'Tanning in dirty sunbed left me scarred and balding - and even infected my cat'
A model says she was left with horrific scarring and bald patches after picking up a fungal infection from an unsanitised sunbed.
Ava Louise visited the salon back in April to top up her tan, but was horrified to notice a rash emerging within days. As it spread across her body, the 24-year-old went to visit her doctor only to be told she had ringworm - a fungal infection causing rashes to crop up on the skin.
Since her diagnosis, Ava says she has been left with bald patches on her head and horrendous scars, while her cat has also been struck down and made seriously ill.
“I didn’t realise I had ringworm at first because I had never heard of it,” she said. “I thought it was a heat rash but after going to the hospital they diagnosed me with ringworm. I had rashes all over my body in the shape of rings, they started to pus and we’re very uncomfortable.”
Ava ended up with small, ring-shaped rashes across her body (mediadrumimages/@realavalouiise)After being left with bald patches on her scalp, Ava said she was terrified her hair would never grow back. She added she had been left traumatised by the infection, as well as racking up hundred in vets' bills for her cat and losing out on earnings on OnlyFans.
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When confronting the Planet Sun salon in Hoboken, New Jersey, Ava was given an apology. But she doesn't believe this is enough following the stress .
“This happened because of how hot sunbeds get, people sweat in them and it’s a good environment for ringworm to live in,” she said. “This is a sanitary issue, either they didn’t sanitise the bed at all or they didn’t do it properly. The salon just apologised and said they’d try to avoid it in the future, which to me wasn’t the best resolution.”
The rashes have resulted in horrendous scarring (mediadrumimages/@realavalouiise)
The 24-year-old has also been left with bald patches and fears her hair will never fully grow back (mediadrumimages/@realavalouiise)The salon, a chain in New Jersey, was one Ava said she had visited many times before without an issue and thought that her April visit would be no different.
“I used this place for two years before catching ringworm,” she said. “I now have a bald spot and scars on my body from the ringworm.”
“My cat also contracted the ringworm from me which caused a lot of distress in my household. I felt awful about this and I’m devastated by the hair loss caused by the ring worm and I’m scared it’ll never grow back.
“I’m very traumatised from this incident so not often and I've moved to stand up beds. The worst part about this was how it affected my career as I lost money on OnlyFans because I haven’t been able to post sexy content online like usual because the ring worm was on very intimate parts of my body.”
The use of sunbeds has been known to result in other severe health effects in the past, with cancer experts having previously linked their use to skin cancer.
The Mirror has contacted Planet Sun for comment.
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