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Related Reading
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• Saving
Your Skin: Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment of Melanoma
and Other Skin Cancers
• Sunbathing:
the healthy way to a perfect tan
• Skin
Care: A Woman Doctor's Guide: Keeping Your Skin Young and
Healthy at Any Age
• Complete
Suntanning Guide
• The
Wrinkle Cure
• Atlas
of Skin Repair
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Indoor Tan Problems
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Watch out for these negative tanning bed effects:
• Premature wrinkling of the skin
• Skin rashes from concentrated heat
• Higher risk of skin cancer
• Eye damage caused to the retina. This can be reduced
with the use of special tanning goggles.
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Hide from the Tan or Tan That Hide?
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OK, here's the situation. You're hopelessly
pale and you want to get tan fast. Honestly, you don't have
time to lounge for hours at the pool or to hit the beach.
But thanks to modern technology, you think of trying a tanning
bed.
But hold up just a second. Lets talk about the results of
using your friend the tanning bed. For every success story
there's always an equally disturbing and horrifying one.
The first scenario goes something like this:
You happily enter the tanning salon, talk to the perky bronzed
employee for a bit, then enter the booth for a 10 minute session.
Within minutes you emerge feeling slightly flushed but refreshed.
The next day everyone notices your healthy glow. Voila! You've
gained a base tan.
The second scenario proceeds like this:
You happily enter the tanning salon, get coerced into buying
all sorts of accelerators by the perky sun-kissed employee,
then you enter the booth for a 15 minute session. Within minutes
you're done and on your way home. The next day you wake up
feeling extremely warm. Everyone asks if you forgot the sun
screen at the beach. Viola! You're burnt to a crisp.
If you go to a tanning salon that uses older bed models, the
second scenario is more likely to happen. That's because the
older models use UVB rays, or short-wave ultraviolet rays,
which may burn the outer layer of skin. Newer models use a
combination of UVB rays with UVA rays, or long-wave ultra
violet rays that penetrate deeper, making a burn less likely.
However, UVA rays still do damage by weakening the skin's
inner connective tissue. If you do decide to use a tanning
bed, take some precautions. Consider this advice:
1) Know your medical history beforehand
2) Wear goggles, which can be purchased in most tanning salons
3) Limit exposure time
4) Wear sun screen
Hopefully with the above tips, you'll end up deliciously dark
instead of extra crispy.
Information adapted from Is
Sun Always Fun?
Written by Anna Marie Neri
Questions or comments about this story? E-mail
us! |
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On the Web
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Indoor
Tanning Association
International
Smart Tan
Lotion Barn
Sun Tan Village
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Self-Tanning Lotions
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Pro: Won't cause premature wrinkles because it doesn't
contain harmful UV rays
Con: Some lotions don't look natural and instead turn
a fake orange color
Pro: Works extremely fast
Con: Self-tanning lotions can cost a lot of money.
Prices can range from an affordable $24 to a not so affordable
$145
Pro: Won't cause eye damage
Con: Some lotions cause an unpleasant streak affect
and leave dark lines on your skin
Pro: Eliminates tan lines easily
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