{"id":12278,"date":"2026-02-11T11:17:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T12:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=12278"},"modified":"2026-02-11T21:33:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:33:29","slug":"i-trusted-a-tanning-shop-then-was-diagnosed-with-skin-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/i-trusted-a-tanning-shop-then-was-diagnosed-with-skin-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"I trusted a tanning shop \u2013 then was diagnosed with skin cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Katie\t<\/div>
I honestly had no idea they were dangerous (Picture: Katie McVeigh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘But I don\u2019t even use sunbeds that often!’ I told the nurse. <\/p>\n

I\u2019d just been diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma \u2013 an aggressive type of skin cancer <\/a>\u2013 and told my love of tanning <\/a>was to blame. <\/p>\n

It was a huge shock. I honestly had no idea they were dangerous. <\/p>\n

You see warnings on cigarette packets<\/a>, and photos of people with lung cancer<\/a>, but you never see a picture of a person with skin cancer in a tanning shop. <\/p>\n

It’s not just a lack of warning about the health risks. <\/p>\n

Now, a BBC investigation has found tanning companies spreading dangerous misinformation on social media about how sunbeds can actually be good for you; falsely claiming, for example, that doctors prescribe sunbeds for issues like seasonal depression and skin disorders.<\/p>\n

I don’t want anyone to be convinced that sunbeds can be beneficial to our mental or physical health. <\/p>\n

This is highly damaging misinformation, and it’s terrifying. I wish I hadn’t experienced the very real dangers of sunbeds first hand; but, as I learned that day with the nurse, I have.<\/p>\n

And I paid the price.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t even think of myself as an excessive user. I might have gone two or three times a week before a holiday or night out. But then I wouldn\u2019t go again for months. <\/p>\n

‘That\u2019s still a form of sunbed abuse,’ the nurse told me. She likened it to binge drinking \u2013 avoiding booze all week and then getting drunk on a Saturday night. <\/p>\n

I was only 16 when I went on a sunbed <\/a>for the first time. Everyone I knew did it \u2013 my mum, aunts, cousins and friends.<\/p>\n

My mum was going to the tanning shop and asked if I wanted to go with her. I had a three-minute tan that first time and afterwards I felt great \u2013 like I was glowing. <\/p>\n

I found out later that it\u2019s actually illegal for tanning shops, beauty salons and other commercial premises in the UK to allow anyone under 18 to use a sunbed, but no one ever asked my age. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Katie\t<\/div>
Everyone Katie knew used sunbeds (Picture: Katie McVeigh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But I was hooked. I started tanning regularly<\/a>. I\u2019m very pale, with a lot of moles, so I felt like it gave my skin a base colour. <\/p>\n

Everyone around me was doing it. <\/p>\n

On the weekends, my friends and I would make a trip to our local salon. I rarely went alone \u2013 it was more of a social thing. If somebody else was going, I\u2019d tag along. <\/p>\n

I left school at 16 and went into hairdressing so there was a big focus on beauty. You got your hair done, you got your nails done and you got a tan. <\/p>\n

I grew up in Belfast, which is one of the UK\u2019s sunbed hotspots <\/a>\u2013 according to charity Melanoma Focus, 37% of adults in Belfast use sunbeds. It\u2019s just the done thing. <\/p>\n

By the time I turned 20 I fell pregnant with my daughter Connie, now four, and during my pregnancy I didn\u2019t go near sunbeds. To me it felt like smoking or drinking while pregnant \u2013 it was just something I didn\u2019t think it was right to do.<\/p>\n

But after giving birth I went back to the tanning shops. It felt like a wee treat and a bit of \u2018me time\u2019. <\/p>\n

In the chaos of being a first-time mum, I found it was also a lot quicker than getting my nails or hair done \u2013 it was easier to fit in around childcare. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Katie\t<\/div>
After giving birth Katie went back to the tanning shops (Picture: Katie McVeigh)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then, in the summer of 2022 I noticed a black mole growing on my right cheek. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m a fairly moley person so at first I wasn\u2019t too worried, but then it started looking different to my other moles \u2013 it kept scabbing over, dropping off, then growing again. This went on for a couple of months.<\/p>\n

I sent photos to my GP. They weren\u2019t worried either but they referred me to a dermatologist just to be on the safe side. <\/p>\n

In September 2022 I had the mole removed<\/a> at a dermatology clinic and sent away to be biopsied. It would take six weeks to get my results, and during that time I didn\u2019t really think about it. There hadn\u2019t been any red flags yet.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tLearn more about skin cancer symptoms\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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The main symptoms of melanoma skin cancer can include a new mole, or a change to an existing mole. These can appear anywhere on the body.<\/p>\n

Normal moles tend to be:<\/p>\n