Tanning - Yay or Nay?

epona_mus

No way. I had a melanoma scare when I was in my 20s and swore off UV tanning in all forms. I'm glad to see some places are banning tanning salons, as they are undeniably a risk to human health.

Another bonus, I am regularly told I look 10 yrs younger than I actually am, without botox or fillers. I think that's primarily due to staying out of the sun and wearing sunscreen regularly from an early age.

crimsoncat

For me it's a nay. I was super tan as a child (we dark haired Italians tend to be), but I stopped in recent years. I'm actually starting to like my skin a little paler. Also, I am on some medications that make me more likely to sun burn. Thus, I need to be more careful.

In case you didn't know, any tanning is a sign that your skin was damaged and is now trying to defend itself from future harm via uv. Now, whether that means that you will get cancer and die in three months is totally dependent on the dose you get. For example, I'd be willing to be the girl on "My Strange Addiction" is not going to do so hot in a few years.

Also, I do know some people who have had squamous cell carcinoma and underwent extensive medical treatments to save their lives (my anatomy teacher, a DVM, was one of them). Listening to them talk about about it pretty much made me go dark.

All that said, if you're going to tan, be smart about it. If you see this, stop and get yourself to a dermatologist: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melanoma/DS00439/DSECTION=symptoms

An interesting article to read is this on: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/how-tanning-changes-the-brain/

cassondraragan

My thirty year old cousin, pregnant with twins, just found out she had a melanoma (the most deadly of skin cancers.) She's just 30. She used the tanning bed almost every year just to get her tan started. She was by no means a sun worshiper. Luckily they took it off before it penetrated into deeper levels of her epidermis. If she had waited too long to get it checked out, it could have been too late. And if it had been at a later stage, it could have past through the placenta to her babies. (The scare caused her to go into early labor and he had them at 34 weeks, last week.) What she told me just last week : I can't go back and take back all that time in the tanning beds...all that time in the sun. And it could have killed me. And my babies would have never gotten to know their mommy, or how much I loved them." I used to fuss at her when she'd go to the tanning beds, and she would just dismiss it with "But it just makes me feel so good."

And now she had to grow up quickly and realize that she really was risking her life just to "feel good."

beckylawrence70

Let's re-ask all the people that do it in 10-20 yrs, I bet they're opinion has changed......:) But guess what, TOO LATE, damage done!

klynn08

I used to love tanning but I've given it up. It made no sense to take care of my body by eating healthy food and exercising only to sabotage myself by tanning. Not only can it cause cancer, it causes premature aging. :noway: I do, however, enjoy spray tanning!

^^ This is exactly how I feel. Spray tan and loreal tan lotion work fine for me

seattlerain

haha.


I managed a few tanning salons. I say nay.

I am all about the spray tan.

robot_potato

Not for me. I like my pasty white self.

aweightymatter

Let's re-ask all the people that do it in 10-20 yrs, I bet they're opinion has changed......:) But guess what, TOO LATE, damage done!

SO TRUE!! I live in Florida where people roast in the sun and let's say... Just in my late 20s now, there is a big difference in the eyes/hands/chest/foreheads between my friends who continued to bake from their teen years, and those who did not.

I'd rather not look like a spotted wallet

ahadj

My thirty year old cousin, pregnant with twins, just found out she had a melanoma (the most deadly of skin cancers.) She's just 30. She used the tanning bed almost every year just to get her tan started. She was by no means a sun worshiper. Luckily they took it off before it penetrated into deeper levels of her epidermis. If she had waited too long to get it checked out, it could have been too late. And if it had been at a later stage, it could have past through the placenta to her babies. (The scare caused her to go into early labor and he had them at 34 weeks, last week.) What she told me just last week : I can't go back and take back all that time in the tanning beds...all that time in the sun. And it could have killed me. And my babies would have never gotten to know their mommy, or how much I loved them." I used to fuss at her when she'd go to the tanning beds, and she would just dismiss it with "But it just makes me feel so good."

And now she had to grow up quickly and realize that she really was risking her life just to "feel good."

A perfect example of why, as tempting as it is and as beautiful as that tan looks, I always am and always will be a nay.

