AN Irish woman has shared photos of her pre-cancer facial treatment to warn people about the dangers of sun damage.
Mum Margaret Murphy, 45, has been chronicling her 28-day course to remove pre-cancerous cells from her face after years of tanning.
The Dublin native hopes the images of the effects of the painful treatment on her Facebook page will raise awareness of the dangers posed by ultraviolet rays.
Margaret has admitted to spending long periods both out in the sun and in sunbeds without sufficient levels of sun protection.
The mum lived on the island of Crete for a decade where temperatures regularly top 30°C.
Whenever she returned to Ireland to visit friends and family she would top up her tan using UV beds.
“I’m sharing this to try and raise awareness to sun damage and using high factor sun lotion,” Margaret said in one post.
“I heard all the warnings years ago and closed my eyes and ears to it all. Maybe someone will open their eyes to this if it’s closer to home.
“I’m not looking for sympathy just to raise awareness.”
Margaret noticed a patch of visible marks on her forehead many years ago but mistook them for psoriasis – a skin condition which is ironically treated by exposure to ultraviolet light.
The marks were in fact actinic keratosis – precancerous lesions that form when the skin is damaged by overexposure to ultraviolet rays.
Margaret said: “I had visible marks on my forehead for eight or nine years but because you could cover them with my hair they didn’t bother me, one doctor actually told me it was psoriasis so at one stage I was letting the sun at them because I heard it was good for psoriasis.”
“They were constant little crusty spots that would never go away no matter what I put on them.
“Unfortunately all this lovely tanning has a price to pay cause now I have pre-cancerous cells on my face and have started treatment to remove them.
“I’ve to use a cream that’s going to burn them out, apparently it’s quite painful and gruesome as the weeks go on but on the good side it should get rid of the cells and treatment and is only for a month.”
Margaret’s face has become to heal but she says that she will continue chronicling her journey to warn others not to follow in her footsteps.
