Latest news with #tanninginjections
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'I hide tanning jabs in my room and use sunbeds four times a week - I cry after every session but still go back because it's the only thing that makes me feel confident'
A teenage sunbed addict says her mum was forced to beg local salons to stop serving her after finding tanning injections hidden in a pickle jar in her bedroom. Megan Blain, 19, admits she cries with guilt after every session but still visits salons up to four times a week, saying she feels anxious and 'not herself' if her skin tone lightens even slightly. The aspiring stewardess, from Murton, County Durham, says her obsession began at 16 after she was bullied at school and has since spiralled into a full-blown dependency on sunbeds, supplements and banned injections to keep her skin as dark as possible. Despite visible signs of damage, including new moles and premature lines on her face, Megan says she has continued regardless. She has even turned down job offers because she didn't feel 'dark enough'. Her mum Elisha, meanwhile, has been left so worried she contacted salons across the region in a bid to cut off her daughter's supply. She told MailOnline: 'I won't have anyone suggest that what I'm suffering isn't an addiction - it is and it's ruining my life. I don't want anyone else to go through what is happening to me. I know that I'm being self-destructive by going on the sunbeds day after day but I just can't stop. 'What really scares me is that I can see sunbed use rising among younger people and that all comes down to TikTok. There has been a rise in influencers who have a dark tan all year round and that look is becoming fashionable again. 'People have known for years the damage that sunbeds can do but I'm seeing girls of 15 going into sunbed shops because they want to look like the people they see online.' Megan says her habit began by secretly using her mum's sunbed in the garage, carefully topping up the electricity meter each time so she wouldn't be caught. 'I knew Mam would be furious if she knew what I was doing so I was very careful,' she said. 'I hoped that she'd think I was still using fake tan, but one day she saw me getting changed and saw the tan lines and realised what I had been doing.' Things escalated when Elisha discovered syringes hidden in a pickle jar while preparing a cheeseboard - and immediately began contacting local beauticians to warn them not to sell her daughter tanning injections. Megan said: 'She messaged loads of salons to tell them not to sell me the injections but I have to admit that I've carried on taking them. I feel bad going behind her back because I know she's so worried about me and I feel bad for causing that anxiety - but I just can't stop.' Now, she says the damage is already starting to show. 'There are moles that have appeared over the past two years that weren't there before and at 19 I have lines in my forehead that shouldn't be there,' she said. 'The signs of skin damage are there and they're obvious - but I still go back. 'If I try not to go on the beds, I feel depressed and anxious. And yet when I do go on them I cry after every session. I think it's through guilt because I know that what I'm doing is causing so much damage.' As well as using injections, Megan has experimented with tanning supplements - including beta-carotene tablets and even grated carrots in the hope they would darken her complexion. She says the obsession has taken over every part of her life. 'I was offered a job working on fairground rides but I didn't feel tanned enough to face so many people,' she said. 'I couldn't even go to my prom because my date said I looked too dark and he didn't want to take me any more.' Megan has reduced her sunbed usage to four times a week and is now using her platform on TikTok to warn 'the younger generation' about the dangers of sunbed addiction Megan says she has twice booked appointments with her GP but was too anxious to attend. 'There's no escaping it - on my street alone there are three sunbed shops, so the reminders are always there,' she said. 'I've made appointments with the doctor twice but couldn't go through with them. I was so anxious about what they would say that I couldn't leave the house.' She is currently studying travel and tourism at Sunderland College and dreams of becoming an air stewardess - but says her main goal is to leave the sunbeds behind for good. 'I want to experience the real world, that's my absolute goal,' she said. 'If one person reads my story and decides not to use a sunbed, I'll feel like I've achieved something.'
