Benefits To Tanning

There are a few benefits to tanning. The skin produces vitamin D in a response to sun exposure. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium which helps strengthen the bones in your body and many other things. Ultraviolet radiation is also used in the medical field to treat psoriasis and vitiligo. These are skin conditions, usually that you are born with that makes you have lighter splotches of skin all over. It would not completely fix the problem but would help blend the two skin tones better. Ultraviolet rays are also a temporary way to treat or hide acne.

When Do We Draw The Line

So where do one draw the line when it comes to being tan or unhealthy? This year 10,600 people will die from more than one million new cases of skin cancers and 106,000 people discover they have cancer. One and five Americans are expected to develop a skin cancer in their life time. The most common kind of cancer received for sun tanning is melanoma. Fair skinned people are at a higher risk of receiving it because they tend to burn easier. Although it is curable, if not caught in time it can spread throughout the whole body and become fatal. Basal Cell Carcinoma is the most comma type of skin cancer. Basal cells are in the deepest layer of the epidermis and when turned cancerous they raise to the outer layer of the skin. This type of cancer is also curable but leaves unattractive spots on the outer layer of the skin.

Is Indoor Tanning Safer then Regular Sun Tanning?

One of the major controversies of tanning is that, indoor tanning is a safer method compared to regular sun tanning. There is enough evidence out there though to prove that wrong. It is said that tanning beds are more likely to damage ones eyes and burn the skin easier because one is in such a confined close area . Also, tanning beds are not approved for all people. It is ecommended that pregnant women, people on certain medication or people with certain illness do not tan.

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all sun bed manufacturers provide warning labels as well as advice on wearing protective goggles. In most states including Kansas, a law has been passed that says anyone under sixteen cannot indoor tan and if one is sixteen but under eighteen one has to have parental permission. Not wearing goggles while tanning can cause severe damage to the eyes. It can cause cataracts that have to be surgically removed. Also, excessive use of ultraviolet rays can cause damage to the retina.

What Does Tanning Cause?

Just because one likes tanning does not always mean it is a good thing to be doing. Tanning causes wrinkles, brown age spots, blotchiness and leathery looking skin. UVA rays tan one, but can cause a lot of damage still. UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin. Sometimes they can reach clear to the dermis, where the blood vessels and nerves are. This can damage the immune system which fights diseases and illnesses like melanoma the most serious type of skin cancer. If this happens it can also prevent ones immune system from fighting none related sun illnesses.

How Does One Get Tan?

So how does one get a tan? The sun contains two types of ultraviolet radiation that connects with the skin. They are called UVA and UVB rays. UVB radiation burns the upper layers of skin causing sunburns. UVA radiation is what makes one tan. UVA rays reach the lower layers of the epidermis where melanocytes cells produce melanin. Melanin is the brown pigment that causes ones skin to tan. Melanin is what protects the skin from burning. Darker skinned people tan more deeply than lighter skinned people because they produce more melanin. Even though one does not burn, it does not mean one is protected

Tanning Today

Today tanning is more of a social event. Society has this idea that everyone needs the perfect tan to go with the perfect body. Tanning is popular among eighteen to thirty year old women mostly and some men. All of them want that great tan year round because during the cold season one cannot just go outside and lay by the pool to tan. The peak times for tanning are in December, usually before high school winter formals and in May before high school prom. In June right before the summer season begins tanning is real popular because everyone wants to get a head start on their tans before they head on their summer vacations to the beach. There are about 28 million people who tan a year in about 25,000 tanning salons around the United States.