What are the consequences of being in the sun too long?

Answer 1

Do you mean sun beds or just going out in the sun ?

Tanning Beds: For a while Tanning beds where said to be great, they give you an instant tan so why not ?

There is overwhelming evidence that sun bed side effects could be damaging to your skin. The main goal of tanning is for you to look better. Nonetheless the side effects that it has are very damaging to your skin. The end result you'll get is older looking skin and in some instances, even death. Here are some of the mainly devastating results of sun bed side effects.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Basal Cell Carcinoma is considered to be the most common type of skin cancer. It is the type of condition that presents as a red or shiny pink lump on your skin's surface. These little cancer lumps could appear on your scalp, face, ears or nose.

Malignant Melanoma

Another type of skin cancer. It is the kind that starts to develop on your skin cells which produce pigmentation, also known as the melanocytes. During the last four decades, this type of melanoma has rapidly increased compared to any other kind of cancer. In fact, it is even responsible for the about 80% of fatalities or deaths in relation to skin cancer in the United States.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

This is considered to be the second most prevalent kind of skin cancer. Again, the condition is presented by having pink lumps on your skin's surface. The area of the skin could look a bit scaly too. There are instances where it becomes sore also. As time develops, these pink lumps would be ulcerated. They also easily bleed. You can have growth of the lumps on your neck, face, ears, lips, shoulders, hands, legs and arms.

There's No Difference At All

Most often, you would encounter advertisements of sun beds saying that they are the safe way to go if you want to have an instant tan since they do not have cancerous radiation, unlike the suns. If ever you encounter an advertisement like this, it would be better to ignore it. This is because it is all a lie.

In reality, there is really no difference in getting a natural sun tan and getting one from a sun bed. The effects of UV radiation produced by the sun and the UV radiation which are produced by sun beds are actually the same. Don't be fooled by false advertisements like mentioned above.

You may also encounter those that say they only produce UVA rays and some only produce UVB rays. This could be a very controversial matter. This is because before, UVA rays were thought to be safe UV rays, while UVB are the ones that can cause you cancer. However, recent studies have shown that even UVA rays produce cancerous cells. This is why caution is needed. Either kind of UV radiation would cause you cancer, especially if you overdo it.

Beauty's Price

Since society today is an image based culture, looking great is a very big deal for some. This is why most people are ready to pay the price of beauty, even if it would cost them their health. This is what happened to most people who have loved tanning and would give anything just for a gorgeous tan.

It is quite ironic that people tan themselves just to look glamorous and young. However, they continue to ignore UV radiation's long term effects which damage DNA. It also damages your skin bringing it to the point in which wrinkles will occur more prematurely for those who love frequent sun bathing and tanning booth users.

If you really have no choice but to use a tanning booth, be sure that you will be provided a protective eye wear. This is because another health effect that it has would be eye damage. UV rays can also produce cataracts in your eyes. Long term exposure also leads to blindness.

Getting too much sun:

Sunburn: This is the standard problem with too much sun exposure. Sunburns can affect only the surface of the skin - or they can go deeper, and actually cause serious skin damage. Sunburns covering enough of the body can be life-threatening. Also, sunburns do not only happen on hot days. Sun exposure damages us through radiation, which is why we can be burned while snowskiing as easily as a hot day on the beach.

Dehydration: Not drinking enough water or sports drink can lead to dehydration. Exposure to the sun dries us out. When alcohol is consumed, dehydration is even worse. Untreated, dehydration can lead to shock and possibly become life-threatening. Vomiting and diarrhea make it worse, so travelers often can become dehydrated very easily.

Heat Exhaustion: Too much sun exposure on hot days can raise the body's temperature enough to cause heat exhaustion. This condition combines an increase in the body's core temperature with dehydration. Both are dangerous, and heat exhaustion - if left untreated - can lead to heat stroke.

Heat Stroke: Heat stroke is what happens when heat exhaustion is not treated. There's no question that heat stroke is a life-threatening condition that needs emergency medical treatment.

Water Intoxication: The opposite problem of dehydration is water intoxication (hyponatremia). This very rare condition comes most commonly from sweating all day and only drinking water. It's important to get electrolytes in the body as well as water. If you don't feel like eating on a hot day when you're sweating a lot, drink sports drinks instead of water.

There is also the consequence of getting skin cancer such as Malignant Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma andSquamous Cell Carcinoma.

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