Skin cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells. It occurs when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations, or genetic defects, that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors.

Did you know? Over the last 3 decades, people have had more skin cancer than ALL OTHER CANCERS COMBINED! Now, it's fatality rate is nothing like that of other cancers.. But it's prevention is also much easier and highly effective, unlike other cancers. 1 in 5 Americans will be diagnosed with one of three types of skin cancer every year. Basal cell carcinoma ( BCC ), squamous cell carcinoma ( SCC ), and melanoma. BCC is the most common form of skin cancer, with only 2% of diagnoses being fatal ( which is about 3,000 deaths annually ). Yet over 15% percent of cases are disfiguring in some way. Also, 90% of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with ultraviolet radiation from the sun!

Melanoma. Kind of a scary word. I know. Melanoma is the harshest form of skin cancer, it can spread from the top of the skin to the lymphatic system in a matter of days in some cases. 1 person AN HOUR dies form melanoma everyday. It thankfully only holds at 2% of all cases of skin cancer, but it's still the cause of the vast majority of deaths due to skin cancer.. And your chances of living set at 91%! The key is early diagnoses.

Now, to discuss tanning. Both indoor and outdoor.

Obviously, tanning is bad for your skin. End of discussion. It causes prominent aging, cancer, permanent damage.. I could go on for days. Yet, what makes it so bad?.. The ultraviolet radiation from the sun, and tanning beds, is a proven carcinogenic. And in case you didn't know.. A carcinogenic means having the potential to cause cancer. CANCER. ( I feel like maybe if I say that word enough it'll stick in your heads )

Indoor tanning; the act of laying on a tanning bed. More people get skin cancer from tanning than people get lung cancer from smoking. I've said it once and I'll say it again.. If you are going to lay on a tanning bed PLEASE COVER YOUR FACE. laying on a tanning bed gets you as close to UV radiation as you can possibly get, so just ten minutes on a tanning bed increases photo aging by 5%! The International Agency for Research on Cancer have classified tanning beds as a group 1 cause, meaning they're at the top of the list for the cause of cancer. Along with plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation. Also, as of September 2, 2014 the FDA has labeled tanning beds to class II ( which is moderate to high risk devices ). 11 states have prohibited the use of indoor tanning for people under the age of 18, regardless of parental consent. Which, is promising because if you lay on a tanning bed just 6 times while I'm high school it increases your risk for skin cancer by 73%!! So how you should take that, is people are starting to realize the REAL effects of tanning.

Outdoor tanning; not as bad as indoor tanning; still very bad. Research shows that your chances of getting skin cancer DOUBLE if you've had just 5 sunburns in your life. ONLY 5 IN YOUR LIFE. How many burns have you had just this summer?... Yeah. Also, if those 5 burns happened in your youth? Increase your chances by 80% now. Still think you don't need sunscreen?

WAYS TO DETECT AND PREVENT

Know your ABCDE's of skin cancer.

A- asymmetry. If your mole becomes not round.

B- border. If part of the mole breaks out of the circle.

C-color. If your mole becomes discolored; not brown; more than one color.

D-diameter. If your mole gets to be larger than about a pencil eraser.

E-evolving. If you notice your mole has changed in shape and size.

Also, do a skin check once a month. It'll take you about ten minutes. Just when you get out of your shower, scan your body, write down if you see any moles ( even ones you've had all of your life ), where and what size they are. And the next month do it again, on the same sheet of paper to compare notes! If you even kind of think something is wrong.. CALL YOUR DOCTOR. melanoma can show up anywhere on the skin. On the bottoms of your feet, under your nails, behind your ears..

Wear sunscreen. Always. During the winter months, while it's raining and cloudy. ALWAYS. Make sure it's at least SPF 15 of broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. Research shows that wearing sunscreen daily decreases your chances of obtaining skin cancer by 64%!.. And that people who wear sunscreen daily show 24% less skin aging! BONUS! And always put sunscreen on your children. They are at higher risk than adults when exposed to UV radiation. And 20% of cancer diagnoses in children are a form of skin cancer!

If anything, I hope you take from this that NO ONE is safe from skin cancer.. CANCER does not discriminate, it doesn't care what your name is, how much money you make or don't make, if you're black, white, yellow, red, green, orange.. ANYONE CAN GET SKIN CANCER. What are you going to do to detect and prevent it?..

**all facts and statistics are from skincancer.org