Category Archives: Skin problems

How can I get rid of my child’s lice?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.

How did my child get this? I keep her really clean!

Any child may get lice: rich or poor, short hair or long hair, old or young. It does not mean the child is dirty!

Human lice live only on human hair and scalps. If your child has lice, he got it from another individual with whom he was in close contact. Any circumstance where a child’s hair comes close to another child’s hair can do it: sleepovers, long bus trips and field trips, etc. Also, sharing combs, brushes, hats, helmets, headbands, scarves, etc. can spread lice.

Regular daily baths and shampoos alone don’t get rid of head lice — so even very clean children can, and do, get head lice. Don’t let your child feel self-conscious or ashamed about this very common pediatric problem.

 

How can I be sure my child has lice or nits?

Lice (tiny, grey-brown wingless insects) and nits (tiny white eggs, the size of a pinhead) are very common in children, but often misdiagnosed. The most common symptom is persistent scratching of an itchy head. Dandruff, dust, dirt, dried hair spray or gel, insects blown into the hair from outside, or eczema can all mimic lice or nits. Look very carefully. Brush your child’s hair out vigorously while the child stands with his head over a white piece of cardboard or a white towel; live lice should come out easily.

If you still suspect that your child might have lice lurking in his or her hair, apply about 1 cup of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to your child’s hair and work it in thoroughly. Then rub your child’s hair vigorously with a white towel for about 30 seconds. The alcohol will make the lice “drunk” and cause them to come off the hair.

If you are not sure, let us check your child’s hair.

 

How can I get rid of lice?

The problem isn’t getting rid of the live lice — it’s getting rid of the nits. Most children have only 5-6 live lice on the scalp at a time, which can be combed or picked out easily. Unfortunately, the live lice lay eggs (nits), which are glued firmly to the hair shaft. Children may have dozens of eggs at a time in their hair. After a week, the eggs hatch, the lice mate, and even more eggs are laid. Special “nit killing” shampoos kill live lice and the eggs, and loosen the “glue” that sticks nits to the hair shaft.

To get rid of lice, first treat the hair of everyone in the house over the age of 2 with a special nit shampoo:

  • Read labels carefully: each product has different directions. Many good products are over the counter and do not require a prescription. We recommend trying Rid or Nix  (or their generic equivalents) first. If you suspect that the lice are resistant to these products, a prescription product or an herbal product like Hair Clear 1-2-3 is probably a better option. If you have questions about which product is best for you, please contact us.
  • Use an adequate amount of solution: 2 oz for short hair, 4 oz for long hair. Do not use other shampoo, rinse, hairspray, mousse, or other hair products for 24 hours.
  • Everyone should then bathe in the shower or bathtub and put on fresh clothes afterward. Do not rewash hair!
  • Be sure your child isn’t infested in the eyebrows and eyelashes. If so, cover the eyebrows and eyelashes with petroleum jelly. Don’t use nit shampoo here!
  • Never, ever use gasoline, kerosene, pesticides or motor oil on your child’s hair! These home remedies are dangerous and ineffective.

Next, you’ll need to pull out or comb out nits from everyone’s hair next:

  • Special fine-toothed combs are available to scrape off nits. Fingernails work well too. Go through hair section by section and remove the small white “nits” (lice eggs) glued to the hair shaft, about one third of the way down the hair shaft.
  • Nit removal is easier to do when the hair is damp, right after the shampoo.

Next, tackle the bedrooms:

  • Most personal articles of clothing and bedding can be disinfected by machine washing in hot water (125 degrees F) for 10 minutes. Allow time between loads for water to reheat to the disinfecting temperature.
  • Place non-washable personal articles or bedding in the dryer on high heat for at least 20 minutes. Alternatively, dry clean them or seal air-tight in a plastic bag for a week to disinfect then.
  • If clothing and bedding is not disinfected on the day of head treatment, it should be bagged airtight until it can be done.
  • All towels, sheets, blankets, coats, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, and clothes need to be disinfected.

