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Blindness fears of the sunbed addict who shunned goggles

By Alison Smith Squire
Last updated at 12:13 AM on 19th October 2009
In ten years on the sunbed, Sam Laing never bothered with goggles because she did not want to leave white marks.

That decision could cost the 23-year-old her eyesight.
Because of prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, she has developed growths in both eyes which will have to be removed through surgery to stop her going blind. She has been warned that the operation itself could damage her eyesight.

Fears: Sam Laing used sunbeds for ten years because she thought 'it was vital to look brown'

'It was such a devastating diagnosis,' said Miss Laing, a customer services manager from Sunderland.
'I was shocked because although I knew using sunbeds raised the risk of contracting skin cancer, I never knew it could cause something like this.'
Miss Laing, a self-confessed 'tanorexic', said she hates being pale and started using sunbeds in her early teens.
'By the time I was 19 it was so important to me to always look brown, I was going on them up to three times a week.
'Unfortunately I never wore goggles to protect my eyes because I didn't want to be left with white marks on my face.'
When she noticed redness and itching, both she and her GP thought it was just tired bloodshot eyes.
'But about three months ago the redness began spreading into the brown iris of my eye,' she said. 'Friends and family began asking me what the problem was, so I went to my local eye infirmary.'
The diagnosis was pterygium, a benign eye growth caused by ultraviolet light usually seen in men living near the Equator.

Protection: Goggles can protect your eyes from the UV light

Surgery will remove a growth from her left eye, which would otherwise spread across it, and she will probably need the same for one in the right.
'The most worrying thing is that even if the growths are successfully removed, they could return and I've been told I will have to wear dark glasses on sunny days in future.'
Miss Laing has finally given up using sunbeds.
'I just hope that what's happened to me serves as a warning to other sunbed users that they can be really dangerous,' she added.
As well as pterygium, UV exposure can also cause macular degeneration in older people, cataract and corneal sunburn, as well as skin cancer.
London eye surgeon Mr David O'Brart said: 'People might not realise that as well as being dangerous for your skin, too much UV light - whether from natural sunshine or a tanning bed - can be equally damaging to your eyes.
'Because the UV light emitted by sunbeds is more concentrated than natural sunshine, the more you use them, the more at risk you are of triggering such an eye problem. Anyone using sunbeds must wear eye protection.'
A spokesman for the Sunbed Association, which represents a fifth of the industry, said its members issue sunbed users with eye protection and advise them to wear it.
She said getting 'panda eyes' was no longer likely given the type of goggles provided, including disposable 'cups' designed to fit snugly over the lids.
'Operators have a responsibility to ensure people do not use sunbeds without eye protection. In addition, health-and-safety guidance displayed in our salons insists it must be worn.'