SandyChampWins

I use good ol fashioned sunshine. I get so dark I never lose my tan lines. I start off slow, 1/2 hour the 1st time out then an hour the 2nd time then I'm all set for as much sun as I can get. Then I don't burn.

gnrduff1

I don't do it. Prefer the girl not to do it, but since she can't get the milky goth/rock girl look going, I guess it's okay that she tans.

iuew

haven't really tanned much since i bodyboarded every summer as a teenager. i liked it then, but the potential for wrinkles keeps me from doing it as an adult. generally wear sunblock when i walk during spring / summer / fall.

lynnmarie60

Tanning can cause skin cancer; been proven in my family.

lawmama_

Nope. SPF 100 everywhere I go.

yup!!!!!!! cancer? wrinkles? premature aging? NO WAY!!!!!!

ShmoozyQ

Nay. I'm pale, that's OK.

Being2befit

Spray,tan oh yeaaaa!!,

RDalton84

I am just curious, for all those that are adamently against tanning how many smoke or drink alcohol on a regular basis? I figure everyone has their vice. I personally really enjoy tanning, but I do not smoke and I very very very rarely drink alcohol. I actually wrote a research paper for one of my college classes on this particular subject, and while this may not be the case for everyone, what most research found was that people that developed skin cancer after using a tanning bed had also experienced a very severe burn in the early childhood (before the age of 6 I believe) and that the risk of cancer came from the severe burn more than the use of the tanning bed. I am almost 30 and I have used tanning beds every year since I was 16, usually for about 2-3 months and I don't feel that I look old by any means, actually I think I look young for my age. It seems like every decade we come up with something new that's going to kill us. Right now it's tanning, maybe in 10 or 15 years it will be discovered that long term cell phone use is killing everyone, think that will stop people?

Jain

No, no a thousand time no!

I'm a fare skinned redhead, so tanning is just about impossible. All I get is burned.

GoldenGirl1979

i love, love, love the way my skin looks in the summer when it's been kissed by the sun!! but i've never gone to a salon or anything... just the beach

Alma_Sana

Nay unless natural or it's spray tan. No UV Lamp tans. Too many young people die of cancer.

messyinthekitchen

Nay, We should try our best to love our natural selves. We spend so much time taking care of ourselves, why does the skin just pass on by. I understand it has its benefits but the negatives outweigh the positives. I will pass on the skin cancer, and the pre mature wrinkling, and do my best with what I've got.

NeedANewFocus

can someone explain spray tanning to me? does it absorb through the skin? How long does it last? how does it compare to laying under UV rays or tanning on a beach? I've just never undrestood spray tan

messyinthekitchen

I am just curious, for all those that are adamently against tanning how many smoke or drink alcohol on a regular basis? I figure everyone has their vice. I personally really enjoy tanning, but I do not smoke and I very very very rarely drink alcohol. I actually wrote a research paper for one of my college classes on this particular subject, and while this may not be the case for everyone, what most research found was that people that developed skin cancer after using a tanning bed had also experienced a very severe burn in the early childhood (before the age of 6 I believe) and that the risk of cancer came from the severe burn more than the use of the tanning bed. I am almost 30 and I have used tanning beds every year since I was 16, usually for about 2-3 months and I don't feel that I look old by any means, actually I think I look young for my age. It seems like every decade we come up with something new that's going to kill us. Right now it's tanning, maybe in 10 or 15 years it will be discovered that long term cell phone use is killing everyone, think that will stop people?

I'd like to know how they can determine weather it was the burn as a child or the tanning bed as an adult that caused skin cancer. Regardless of your findings it is still proven tanning beds cause cancer.. Why risk it? Yes many people have their vices as you have said, however many do no involve the sames risks that tanning does. My 40 year old Aunt died from Melanoma, from the tanning bed. May I add she looked closer to 60. You using the tanning beds 2-3 months out of the year is a far cry from these teenagers and women and men in their early twenties, using it 12 months a year every other day. Tanning can become an addition. Unfortunately the statistics are there to prove it kills along side smoking. We live once, I don't understand why people take the risk of shortening the little time we have here.

messyinthekitchen

can someone explain spray tanning to me? does it absorb through the skin? How long does it last? how does it compare to laying under UV rays or tanning on a beach? I've just never undrestood spray tan

I can't imagine that it is any good. And I am sure our skin absorbs the product.