Model shares ‘gruesome’ photos to remind people about the dangers of sunbeds

A model has shared a set of "gruesome" photos to remind people about the dangers of sunbeds.

Elle Ravenscroft needed two operations to remove potentially cancerous moles from her stomach after using sunbeds for 13 minutes a week over two years. Calling the experience "horrific," the Manchester woman took to Facebook to warn others about the effects of tanning this way. She wrote:

"This is why it’s important NOT to use sunbeds! "Sorry for the gruesome pictures but I wanted to get the message out there to everyone - this has been the most horrific experience for me."

The former Miss Teen Galaxy and HD brows technician shared the photo to her 3,000 Facebook followers earlier this week. She has since received comments from others users saying that they had had similar experiences. One woman said that she developed skin cancer at the age of 20 after using sunbeds regularly and was left with a "stupidly big scar" on the side of her face. https://www.instagram.com/p/BeqqC2xlB-j/?hl=en&taken-by=ellaravenscroft The Irish Cancer Society says that there are 10,000 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed in Ireland every year. Approximately 1,000 of these are melanomas - a type of cancer that develops in the skin's pigment cells and can travel to the rest of the body. In 2015, there were 215 skin cancer related deaths in Ireland. The World Health Organisation warns that even one sunbed session can increase your risk of developing squamous cell skin cancer by 67 percent and basal cell skin cancer by 29 percent. Similarly, anyone who has ever used a sunbed has increased their risk of developing melanoma by 20 percent. Everyone is at risk using a sunbed, however there are certain skin types that are at far greater risk than others. These include:

• Fair or freckled skin
• Skin that always burns and never tans
• Skin that burns before it tans
• Skin with a lot of moles

Similarly, people with the following experiences should not use sunbeds.

• You have had skin cancer or a family member has had skin cancer
• You use cosmetics or take medications that make your skin more sensitive to UV rays.