People, especially adolescent girls, who seek to get sunburns voluntarily to create marks or patterns on their skin, called “Burn Lines” or “Sun Tattoos”: this is the latest trend – the last madness – encouraged this summer by videos on platforms like Tiktok and Instagram. Extremely dangerous practices that can cause irreversible damage to skin and which once again require alert vacationers to the dangers of the sun for the skin.
Because since the tan – once the prerogative of the workers and peasants who spent their days in the sun while the milky skin was, it, the ultimate in fashion – has become the norm, the desire to have a tanned complexion as quickly as possible is done to the detriment of health. And without anyone realizing it immediately. The inconsiderate exposure of the bodies consumes our sun capital and it is years later that dermatologists have noted the disaster with skin cancers. 85 % of these cancers would thus be linked to an overexposure to the sun.
In his last Panorama of cancers in France 2024the National Cancer Institute (Inca) delivers edifying figures. Between 1990 and 2023 the number of new cases and evolution of skin melanoma jumped + 444 % with an average annual variation of + 3.5 %. With 17,992 new cases identified in 2023, skin melanoma is 4e most frequent cancer. Among the risk factors are exposure to the sun or artificial ultraviolets and a history of sunburn, especially during childhood.
These data should encourage the French to better take care of their skin. First by protecting itself more, which involves in particular the use of quality solar creams, the application of which must be sufficient and renewed throughout the day. Then by observing better. As soon as we see an abnormal change on your skin, you have to consult because the earlier the diagnosis will be done, the better. “Simple” melanoma is operable but when metastases appear, you must go on other treatments, including immunotherapy, targeted treatments and undoubtedly “therapeutic” vaccines.
But being able to consult has become a way of the cross far too often. The average waiting period to consult a dermatologist in France is around 95 days, with strong disparities depending on the region and a trend in extension in recent years. And the shortage of dermatologists does not explain everything. Anyone who has made an appointment research on a platform like Doctolib notes that many dermatologists have specialized in aesthetic medicine. A representative of the profession, specialist in Botox, recently explained on France 2 all shame drunk that there was absolutely no link … without convincing.
The urgency of the situation is officially recognized, in particular by the Ministry of Health, but the measures deemed necessary by professionals (strong increase in interns, territorial reorganization, generalization of tele-expertise) have not yet made it possible to absorb the crisis. Faced with the danger of the sun and the risk of skin cancer, it is time for the state to increase the tone …