Go through the rest of the house and car:

  • Fumigation of rooms and use of insecticide sprays on furniture and carpets are not recommended to kill head lice. Thorough vacuuming is sufficient (cushions, mattresses, and under furniture) with proper disposal of the vacuum bag.
  • Combs, brushes, and other personal articles or toys may be disinfected by placing them with laundry in the washing machine, heating in a pan of water on the stove at 150 degrees for 10 minutes or soaking for 1 hour in a 2% Lysol solution. Caution: heating may damage some items.
  • Vehicle upholstery and carpet should be thoroughly vacuumed. Clean car seats and bus seats according to the manufacturer’s directions.

7-10 days later, repeat all of the above.

Treated persons should be checked for lice and nits daily for 2-3 weeks after treatment.

Treatments don’t always kill eggs completely, even when done correctly. Therefore, infested patients should be treated twice.

The interval between treatments should approximate the incubation period for nits (7-10 days) so that the second application will kill any newly hatched parasites.

 

Should I cut my child’s hair short?

We don’t usually recommend this for two reasons:

  1. Cutting the hair short doesn’t protect against reinfestations. Boys with very short crew cuts can still get lice from sharing baseball caps, etc.
  2. Cutting the child’s hair is a very permanent action for a temporary problem. A little girl who has always been proud of her beautiful, long hair may feel like the lice are her fault if her hair is suddenly “chopped off.” It can also have kind of a “concentration camp” feel.

If your son has always wanted a buzz cut, fine; this is a good time to do it. Otherwise, don’t make a radical change in your child’s hairstyle just because of lice.

 

What if my child is no better after the second treatment?

Sometimes lice can become resistant to the chemicals in the hair treatments. If this is the case, we might need to try a different product. In most instances, the lice in the hair were killed, but the child re-infested himself from something in the house that was harboring lice: a hat, a teddy bear, etc.

Note: Just because a child is still itchy after a treatment doesn’t mean that the lice have come back. The chemicals in the hair treatments can dry out and irritate the scalp, which causes itchiness. If your child picks at her dry, irritated scalp, flakes of dandruff can result – which may look like nits at first glance. Look very closely! (In a 2000 study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, doctors and parents were asked to submit specimens of lice and nits. When viewed under the microscope, only 59% of the “specimens” were really lice or nits.

What is molluscum contagiosum?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.
Good news: This is a harmless condition.
What does molluscum look like?

The rash consists of raised, round smooth bumps that look like thick-walled pimples or small warts. The bumps are skin-colored and sometimes have a dimple in the center. There can be only 5-10 bumps in just one area, or there can be dozens all over the body. Bumps can be the size of a pinhead to 1/4″ across. The rash doesn’t hurt, but occasionally will itch.

What causes molluscum?

It is caused by a virus (poxvirus.) It is transmitted only by close skin-to-skin contact. The incubation period is 4-8 weeks. Children usually catch the virus as toddlers or preschoolers. If a child picks at a bump, then scratches elsewhere, the bumps can spread to other parts of the body. There is no need to keep a child out of day care for molluscum.
How long will molluscum last?

Most bumps will disappear on their own without treatment, but it usually takes 6-18 months. They can last even longer if the child has sensitive dry skin (atopic dermatitis) or if the child picks at the bumps and they become infected.
Can anything be done to remove them faster?

There is no consensus among doctors about the best way to treat molluscum. In general, the three proven treatments are similar to wart removal: freezing the bumps in the office, extracting the bumps in the office or applying an acid-like medication to the skin at home. The first two can be painful or frightening for young children. The latter can cause significant skin irritation, even worse than the molluscum, and requires faithful application to all the lesions. Other medications, such as Tagamet, imiquimod cream, and Retin-A have been used sometimes, but they are effective only 50-80% of the time.

We generally don’t recommend molluscum removal unless they are a severe cosmetic problem or if they are in a high-friction area (such as the armpit.) In those cases, we can remove the bumps in the office by one of the above two methods. Be aware that, because this is a cosmetic therapy, insurance sometimes does not pay for treatment.

