As of late, I've been getting memos about more and more persons (young women in particular) who have become diagnosed with skin cancer and suffered several other maladies, all because of what? Artificial Tanning/"Fake Tanning" Yup, you've probably heard of it before, but what I'm referring to here is not the good ole concept where you lay under the natural sun with your sunscreen and sunglasses on the beach. I'm talking about laying down under a tanning bed that uses Ultra Violet (UV rays) to give you an artificial tan... I've seen images of persons who look like baked potatoes, red lobsters, "the works", and yet, more and more people seem to be latching on to this trend like it's an epidemic! So, what about you? Do you think getting a "fake tan" is as dangerous as it seems? Or is it only over time that the danger arises? What about persons who might become addicted? How would you "coach" them out of the practice before it's too late?!
I love to get a little tan in the sun. The real sun. Something about it just relaxes me and it feels good to spend a little time just soaking up the sun. Particularly in the latter part of the day, I believe. Fortunately, I've never bought into the tanning bed thing. I know people who do it regularly and have done for years. I can't really figure out why some continue to do so. It became obvious to me early on that tanning beds age people very rapidly. Far more rapidly than the sun does.
Yes I do think that the use of tanning beds is dangerous and even more so now that the use of them is fast becoming a global health issue - due to the fact - that in recent years the number of people being diagnosed with melanoma - who have tanned this way - has risen at an alarming rate - so much so - that there are now more people dying from skin cancers than there are those dying from lung cancer. However although both indoor and outdoor tanning is considered dangerous if done to excess and without taking the proper precautions - as it is now thought that indoor tanning is far worse - after recent studies found that an indoor tanning bed can give off 3 times the amount of radiation than that of the sun - that in my mind is even more reason to avoid them.
I think spray tans are safer than any other kind of tan, natural sun tans or artificial. However I love to take in some sun tanning once in a while. I don't fry under the sun and don't do it often, but I prefer that than putting on fake stuff on my body.
