Sun beds for a year to get a 'golden glow' ends in melanoma, says Scottish tattoo artist

A 39-year-old Scottish tattoo artist who used sun beds for about a year to achieve a 'golden glow' says she now fears for her life after a mole on her forehead turned out to be melanoma.

Stacey Galifskiy, from Fife, has pale skin and red hair and began using sun beds at 19, opting for a bed once a week for roughly eight minutes. After a year she stopped and says she became extremely sun-conscious, applying factor 50 sunscreen and staying in the shade when possible.

In 2021, while catching up with a friend she hadn't seen in seven months, they noted that a mole on her forehead had changed color and looked 'angry'. She was referred to a dermatologist by her GP and tests later revealed melanoma. Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, accounting for four out of five skin cancer deaths, but only about one percent of total cases. Galifskiy says a doctor told her the cancer may be linked to her sun bed use.

After the mole was identified, she underwent four surgeries to remove it, and has since had nine additional operations to remove seven other moles on her forehead, cheek, ear, stomach, leg and buttock. Three of the moles were early-stage skin cancer, while the others were actively growing and could have become cancerous if left unchecked.

"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," she recalled. "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."

She later had a private mole-mapping treatment that flags 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," she 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."

Public health data show there are around 17,600 new melanoma cancer cases in the UK each year — about 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. Look 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) from the sun and is also linked to 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.

Health officials urge people to monitor their skin and seek medical advice for any changes. In the meantime, many patients advocate safer sun practices and the availability of mole-mapping services as effective tools to reduce anxiety and detect changes early.