When I was a little girl around the age of five, I remember going into my first tanning salon to wait on my mom. As a little kid, the tanning salon was a huge place, and I loved walking around and reading all the tanning lotion labels and looking at the other merchandise they had. The manager always talked with me and made me feel at home. As I have gotten older, I have heard a lot of negative things about indoor tanning and staying out in the sun. Now that tanning has become more and more popular, there is new evidence every day about just how dangerous it is.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation website, www.skincancer.org, one indoor tanning session increases the risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma by 67 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 29 percent. The website also states nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. every year, of which two to three million are teenagers.
I have many friends that tan every single day because they feel like being tan automatically makes them more attractive. Many tanning salons around Starkville – there are at least four – run really good deals to lure people in for a cheap tanning visit. Many of the apartments in town offer free tanning services, too. I have been to some of these tanning salons, and always feel disgusting when I leave.
Many people refer to tanning beds as cancer beds, but they could also refer to them as a home for germs. Pink eye is a common illness where the membrane lining of the eye gets infected. The routine goes that you wear tanning goggles to protect your eyes while tanning, and then the glasses are placed in a jar of solution for the next person. However, if they are not cleaned correctly, bacteria can stay on these goggles and be passed along. Additionally staphylococcus, or staph infection, bacteria also lurk in tanning beds. Staph can be spread though cuts or skin-to-skin contact, and if the tanning bed is not cleaned properly, then everyone runs the risk of contracting staph.
Another downside to tanning is the premature aging that affects your body later in life. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports on their website tanning causes the skin to lose elasticity and wrinkle prematurely. They also claim UV-B radiation may suppress proper functioning of the body’s immune system and the skin’s natural defenses, leaving it more vulnerable to diseases.
Melanoma is the seventh-most common cancer in America for women. The website www.skincancer.org has an article about the dangers of melanoma that claims one person dies every hour from melanoma and one in every 50 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma in their lifetime. Tanning beds and the sun put out great amounts of ultraviolent radiation, which contributes to 86 percent of Melanoma cases.
The Skin Cancer Foundation features stories from cancer survivors, including one from a 22-year-old named Natalie. In her story, Natalie claims she never thought she would get cancer, even after her grandmother expressed concern about her tanning.
“I tanned because I felt like it made me look prettier,” Natalie said. “I felt like it made me look skinnier.”
After a full body examination a doctor found two spots on her — one on her back and the other on the bottom of her foot. After the biopsy, one of the spots came back as stage one Melanoma.
Natalie said she could not believe she would do that to herself.
“My advice would be that it’s not worth it. Your health and your happiness come above everything,” she said. “It’s not about how you look.”
Tanning is not worth the harm it does to you. These facts are scary when you actually think about it. I encourage people to wear sunscreen when going out in the sun or at least put on a hat. Summer time is just around the corner, and with all these facts in my mind, I will certainly be more conscious of harm the sun does to my skin.
