'Sunburn art' tattoos 'serious skin cancer risk', warn medics
'Sunburn art' tattoos 'serious skin cancer risk', warn medics
DERMATOLOGISTS in Spain have warned that a dangerous trend known as 'sunburn art' is not just painful, but can cause skin cancer.
Originally created by Chinese designer Yu-Chiao Wang and marketed as 'economical, environmentally-friendly, quick and painless' - in comparison with traditional tattoos using needles and dye - 'sunburn art' features T-shirts and body stickers leaving gaps which form patterns or pictures.
When sitting in the sun, the gaps mean the skin burns in these areas, leaving an imprint which can be anything from a sun or Chinese lettering through to the Mona Lisa.
Now trending heavily on Twitter and filling Instagram under the hashtag #sunburnart, photos of these perilous tattoos - which started out in the USA - have been uploaded by people in Spain taking advantage of the suffocating heatwave sweeping the country.
But skin doctors say they are highly dangerous as well as painful, and point out that more and more skin cancer patients are very young adults.
In fact, melanoma is the type of cancer which is increasing more than any other in Spain, with a 10% rise in the number of cases, or 40% since 2010.
"What's most alarming is that in the vast majority of cases, it could have been prevented," says Dr Miguel Sánchez Viera of the national dermatology institute.
"Suffering sunburn five times or more during your youth increases the risk of melanoma by 80%.
"Every year, we diagnose hundreds of thousands of skin cancer cases in Spain, and it's a trend which is increasing in younger people.
"We want to try to change the way society sees suntans as a sign of beauty - any level of tan is skin damage, and sun exposure not only causes skin cancer but also premature ageing and wrinkles."
Dr Sánchez Viera says people and animals should keep out of the sun between noon and 17.00, wear sunglasses and a hat or use a parasol, apply SFP Factor 50 sunscreen and keep topping it up throughout the day, particularly after swimming, and to avoid using tanning booths.
