A 23-year-old woman from Sunderland may lose her sight because she decided not to wear protective goggles while lying on sunbeds.

Sam Laing indulged her passion for tanning for 10 years without using eye protection – but has now developed growths in both eyes. Doctors say the surgery to remove them might in itself cause Ms Laing to go blind or damage her sight.

The customer sales manager Sam told the Daily Mail newspaper that she became ‘tanorexic’ and began using sunbeds in her early teens. Ms Laing said she hated being pale, but never used goggles on her eyes because she did not want the white ‘panda’ marks that they leave.

When her eyes began to itch and became red, both she and her doctor thought she was just suffering from tiredness. After three months, however, the ‘bloodshot’ effect began to spread into the iris of her eye and she paid a visit to her local eye hospital.

Doctors diagnosed her as having a condition known as pterygium, which is a benign growth caused by exposure to ultraviolet light – it is usually seen in those living near the Equator. Even if the growths are removed, they could return, say doctors.

London eye specialist Dr 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.'

Exposure to ultraviolet light can also result in sunburn to the cornea and problems in old age, including macular degeneration, cataracts and eye cancer.

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