borders and changes size over time;
• Red or brown flat, scaly patches on your skin;
• A spot anywhere on your skin that may bleed or become crusty, and does not go away with medication.

If you see any of these symptoms anywhere in your body and are suspicious, you should go see a doctor right away. Early detection of tanning skin cancer increases your chances for being cured and surviving.

Today, there are many options for treatment of tanning skin cancer available depending how early on the cancer is. Oftentimes, the abnormal cells can be removed with the use of topical medications, or just through the use of a local anesthetic in an outpatient procedure.

However, other cases of tanning skin cancer treatment options include:

• Early skin cancers can be treated through freezing or cryosurgery, wherein the dead abnormal tissue can be sloughed off after the freezing.

• Excision of the cancerous tissue through surgery can also be done in some cases. However, to avoid scarring, it’s best to consult a doctor who is experienced in skin reconstruction as the cutting of the skin usually leaves significant traces. You may ask for a cosmetic surgery done to get rid of the ugly signs.

• Laser therapy is effective in vaporizing growths caused by tanning skin cancer. This is usually used to treat precancerous growths and superficial cancers.

• Severe cases require more extreme forms of treatment, such as radiation therapy. Radiation is used as an option to surgery, to remove basal and squamous cell forms of cancers.

• Tanning skin cancer discovered in its much later phases often has to be treated through the use of chemotherapy. In chemotherapy, drugs are used on a regular basis to kill the cancer cells.