Are tanning salons safer than they used to be? (1 Viewer)

I'm a fair skinned guy and I get very pale in the winter, I usually get a good tan going during the summer but the instant it gets cold and I start wearing long sleeves I turn white as a ghost lol.

I was thinking of kick starting my tan early this year by going to a salon for at least one treatment, are they any safer than they were?

I've always heard that they were bad for you etc but this was years ago. Has the technique advanced any since then?

This may not help your cause.

So that's a no then?

Nah, I thought of that, no way would I do a tanning bed after that movie, i'd prefer the spray-on technique.

I've never been in a tanning salon, but if the thing really comes down on you? No way in HELL could I ever do that. A hot, irradiated coffin? Uh uh.

Um, that wasn't real it was a movie.
Why would you think it wouldn't be safe to go into a tanning bed.

I don't think John was referring to that movie but to harmful UV rays. He's asking if technology has somehow eliminated or reduced that threat. I added the claustrophobic fear of being trapped in one of those things.

Because it looks scarier than hell.

you guys.

It is fine as long as you only stay in a few minutes at a time

Oh okay, that's what I thought, Tony, but wanted to get you guys opinion on it.

My wife has a gym membership that includes a tanning bed.
she does it for about 10 minutes, but the first few time i think you should do like 5 minutes or so just to get used to it.

Tanning beds expose the skin to ultraviolet A (UVA), the so-called tanning rays. Tanning beds are less likely to cause skin cancer than lying out in the natural sun, but they are not completely safe by any means. First of all, the tanning lights are not pure UVA. 5% of the output of a tanning light is UVB. Secondly, UVA light penetrates the skin deeper than the shorter UVB or "burning rays. This results in premature aging including wrinkling, a leathery appearance to the skin, and brown spots. Even more importantly, UVA is a major cause of all types of skin cancer especially squamous cell carcinoma. It is not known yet how bad it is for malignant melanoma, which is the most deadly form of skin cancer. So cover up, use sunscreen, and avoid tanning beds. To get a tan color, use sunless tanning lotions along with sunscreen.



I work outside during the day and I slather myself in sunscreen all over.I have naturally olive toned skinned and even with sunscreen I tan (just more slowly). I would NEVER recommend tanning beds or sun tanning to anyone. It is horrible for the skin. It may look nice for a short time, but your skin with look leathery and old sooner than it should.

"Skin Cancer Researchers Oppose Industry Campaign to Portray Tanning Beds as Healthy"
Sept. 18, 2008
Healthy Tanning Beds? Experts Say No

"American Cancer Society Deputy Chief Medical Officer Len Lichtenfeld, MD ... points out that the American Cancer Society, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention, and all major dermatological associations have taken the position that indoor tanning is an unsafe practice."

To the op:

In addition, this is another excellent reason to protect your skin. I don't know if the style of summer clothes in other states is similar to that in Arizona. But while the tanned skin from low cut or sleeveless tops may look sexy on the 20 and 30-somethings, you can observe the consequences of the damage to the skin among some of the 40+ crowd -- prematurely aged, spotted, and wrinkled.

The short term gains of tanning just aren't worth all the long term risks and consequences.

While tanning lotions might be perceived as products for women, why not give them a try ? I don't believe that there are any risks from them. QVC and HSN advertise these regularly on tv, so you could shop from home if you think you'd be embarrased to buy them in person at a store.

Years ago I was a tanning bed addict. When my doctor found out
he said, "Are you f-ing crazy?"

Tanning beds are not safe.

I did turn to lotions, but they tend to give you an artificial tan as
prolonged use turns your skin more of an orange color than deep brown.

I have been doing the Mystic Tan which is a spray-on tan. While it
is the safest and most effective fake tanning method out there, it is
pretty expensive and lasts for only a few days before you have to do
another session.

As much as I want to have color during the Summer, the risks of
skin cancer from the sun and tanning beds is not something I want
to take a chance on.

I'm not advocating tanning beds and have never used one, but only because tanning isn't anything i care about.
I get natural skin tone from the normal amount of time i spend outside.
So i never understood the need for using sprays and creams to have a tan.

My wife uses a tanning bed, but at most it will be once or twice a week,
but will usually be only 2 or 3 times a month which is just enough to keep some color but isn't ridiculous and obsessive and I just see it as being dangerous.
Isn't it painfully obvious that being in a bed every day can cause serious damage?

How does a person become a tanning addict, what is the addiction?

Once my gym got upright tanning booths about 2 years ago, I started tanning anywhere from 2-5 days a week. I've since cut it down to 1-3 days a week, always waiting the recommended 24 hours inbetween visits.

I think the promise of having darker skin seems slimming in a sense. I'm a big guy and all my life have been milk-like pale. I only tan 12 minutes and that's enough for a slight tan. Both my mom and aunt tan and they could pass for Native Americans. I could pass for an Irish guy who likes to fish a lot. (and then eat the fish) My aunt used to own a tanning salon and was so dark at one time.

We're actually planning on moving out west soon to Nevada or Arizone - the skin cancer captial...

From Fox News:

A 10-year-old girl suffered burns on 70 percent of her body after a 16-minute session at an unmanned tanning salon.

A few hours after she left the tanning salon in Port Talbot, South Wales, England, Kelly Thompson was taken to the hospital.

Doctors at the Welsh Center for Burns and Plastic Surgery said if Kelly had stayed in the tanning bed for another two minutes, she would have needed skin grafts. She must stay out of direct sunlight for the next 10 years, doctors told her.

Kelly’s mother, Sharon Hannaford, said Kelly went tanning out of curiosity. She is now making a public plea that all unmanned salons are shutdown.

Wow, this part of the article blew me away:

She must stay out of direct sunlight for the next 10 years, doctors told her.

My God. :frowning:

That seals it, no way am I doing this.

John,

The tanning industry will make you believe their beds are safer
than what the medical industry has deemed unsafe.

The truth of the matter is, those beds are doing damage to your
skin. I have a great doctor -- one of the best in this State -- and as
I noted above he told me to stop.

Nearly 15 years later, I have to go for yearly skin exams because
I have a lot of freckles/moles on my body that look suspicious. Thank
God none of the biopsies taken have come back positive.

Whatever hell you put your skin through now is only going to come
back and haunt you in later years. I never go on a Caribbean vacation
without dousing myself in sunscreen and I surely would never, ever
think of getting back on a tanning bed again.

I decided many years ago to be happy with my natural skin color.