A woman who used sun beds for just a year has told of her horror after a forehead mole turned out to be skin cancer.
Stacey Galifskiy, now 39, said she had always been careful in the sun because of her pale skin and red hair.
But, aged 19, the tattoo artist from Fife in Scotland, wanted an all-year-round ‘golden glow’ and opted for sun beds despite warnings from friends and family.
Once a week, she would use a bed for roughly eight minutes.
After a year she stopped and said she again became extremely sun-conscious, using factor 50 and staying in the shade where possible.
In 2021, however, while catching up with a friend she hadn’t seen in seven months, they highlighted that a mole on her forehead had changed colour and looked ‘angry’.
She was referred to a dermatologist by her GP and tests later revealed she had melanoma.
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, accounting for four out of five deaths, but only one per cent of total cases.
Stacey Galifskiy, now 39, said she had always been careful in the sun because of her pale skin and red hair
Yet, rates of the disease are predicted to soar yet again this year—up a fifth in just two years.
She claimed she was told her cancer may be linked to her sun bed use.
After undergoing four operations to remove the mole, she has since had a further nine surgeries to remove seven other moles on her forehead, cheek, ear, stomach, leg and buttock.
Three of the moles were early-stage skin cancer, whilst the others were actively growing moles, meaning they could become cancerous if not removed.
Recalling her first four surgeries she said: ‘The first two operations were ok, but the last two were really painful, I had a lot of tingling and pain across my scalp for months afterward.
‘I was then suspicious of every mole on my body.
‘My body became my enemy. I counted my moles limb by limb and took photos of them all to refer back to.
‘I got diagnosed with health anxiety. It was so debilitating.’
Aged 19, the tattoo artist from Fife in Scotland, wanted an all-year-round ‘golden glow’ and opted for sun beds despite warnings from friends and family
She has since also had a private mole mapping treatment that flags any changes to moles on the body annually.
‘Mole mapping has taken away so much of my anxiety and helped me stop being afraid of my body,’ Ms Galifskiy said.
‘I now feel like I enjoy life again, instead of being fearful of the future. I don’t think sunbeds should be allowed to be honest.
‘There definitely needs to be more information and clearer warnings out there on how it affects you long term.’
It is estimated there are around 17,600 new melanoma cancer cases in the UK every year – 48 a day.
Experts advise checking your skin for any unusual changes using a mirror or by asking a partner to check areas you cannot see.
They say to look out for moles with an uneven shape or edges, with a mix of colours and large ones more than 6mm wide.
Most commonly it is caused by ultraviolet light (UV) that comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.
People are more likely to get melanoma if they have pale skin that burns easily in the sun, red or blonde hair or blue or green eyes.
Having a large number of freckles or moles, sun exposure, and a family history of the illness are also common risks.
