For those of you sun-worshippers out there... beware.
When they say to stay out of the sun and that the harmful effects will catch up with you, they're not kidding. About a year ago I went to the dermatologist for this really irritating area around my lip line that got red and dry/scaly and would flare up frequently. Fought off and on with it since then with no improvement, so I got a second opinion yesterday. Doctor said it's sun damage. She said "pre-cancerous cells" and I thought wait a minute, back up here. She said typically this is what pre-cancerous cells are and how they look. So treatment for the next 60 days with a not-so-radical topical ointment (she did say chemotherapy drug) but then also said it's like a strong ibuprofen that would be irritating but not as bad as others. Then go from there and hopefully that works. But more could pop up in the future since I used to be out in the sun so much (grew up playing outdoor sports and loved swimming and getting tan). Doctor said indoor tanning is the worst and will actually show the harmful effects 4-10 years later. I'm not sitting around feeling sorry for myself or anything, but I have been seriously careful about sun protection this year and for DD as well. So from here on out, at least I can make the smart choices. I just wanted to let others know that it's just not worth it to be tan and expose yourself to things that are more harmful that you may think.