There is evidence that a home remedy is safer and just as effective as any of these: duct tape! Cleaning the lesions, applying duct tape to the lesions at bedtime, then removing the duct tape the next morning has shown to work well for many children.

Why does my child need sun protection?

Posted on by

Emily Johnson, RN, CPNP

It can be frustrating if your child puts up a fuss every time you slather on the sunblock. No parent wants to drag his or her child out of the pool when it’s time to reapply it. Especially if your child does not burn easily, you may be wondering, “Does my child really need sun protection?” In a word, “Yes.”

Why do children need sun protection?

We all know that sun exposure can cause painful sunburns. This happens when ultraviolet (UV) radiation injures skin cells. UV radiation is light that we cannot see. It damages human cells. The main source of UV radiation is sunlight, but indoor tanning bulbs also emit UV radiation. The severity of a sunburn depends on the intensity of the UV radiation, the amount of time the person is exposed to it, and how sensitive the person’s skin is to it. Sunburns can range from minor discomfort and discoloration to severe pain with multiple blisters requiring medical attention. Nobody wants to see his or her child suffer in pain for hours or days knowing that simply applying sunblock could have prevented such suffering.

You may think that because your child has rarely or never burned in the past, he or she is not at risk of getting a sunburn. There are several medicines, however, that are photosensitizing. This means that they can make the skin much more sensitive to UV radiation. Some common photosensitizing drugs include ibuprofen, naproxen, and ketoprofen (anti-inflammatory medicines used to relieve pain); birth control pills; ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and minocycline (antibiotics); griseofulvin (used to treat fungal infections); isotretinoin and tretinoin (retinoids used to treat acne).

This is not a complete list. Many other medicines can cause photosensitivity. There are alsoother chemicals, including some found in cosmetics and fragrances, which can cause photosensitivity. If your child has taken a photosensitizing drug or used photosensitizing makeup or fragrances, he or she could get quite a sunburn even if he or she has never had one before.

Preventing the pain of sunburn isn’t the only reason to protect your children from sun exposure.Eye exposure to UV radiation increases the risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration. These are eye diseases which can cause vision loss and, eventually, blindness. Cataracts can be treated with eye surgery, but this is expensive, can be frightening and, like any surgery, is not risk-free. Treatment options for macular degeneration are not very effective and are very expensive. UV radiation is also the cause of most signs of aging, including fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, leathery skin, and uneven skin color (blotches and age spots). The best way to maintain a youthful appearance is to avoid UV skin damage, including sunburns and suntans.

Sunburns also dramatically increase the risk of skin cancer. A person who has 1 or more blistering sunburns during childhood or adolescence has more than twice the risk of melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer) as a person who does not have any blistering sunburns in childhood or adolescence. Even milder sunburns are dangerous. A person who has had more than 5 sunburns throughout his or her lifetime has twice the risk of melanoma as a person who has not had sunburns.

Many people think that the key to avoiding the pain of sunburn and the associated increased risk of skin cancer is to slowly build up a suntan, which will protect them from burning. This is not a good idea. Unlike sunburns, suntans are not painful, but they are still a sign of skin damage. Remember, any change in your child’s skin color as a result of sun exposure is a sign of damage. Suntans greatly increase the risk of the more common types of skin cancer: basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers are not as deadly as melanoma, but they can require painful surgeries for their removal and may leave severely disfiguring scars. Tanning also increases the risk of melanoma (though not as much as sunburns). People with blonde hair, light eyes (not brown), fair skin, or a family history of skin cancer are at an increased risk.

If your child has any of these traits, it is very important that you protect his or her skin from sun damage. There are people who develop all kinds of skin cancer who do not have any of these risk factors. That means that it is important to protect your child from sun exposure, even if he or she does not have light skin, hair, or eyes or a family history of skin cancer. Death from skin cancer is fairly uncommon, but both skin cancer deaths and the number of nonfatal cases of skin cancer are steadily increasing. If your child lives to be at least 65 years old (we certainly hope so!), he or she has a 40%-50% chance of having at least one episode of skin cancer. The best thing you can do to reduce this risk is develop good sun protection habits during his or her childhood.