The Sun
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I became addicted to tanning beds at 16, I take injections to boost it and now I'm covered in moles but can't stop
A YOUNG girl reveals she can't stop using sunbeds despite being told she looks like a dirty 2p coin. Megan Blain, who is just 19, said she first became obsessed with looking tanned at 14, but now wishes she had never started. 3 3 Speaking to Truly, she said: "I wish I didn't start now. "At 14 years old I started using fake tan. I was really white. "My mum got the sunbed out of the garage and I thought, you know what? I'll use the sunbed while she's at work. "I would calculate the exact amount of electric I've used and go top it up at the shop." Now, it has become a habit that Megan can't knock and has left her going on sunbeds four times a week for 15 minutes each time. But that's not enough for Megan, she also takes tanning injections five times a week to boost her colour. She revealed that her tan is so dark that she often gets laughed at on the street. "Loads of heads would turn in the street," she explained. "People look me up and down and laugh at it." Megan prefers to lie on the bottom of the sunbed as she claims the lighting is stronger so she can get more of a tan on her face. She said her tanning addiction has been going on for so long she has no idea what she looks like without one. And despite knowing the dangers she is putting her body through, she's unable to stop. 3 Can a £3 Gradual Tan Really Deliver a Sun-Kissed Glow without Streaks or Stained Sheets? She added: "Sometimes I'll cry after the sunbed because I know the damage I'm doing to my skin, but I feel like I'm too far gone. "I've got moles all over. I didn't know if the moles were cancerous." Megan says going on a sunbed is more of a compulsion, and that she doesn't even like doing them anymore. She also said she wished she had never started. "If I could speak to my 14-year-old self today, I'd say, don't change for anyone. You are who you are, you don't need to fit in with a crowd, just be yourself," she explained. People were quick to share their thoughts in the comments, with many hoping Megan gets the help she needs. One person wrote: "She seems like such a lovely character and I really wish her all the best for her journey to get away from the addiction." Another commented: "She is so lovely, I hope she gets help and avoids cancer." "That's what proper burnt toast looks like," penned a third. Risks of sunbeds THE promise of a constant glowing tan is too tempting for some people to deny. But while popping to the sunbed shop may seem harmless, people who use tanning beds should be aware of the risks. Approximately 10 per cent of the population of Northern Europe use sunbeds on a regular basis, the World Health Organization says. Some people use them for years on end, accumulating risk of serious disease. We are here to give you the lowdown on sunbeds and if they are safe to use. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), sunbeds are as dangerous as smoking. Like the sun, they give out harmful UV rays that damage the DNA in your skin cells. Over time, this may lead to malignant melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - studies have shown. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there is significant evidence to show that using tanning beds causes melanoma. They report that sunbeds increase the risk of skin cancer by up to 20 per cent, and also state that they have no positive benefits to our health. Cancer Research back this statistic, adding that " there is no such thing as a safe tan from UV radiation". One study found that sunbeds can almost double the risk of cancer compared to never using them - with women 83 per cent more likely to develop the disease. While some people think tanning beds are safer than sitting out in the midday sun, according to Cancer Research, the risk is still twice as high when compared to spending the same amount of time in the Mediterranean sun at lunch time. The Sunbed Association claim there is not enough evidence to link sunbed use with melanoma, adding: "It is over-exposure and burning that will increase a risk of skin cancer, not responsible UV exposure." But the WHO says: "The majority of tanning parlours provide inadequate advice to their customers. "The use of eye protection such as goggles or sunglasses should be mandatory. "However, as sunbed users aim to have an even tan, they often decide against protecting any part of their body." Referring to the link with skin cancer, the world health experts add: "Sunbeds for self-tanning purposes have been available for the last two decades and due to the long latency period for skin cancer and eye damage it has been difficult so far to demonstrate any long-term health effects. "Even though the causes of malignant melanoma are not fully understood, tumour development appears to be linked to occasional exposure to intense sunlight. "Sunbeds subject their users to intermittent high exposures of UVA and UVB radiation – this may provide the ideal setting for the development of malignant skin cancer. "However, the few epidemiological studies that have been carried out to date have not provided any consistent results." Despite the WHO's cautious stance on the skin cancer link, it discourages the use of sunbeds, quoting an expert who said the use of tanning parlours is like "an industrial-scale radiation exposure experiment". Regardless of skin cancer, sunbeds don't just have long-term health risks. Users have reported a range of short-term symptoms including itching, dryness and redness of skin, freckling and photosensitivity. Common outcomes in the longer term, especially in fair-skinned people, may involve blistering of the skin. " Sagging and wrinkling of the skin are an almost certain price to be paid by frequent sunbed users", the WHO says - not quite the outcome you hope for when going to the sunbed shop for a beautiful, youthful look. Meanwhile a fourth said: "Pale is beautiful though."
