We live in an image obsessed culture, and know many sunbed users continue to use them because they think they look better with a tan. But actually they are making their skin look worse. Sunbeds can result in premature ageing and wrinkles, as well as increased pigmentation on the skin. And these results show interestingly, that sunbeds users are spending more on anti-ageing products than those who don’t use sunbeds – perhaps in an attempt to cover up the damage.
– Caroline Cerny, senior health campaigns manager at Cancer Research UK
Sunbed users more likely to use anti-ageing products
2 in 5 (43%) of people in the UK that use sunbeds – which are proven to prematurely age the skin – are twice as likely to use anti-ageing products than those who have never used a sunbed (20%).
The damage caused is seen in the fact that a fifth (19%) of sunbed users start to use anti-ageing products by the time they are 25 years old.
The rates of malignant melanoma – the most serious form of skin cancer - have increased by 89% amongst 15 - 34-year-olds in Yorkshire and the Humber in the last twenty years.
Around two people in this age group are now diagnosed with the disease each week in the region.