Your son or daughter is probably not very concerned with his or her health multiple decades from now. Telling children that applying sunblock or wearing sunglasses will help them avoid skin cancer, premature aging, cataracts, and macular degeneration is unlikely to make a deep enough impact on them that they will do everything they need to in order to avoid UV damage. That’s why they need you to look out for their health. If you make healthy choices for them when they are young, they will be more likely to make healthy choices for themselves as they grow up. Many years from now, when they are healthy middle and older adults, they will be grateful beyond measure for all that you did to help them live long, healthy lives.

Your child can have fun outside and stay safe from the sun. Please see our “Summer Safety Tips” packet for important tips on protecting your son or daughter’s skin and eyes from sun damage.

Much of the information included here came from the Skin Cancer Foundation. For more helpful information about the risks of sun exposure and how you can protect your children (and yourself) from sun damage, visit their website, http://www.skincancer.org.

What is causing this mysterious allergic rash in my child?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.
Sometimes children break out in unexplained rashes that appear to have been caused by an allergy to something. Allergic rashes certainly vary from person to person, but the classic allergic rash (called urticaria) usually is:

  • Very itchy
  • Pink
  • Puffy (often called hives)
  • Migratory (that is, it seems to come and go, disappearing and reappearing on different parts of the body)

What could have caused this rash?
There are lots of possibilities. Theoretically, kids could be exposed to a thousand different substances in a week – between school meals (a new fruit dessert), playing outside after school (poison ivy or poison oak), sleeping over at Grandma’s house (new detergents on sheets and towels), and making crafts in Sunday School (glues and paints), and so on. The most common causes of allergic (urticarial) rashes include things like:

  • Common foods, like fish and shellfish, nuts, peanuts, eggs, wheat, and soy
  • Meats, like beef, chicken and pork
  • Fruits, like apple, apricots, lemons, limes, strawberry, and watermelon
  • Vegetables like ,asparagus, beans, leafy greens (cabbage, lettuce, and endives), savory vegetables (pickles, onions, garlic, parsnip, parsley), tomatoes, mushrooms
  • Medicines, like aspirin, ibuprofen, antibiotics (like penicillin or sulfa), antifungal medicines (like Lotrimin), and many medications for seizures or behavioral/psychological problems
  • Essential oils in cosmetics, shampoo, fragrances, lotions, soaps
  • Chemicals in detergents and fabric softeners
  • Additives and preservatives like Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #3, annato, sodium benzoate, aspartame (NutraSweet)
  • Latex, from gloves, balloons, or other toys
  • Plants and animals, like pollen, poison ivy, cat or dog dander, and insect bites

Although not allergies per se , we can see allergic type rashes also from:

  • Heat: Hot food, hot objects, hot bath/showers, sunlight, and sweat
  • Pressure: Friction or prolonged pressure, like tight elastic waistbands, belts, bra straps
  • Cold: Ice, cold air or cold water — worse with sudden changes in temperature

Many viruses also cause allergic-type rashes. These are harmless, brief, and require no treatment.

My child may have eaten a few strawberries — but this rash has been going on for days now!

Sometimes the reaction is quite bad. Often the allergy seems out of proportion to the original exposure, either in how much the rash itches, how much of the body it covers, or how long the rash lasts. Until your child’s body completely gets rid of the substance he’s allergic to — and isn’t exposed to it again in the meantime — it may take several days before the rash finally goes away, even with treatment.

Just before my child broke out in this rash, she had some walnuts — but she’s never had a problem with nuts before.
It still could be the nuts. Many times children (and adults) develop allergies to things that they’ve never been sensitive to before. We frequently see kids who, at age 10, suddenly become allergic to an antibiotic that they’ve had several times before in their life without any problems. The same holds true for other things: foods, preservatives, animals, and other things in our environment.

