This Woman’s Graphic Photos Expose The Painful Dangers Of Tanning

But she wasn’t just dealing with dry skin. Actinic keratosis (AK) isn’t full-on skin cancer, but it can head that route if you don’t get it looked at and treated. In fact, up to 10 percent of AK cases develop into the second most common form of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Murphy is treating her AK with a cream that should stop the spreading of the lesions, but it comes with some severe-looking side effects. That’s why Murphy’s face is so red: The damaged skin’s reaction to the cream has made it raw, swollen, and itchy. 

We asked a hot doc to answer some of your most burning questions: 

After posting a particularly painful-looking photo, Murphy described how she couldn’t sleep throughout the night because she was constantly applying moisturizer. She couldn’t open her mouth more than an inch and her eyes couldn’t fully open. “I’d rather give birth five times than do this again,” she wrote. 

Murphy suffered through the treatment for 24 days and is no longer using the cream. Once the redness clams down, doctors say, her skin should come out looking pretty normal. While her journey to healthier skin is far from over, she hopes her photos make some kind of impact. “The sun is not your friend,” she warns.

The article “Woman’s Graphic Photos Expose the Dangers Of Tanning“ originally appeared on Men’s Health.