“I’ve enjoyed tanning since I was a teenager”… Regrets Australian woman in her 40s with skin cancer

An Australian woman in her 40s who said she enjoyed tanning in the past revealed her skin cancer treatment process and emphasized the need for sunscreen. According to the New York Post on the 13th (local time), Melissa Lewis, a 48-year-old woman from Australia, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2009 and is currently receiving treatment.

The skin cancers he suffers from include melanoma, where the skin gradually darkens, Bowen’s disease, an early form of squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinoma, where cells in the lower layer of the epidermis turn into malignant tumors.

Skin cancer is one of the main causes of excessive sun exposure. When skin cells are repeatedly stimulated by ultraviolet rays, various genetic factors change and cancer can occur.

Lewis undergoes a treatment where a photosensitive substance is injected into the skin and then a laser is fired to destroy the cancerous tumour. After treatment, it is difficult to open the eyes due to swelling around the eyes, and to wear glasses, the support must be covered with a soft cloth.

Lewis shared the treatment process by revealing his facial skin on SNS (social network service). His face is peeling with red blisters.

Lewis enjoyed tanning in the sun in his teens and twenties, and said he was in the sun for several hours each time he did it. He said, “I want to say to myself in the past, ‘The moment of tanning can be fun, but in the future you will definitely pay the price.'”

“This is what a person with skin cancer looks like,” he said. “Protect your skin from the sun. I hope you don’t go through the process I went through. If I had known about the dangers of sunlight 30 years ago, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman also previously asked about sunscreen via Instagram last month. Diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma in 2013, he said he recently underwent a biopsy after a suspected recurrence. At the time, Hugh Jackman admitted, “Make sure to put on sunscreen. It’s not worth a tan,” and “The consequences of not putting on sunscreen 25 years ago are showing up now.”

To prevent skin cancer, sun exposure should be avoided as much as possible. It is good to apply sunscreen even on cloudy days. According to the American Skin Cancer Foundation, daily use of sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 can cut the risk of developing melanoma in half.

SPF is a unit that indicates the blocking effect of UVB, which causes melasma, freckles and erythema. The higher the value, the better the blocking effect. The PA rating, which indicates the degree of UVA blocking, is indicated by PA+, PA++, or PA+++. The more +, the greater the UVA blocking effect.

In order to see the effect of sunscreen properly, it should be applied 15 to 20 minutes before going out, and it is recommended to reapply every 2 hours.

[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]