Alternatively, it’s possible that your child might be allergic to something else, and the nuts were just a coincidence!

Will allergy testing help?

Allergy testing is most useful when we have a short “list of suspects.” That is, if we’ve narrowed the likely causes of the allergic rash to, for example, walnuts, strawberries, and cats, we can do simple blood allergy testing for those three specific items.

On the other hand, if we really have no idea what might be causing the rash — it could be any number of, literally, hundreds of things. Running hundreds of tests to eliminate all the possibilities is much more difficult and expensive — and requires a lot more blood!

Most of the time, we don’t need to do allergy testing if the allergic rash disappears with treatment and doesn’t come back. In most cases of mysterious allergic rashes, 80-90% go away with treatment in a few days and never come back. However, if the rash keeps coming back every few weeks or months, or is quite prolonged or severe, it’s probably worth doing some testing.

What can I do for my baby’s diaper rash?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.

Chemicals in the urine and stool can cause irritation to a baby’s sensitive skin. These chemicals sit in the diaper against the baby’s skin until the diaper is next changed. The more stools or urine a baby has, the more they can irritate his or her groin. Also, many diaper wipes contain chemicals that can irritate a baby’s skin. Most of all, diapers are on babies nearly 24 hours a day – for good reason – although this makes it tough for their skin to air out and “breathe.”

There are several things you can do for diaper rashes:

  1. Let the baby go without a diaper as much as possible. As you can imagine, this can be messy. However, if you let the baby play on a tile floor with an old sheet or towel under him, cleanup isn’t too tedious. Getting air to the irritated skin helps heal the rash.
  2. Change diapers frequently. This prevents buildup of chemicals against the baby’s skin.
  3. Use larger diapersthan usual to help air circulate around the bottom.
  4. Don’t use anything besides plain soap and water to clean up the baby’s bottom. Diaper wipes are fine normally, but the alcohol and other chemicals can dry out the skin. Warm water on a washcloth and plain, unscented soap for diaper changes are best during this time.
  5. Use a barrier cream. These thick, bland creams protect the baby’s skin from urine and stool chemicals. They must be applied generously all over the diaper rash after each diaper change. Look for creams that contain zinc oxide and don’t contain perfumes or scents.

Occasionally, diaper rashes can be caused by yeast (fungus) infections. These are usually bright red patches all over the groin, including the skin folds, with bright red bumps around the edges of the rash. Let us know if you think your baby’s rash looks like this, because treatment requires an anti-fungal cream (nystatin) in addition to the usual care.

How can I treat my child’s eczema (atopic dermatitis)?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.

This is a very common skin problem of infants and children. In fact, probably 50% of infants have at least mild eczema at some point during their first year of life. Eczema is caused by irritation of skin that is already dry and sensitive. It’s not contagious or harmful in any way — it’s just not very attractive.

The good news about eczema is that it can be easy to treat with over-the-counter creams, available in any pharmacy or grocery store.

The bad news about eczema is that it can recur again and again. Many parents will use the creams only once in a while, and then get frustrated because the patches keep coming back.

Treatment involves two types of skin cream:

  1. Preventive lubricating cream: like Eucerin, Curel, or Lubriderm. The name-brand creams can be expensive; ask your pharmacist to recommend an inexpensive substitute. These creams help moisturize sensitive skin and prevent irritants from settling in the skin. To use: Apply a thin layer of moisturizing cream once or twice a day all over your child’s body. After his or her bath is a good time.
  2. Flareup cream: like 1% hydrocortisone. areas three times a day. To use: Apply a small amount of hydrocortisone to the roughest, reddest spots on your child’s body. Avoid the face: steroid creams can cause thinning of the skin there, and steroid cream in the eyes or mouth can be harmful. (If your child’s eczema is worst on the face, read on about alternatives to steroid creams.) Never use a steroid cream for more than 2 weeks in a row unless we specifically tell you otherwise.
What if hydrocortisone cream doesn’t work?

