dangerous TikTok fashion that increases the risk of cancer

Social media is full of pseudo-experts disseminating health advice. The latest trend seen on platforms like TikTok in recent days is talk of “sun blister”. This trend is basically to convince people that the sun is not harmful to the skin, but they are not ready to receive it. According to them, people should be gradually exposed to the sun over the months leading up to summer to be able to tan without using sunscreen and avoid sunburn.

Paloma Borregon, dermatologist from the Group of Aesthetic and Therapeutic Dermatology (GEDET) of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV), explains that this concept exists, but, contrary to the claims of these gurus, it is harmful to health. The more the skin is exposed to the sun, the more melanin it produces to protect itself from worsening the condition. It is this system that causes tanning, but this does not mean that it is useful. “You stop burning, but the damage accumulates”– explains the dermatologist.

The only advantage this progressive way of sun exposure may have is that the skin does not turn redsays Borregon. However, this does not mean that it does not deteriorate equally: “This red color is only the visible effect of chronic and invisible damage.”

(Unstoppable rise in melanoma incidence in Spain: over the past 10 years, the number of cases has increased by 49%).

The sun and its radiation cause spots and wrinkles, reduce elasticity and collagen levels, and the most fragile skin, Details about Ortiz. The problem with these changes is that people don’t know about them because it can take them thirty to forty years to notice them, the dermatologist adds. The specialist makes it clear that there is no safe way to carry out such an effect and the longer it continues, the faster your epidermis will age. “I encourage my patients to erase the idea of ​​sunbathing from their minds.”

These statements don’t mean you should forget about going to the beach, Ortiz clarifies. What must be banished is the thought of walk, and the only thing to do is lie down and receive solar radiation.

The spread of this kind of misinformation through social media is something “very worrying”complains Pablo Ortiz, dermatologist at the 12 October Hospital in Madrid. “They expose people to the sun to a tremendous degree.” Most people, according to the expert, want two things: not to suffer from skin cancer and to have beautiful skin in old age. “Neither of these are compatible with sunbathing,” he says.

The “only benefit” the sun brings to the skin is that it helps produce vitamin D, but to do this It is enough to receive it 15 minutes a day, details Borregon. “From now on, it no longer gives us any advantage.” The hospital dermatologist on October 12 adds that in fact, you don’t even have to tan as your only activity. The amount received when going outside, for example, to work, for a walk or to run errands, is sufficient.

Ortiz also addresses the usefulness and necessity of using sunscreen. When used correctly within daily and ongoing protection, good for the health. However, the specialist emphasizes, this is usually not the case. People use these products not to protect themselves from everyday damage, but to spend more time in the sun without getting burned. These excessive hours, even if there is no visible damage, increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

The growth of this pathology worries experts. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of diagnoses of the disease increased. 15% for women and 50% for men. Borregon explains that this is primarily the result of changes in habits that have occurred in recent years. The fashion for tanned skin in the summer in recent decades has led to many people exposing themselves to ultraviolet radiation for long hours. “Now we’re seeing accumulated sun damage in people who years ago started exposing themselves like crazy to the sun to get UVA rays.”

Ortiz points out that not all cases of this disease are caused by accumulated sun exposure over several years, but rather depend on the type of cancer one has had. Melanoma, for example, is more associated with radiation exposure. intense and intermittent, like burns received during a beach holiday. Borregon adds that special care must be taken with this tumor because it can metastasize very quickly.

There are people who need to especially protect themselves from the sun and radiation. Red-haired or fair-haired people with very fair skin and eyes. Those who have had melanoma or have a family history of the disease should also be very careful, Ortiz explains. Children need to be especially closely monitored, since at an early age This radiation has an even more negative effect on the epidermis, emphasizes the GEDET dermatologist. The specialist emphasizes that in this sense, clothing is the best ally: the more it is covered, the better. “The best protection is not cream, but clothes and a hat.”