Tanning to combat vitamin D deficiency?

Hello.

The problem with Vitamine D is, your body needs sun to produce it.
Secondly: without Vitamine D, the body can't absorbe the calcium to your bones which can lead to structure problems of your bones and they break more easely. - Worst case scenario is osteoporosis.
But it is not necessary to grill in the sun or in a tanning bed for this.
Unless you are diagnosed with a Vitamine D deficiancy you also do not need to take drugs (an overdose in Vitamine D can lead to kidney problems - worst case scenario is kidney failure)
So if you are not diagnosed, go out in the sun for a walk. (not covered armes and face to start with, depending on the temperature)
If you think you have a deficiancy, see your doctor for a blood check.

Colour wise - if you are not getting any tan, don't try too hard, as you already mentioned, can lead to skin cancer (and looking old later in your life as you could get more wrinkles)

I started 3 weeks ago on my summer tan. My family has asked if I use a tanning bed and I do not. My secret is Jergens Natural Glow. You apply it as a moisturizer and after about 3 days a base tan appears. After applying the lotion I follow up with coconut oil to help make sure the lotion has been rubbed in well and the oil leaves a "just tanned glow" too. After 3 days I apply it every other day. If you are interested in trying it remember to wash your hands well and apply very lightly to elbow,knees and ankles. Oh and it is safer and a lot cheaper than a tanning bed.

I'm at tan level ghost too (this made me laugh) so I'll be trying this!

I am also a ghost lady. Right now I am "tan" for me, which is like, slightly pink ghost. If Vitamin D is your concern, you can get enough just getting outside a little more. In general, Vitamin D deficiency is pretty rare. I have a friend in medical school who was prescribed Vitamin D because she really was in the library from 6 am until 9 pm and did not get any sunlight. You do not need to get full-body sun in order to get enough Vitamin D. Dietary vitamin D can also get you up to the recommended minimum. Vitamin D is found in in egg yolks, fatty fish, and vitamin d fortified dairy products (Butter, now with added vitamins C and D! on the label). Be careful with supplements. If you overdose (very easy to do-- a lot of things have vitamin d in them), you will barf your guts up.

If you want to tan because you think you'll be too pale for the wedding, I say embrace the pale. Wear an outfit that looks amazing on porcelain skin, like jewel tone blues and purples, or a rich brown. If you are determined to hate your ghostiness, Jergins makes some amazing products. I used their Body BB Cream for Light Skin Tones because it came in my Birchbox. It made my legs so soft and didn't look streaky or orange.

Please don't hop in the tanning bed! Some of my friends are seasonal tanners (only lightly tanning at the beginning of the summer) and I can already see more age spots and lines on them than any of my other friends, and they're only 26-28!

If you want to be tan for someone else's wedding, that's vanity, not combating vitamin D deficiency.

I've lived in the north east my whole life, never had issues with a lack of vitamin D. Just get outside more often.

15 minutes outside without sunscreen is enough for most people to get the daily requirement for vitamin D naturally.
You might be able to use a sun lamp to simulate the same production in the winter when you don't want to be outside. I would ask your doctor about that, though.

You CAN take vitamin D supplements, but again, ask your doctor and have some blood work done first. You might not need it at all.

I'm a big fan of just being pasty, but if you must be tan, definitely use a fake tanner. Tanning beds are just (often MORE) as dangerous as sunlight and should be used with extreme caution. 15 minutes in a tanning bed is the same as spending the whole day at the beach.

Just considering it because it's $25 for a month of level one tanning or $40 for a spray tan (that, let's face it, will look good for three days tops).

Pay the extra $15 for the spray tan now because you'll save a small fortune in future on anti-ageing treatments by avoiding the sun bed.

If the tan is for a wedding does it even need to look good for more than 3 days?

Meh. All things in moderation. If you want to tan, then go for it. Also, I have heard tanning prescribed as a legit treatment for Vit D deficiency.

Okay, I speak from personal experience. I had a vitamin D deficiancy once. I came home from work one day and slept for 15 hours. I woke up the next morning still tired so I went to the doc who said I was severely low. Anyway, he perscribed vitiamin D pills and I was right as rain. To add on to this little fiasco, I have had psoriasis all my life. When I was a teenager, my doctor actually perscribed me to a tanning bed at the local beauty salon. Somehow my parents insurance covered it. Anywho, what I found with tanning beds is you really have to be careful how you lay in it. Even though I tanned naked, I would always get a tan line just under my armpit so I couldn't wear strappy or strapless shirts for a few days after tanning. I found that laying out in the sun did a better job for my tan and my skin condition. A tanning bed will not get you the vitamin D you need and created unwanted tan lines, IMO. Just my 2 cents worth. Get into the sun and stay away from the tanning bed.

Not being rude, but surely you know the recent data on tanning beds right? All these statistics are coming to light because for years they didn't really fully know the effects yet. If you want to lay in the tanning bed, lay in it. But just because others say "Yeah!! I'm healthy! Go for it!" doesn't mean the dangers aren't there. You just have to make your decision and decide if it's a risk you are willing to take.

"Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors. Additionally, the more time a person has spent tanning indoors, the higher the risk. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, killing approximately 8,650 Americans in 2009."

http://www.skincancer.org/news/tanning/indoor-tanning-increases-melanoma-risk-by-74-percent

I'm as vain as the next person about having a tan. I've tried a lot of self tanners and trust me - Fake Bake Flawless (15 bucks on Amazon) is the bomb dot com. Super pretty color. Not sticky. Not a lotion. Not streaky. Smells like coconut. I get compliments all the time. When the weather is warmer, I just play outside more.

Edit - zomg the typos

I'm in FL and vitamin D deficient. Take vitamins. If you do use a tanning bed, 10 minutes tops once a week per my doc (did your doc not mention this?).

Take care of this now. If you wait, you can get numbness of the limbs and nerve damage (I have mild).

Take care and good luck.