About 10% of children with eczema will need a flareup cream that is stronger than 1% hydrocortisone. There are several options:

  1. prescription steroid creams, like triamcinolone and betamethasone. These have been mainstays for many years in the treatment of severe eczema.
  2. prescription non-steroid creams, like tacrolimus (Protopic) and pimecrolimus (Elidel). These can be used safely on parts of the body where steroid creams aren’t recommended, like the eyelids, cheeks, and diaper area. However, they are much more expensive than many steroid creams.
What about things other than creams?

Skin creams work great when used consistently, but they are only half of the treatment for atopic dermatitis. The other half involves avoiding things that dry out, chafe, or irritate the skin. We recommend the following:

  • Wash the skin only with a mild, “hypoallergenic” soap. A good soaps for this purpose is white Dove soap. Soaps with perfumes or dyes smell good and look pretty, but these chemicals can irritate the skin. The same goes for shampoos and other baby care products.
  • Wash the child’s clothes with mild, unscented detergents. Just as with soaps, some detergents contain perfumes which can chemically irritate the skin. Look for products that say “fragrance-free,” “dye-free,” or “perfume-free.” Also, be sure all the detergent is rinsed out. Switching to a liquid detergent (rather than a powder) and using a second rinse cycle can be helpful.
  • Wash new clothes before wearing them the first time. Chemicals used in fabric sizing can be irritating.
  • Avoid situations that expose the skin to extremes in temperature. Hot, sticky perspiration dries and irritates the skin. Cold air chaps and dries the skin.
  • Try to maintain constant humidity. Air conditioning during the summer keeps the skin cool, and a humidifier in winter helps prevent excess skin dryness.
  • Reduce sun exposure. Use sunscreens to prevent sunburn, but be aware that sunscreens can contain irritating chemicals. Too much time in the sun can cause sweating and drying of the skin.
  • Avoid heavily chlorinated water, such as that found in hot tubs and swimming pools. After swimming, rinse the skin well and don’t sit around in a wet bathing suit.
  • Bathe in cooler water. Hot water dries out the skin. Your child doesn’t have to bathe in an iceberg, but wash him in the coldest water he (and you) can stand.
  • Limit baths to only ten minutes, once a day or every other day. Longer or more frequent bathing also dries out the skin.
  • Avoid wool clothing. Wool is notorious for irritating sensitive skin.
  • Avoid tight clothing. Loose-fitting, cotton-containing garments are better.
  • Benadryl syrup can be used if itching is making your child miserable. Benadryl children’s liquid can be given every 6 hours as needed. (We don’t recommend Benadryl cream for eczema, however — it seems to dry the skin and make eczema worse.)

Where can I buy fragrance-free products?
Some families tell us they have a hard time finding fragrance-free products. Here are some brands to look for (there are many others):

  • Arm and Hammer Perfume and Dye Free: detergent
  • California Baby: shampoo, moisturizer, sunblock, cleanser
  • CeraVe: moisturizer, cleanser
  • Drypers: diapers
  • Free and Clear: shampoo
  • Neutral Tooth Gel: toothpaste
  • Neutrogena: sunblock, cleanser
  • Seventh Generation: diapers, baby wipes, detergents
  • Tender Care: diapers
  • Tide Free: detergent
  • Tom’s of Maine: toothpaste
  • Vanicream: moisturizer, sunblock, cleanser

Can I still wear makeup with sensitive skin?

Posted on by

Suzanne Berman, M.D.
Teenage girls can still wear makeup but may find that their eczema or acne seems less severe if they:

  1. Choose powder-based or pencil-based cosmetics, rather than liquid, when possible. Powder cosmetics contain fewer ingredients and preservatives than those in liquid form.
  2. Avoid waterproof cosmetics.Getting them off at the end of the day requires more strong chemicals, which can also strip the skin.
  3. Watch expiration dates.Old makeup can become contaminated.
  4. Wash makeup brushes and spongesregularly to prevent bacterial buildup.
  5. Use black eyeliner and mascara.Black appears to be the least allergenic of the colors.
  6. Use earth-toned, light colored eye shadowslike tan, cream, or beige rather than dark colors like blue. The lighter colors have a lower concentration of irritating pigments.
  7. Avoid nail polish. Touching one’s eyes and face can cause irritation.
  8. If a liquid foundation is used, choose one with a silicone base.

