Is Indoor Tanning Safer Than the Sun Tanning?
Posted on August 8, 2014
Hello again! Happy Friday! Have you taken my weekly quiz yet? I bet you know a lot more about sun safety than you did before. One question I hear all the time is whether tanning beds are a safe alternative to being in the sun. Unfortunately, the answer is NO!
Here are some facts about tanning beds that you may not have known.
Using a tanning bed, booth, or sunlamp to get tan is called indoor tanning. Indoor tanning can cause skin cancers including melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer), basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation also can cause cataracts and cancers of the eye (ocular melanoma).
Dangers of Indoor Tanning
Indoor tanning exposes users to two types of UV rays, UVA and UVB, which damage the skin and can lead to cancer. Indoor tanning is particularly dangerous for younger users; people who begin indoor tanning during adolescence or early adulthood have a higher risk of getting melanoma.
Every time you tan you increase your risk of getting skin cancer, including melanoma.
Indoor tanning also:
- Causes premature skin aging, like wrinkles and age spots
- Changes your skin texture
- Increases the risk of potentially blinding eye diseases, if eye protection is not used
A base tan is not a safe tan.
A lot of people think that if they go to an indoor tanning booth to get a “base tan” before a long vacation in the sun that that is some form of protection. The fact is, a tan is the body’s response to injury from UV rays. A base tan does little to protect you from future damage to your skin caused by UV exposure. In fact, people who indoor tan are more likely to report getting sunburned.
Indoor tanning is not a safe way to get vitamin D.
Although it is important to get enough vitamin D, the safest way to do so is through what you eat. Tanning harms your skin, and the amount of UV exposure you need to get enough vitamin D is hard to measure because it is different for every person and also varies with the weather, latitude, altitude, and more.
So, here’s your challenge for this week: All you have to do is practice prevention and look for symptoms. Easy, right?
I know you’ve heard it a million times, but it’s true-a minute of prevention can equal, frankly, much life you will be able to enjoy.
Have a great weekend! Talk to you on Monday!
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