Sunburn art can cause deadly skin cancer, dermatologists warn sunbathers. (Photo : Twitter )
Sunburn art is becoming a trend on social media this summer with sunbathers taking it to Twitter and Instagram to share photos of their artfully designed sunburns. This trend alarms dermatologists as this practice is said to be deadly.
According to experts, this practice of sunbathers is harmful as any sunburn can lead to irreversible damage and increase risks of skin cancer. In a statement, the Skin Cancer Foundation warns the netizens to stop doing sunburn art and find another creative outlet.
"Sunburns cause DNA damage to the skin, accelerate skin aging, and increase your lifetime skin cancer risk," the statement reads. "In fact, sustaining five or more sunburns in youth increases lifetime melanoma risk by 80 percent.
The experts explained that if a person has had more than five sunburns, his or her risk for melanoma doubles on average. In the statement, they also recommended using a complete sun protection regimen and sunscreen every day to sunbathers.
"This is where popular culture is clashing with medical advice," ABC News quoted New York-based dermatologist Dr. Barney Kenet as saying. "It's really obvious that sunburn does two things to you: it gives you lines and freckles and wrinkles and it also causes skin cancer especially melanoma."
In addition, Kenet said that people tend to stay out in the sun longer if they really aim to have a good clean example of sunburn art, which is done by strategically placing sunscreen or fabric in patterns and staying under the sun to make the patterns conspicuous.