Are tanning beds safe?

Posted on by

Emily Johnson, RN, CPNP

Tanning beds have become very popular over the last several years. Tan skin has become more and more popular, and many people feel that they are more attractive with a suntan than with their natural skin color. There is also a very common misguided belief that the key to avoiding the pain of sunburn and the associated increased risk of skin cancer is to slowly build up a suntan, which will protect the person from burning. Using tanning beds seems like a convenient, easy way to get the tan skin that many people want to feel more attractive and avoid sunburns. While tanning beds make it easier to darken the skin, tanning is not a good idea. Unlike sunburns, suntans are not painful, but they are still a sign of skin damage. Remember, any change in skin color as a result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a sign of damage. Tanning beds and the sun both cause darkening of the skin by emitting UVR. This means that the tan you get from a tanning bed is a sign of skin damage.

Some tanning beds are falsely advertised as being safe because they do not emit UVB rays, only UVA rays. UVB rays are notorious as the main cause of sunburns. UVA rays, on the other hand, are more likely to cause tanning than burning. UVA rays can still cause sunburns. Even if a tanning bed user never gets burned, the tanning bed is still causing harm, because the tan itself is a display of skin damage. Using tanning beds greatly increases the risk of the more common types of skin cancer: basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers are not as deadly as melanoma, but they can require painful surgeries for their removal and may leave severely disfiguring scars. Tanning also increases the risk of melanoma (though not as much as basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma). People with blonde hair, light eyes (not brown), fair skin, or a family history of skin cancer are at an increased risk. If you have any of these traits, it is very important to avoid tanning beds and protect your skin from sun damage. There are people who develop all kinds of skin cancer who do not have any of these risk factors. That means that everyone should avoid tanning beds and protect their skin from sun exposure. Death from skin cancer is fairly uncommon, but both skin cancer deaths and the number of nonfatal cases of skin cancer are steadily increasing. If you live to be at least 65 years old (we certainly hope so!), you have a 40%-50% chance of having at least one episode of skin cancer. This risk is much higher if you use tanning beds, and the more you use them, the more your skin cancer risk grows. The best thing you can do to reduce this risk is avoid tanning beds and protect your skin from sun exposure. UVR is also the cause of most signs of aging, including fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, leathery skin, and uneven skin color (blotches and age spots). The more a person’s skin is exposed to UVR, the faster and more dramatically his or her skin will age. The best way to maintain a youthful appearance is to avoid UV skin damage, which includes burns and tans from the sun and from tanning beds.

Tanning beds are especially harmful, because they emit 10-15 times as much UVR as the midday sun! That means spending 10 minutes in a tanning bed is like sunbathing for about 2 hours. If you use a tanning bed, you can cause great damage to your skin in a very short time. Remember, the more time you spend tanning, the greater your risk of all types of skin cancers, and the faster your skin will age. If you still want tan skin but want to avoid all these risks, you can try a self-tanning product. These products dye the skin and do not cause skin damage. Years ago, self-tanning products were known for giving the skin an unnatural, orange tint. Self-tanning products have come a long way since then, and when used appropriately, make the skin appear naturally tan. Before you use a self-tanning product, make sure you get your parent’s permission, choose a product made for your skin tone (for example, if you have fair skin, use a product with a label that says it is for fair or light skin), and read the instructions carefully so that you understand exactly how to use it.

Besides avoiding tanning beds, it is important to protect your skin from the UVR in sunlight. Please see our “Summer Safety Tips” packet for important tips on protecting your skin and eyes from sun damage.

Much of the information included in this handout came from the Skin Cancer Foundation. For more helpful information about the risks of sun exposure and how you can protect yourself from sun damage, visit their website, http://www.skincancer.org.