Dangers of Tanning Beds

Tanning beds have popularized the concept of indoor tanning for those who cannot get an outdoor one. Indoor tanning has become a big business with a staggering turnover of around 5 billion dollars a year. The number is growing with nearly a million Americans using it everyday. The increase in demand for body tanning has lured many people into using tanning beds and ignore the dangers involved.

Many people ignore the fact that tanning beds are dangerous in the quest for a well-tanned body. Tanning professionals neglect informing users about the dangers of high pressure tanning beds even though they are themselves aware of the tanning bed facts. The salon industry has policies regarding the dangers, but they are not strictly enforced as there are no legal bindings. So, an ignorant customer is exposed to the dangers of these beds and is highly vulnerable to burns.

A Tanning Bed

A high pressure tanning bed uses fluorescent bulbs to emit ultraviolet radiation, which penetrates the base of the skin layer. The combination of lights emitted from these bulbs create rays similar to that of the sunlight. The rays help in stimulating melanin pigments to darken the skin and create a golden tan. A person should never tan indoors and outdoors on the same day, as the chances of over exposure will be very high. Overexposure actually destroys melanin and instead of a tan, could lead to burning. It also increases the chances of skin cancer manifold. The chances of getting a sunburn is minimized to the lowest possibility when a tanning bed is used.

A high pressure tanning bed is designed to give out a particular amount of light, which is enough for tanning and also reduces the risk of sunburn which may occur if tanning is done naturally. The tanning equipments are adjusted after studying the skin type and the exposure time required to complete the tanning process. A tanning bed is preferred over the natural process as it has a control over the tanning factors. The effectiveness of the tanning process depends on the environment, mainly the weather, time, reflective surfaces and the elevation of the place. These factors are controlled in case of a tanning bed, making indoor tanning much more preferable than outdoor tanning.

Dangers of Tanning Beds

Even though all precautions are taken, a high pressure tanning bed or sun bed is more dangerous than the sunlight due to the intensity and range of the radiation. Radiation emitting from the sun lamps and the bed is regarded as a human carcinogen. The overexposure to this bed leads to cancer, which is highest in youths under the age of 30. Overexposure to the UV rays cause a negative effect on melanin present in the body, raising the risk of developing skin cancer. A women regular exposing herself to sun lamps, especially if she is within the age group of 20 to 30, has a 150% chance of getting cancer than a non user.

Tanning bed exposes a person to high level of UV radiation, with the ability to damage the skin completely. UV rays cause mutation of DNA in the body, which results in the production of cancer-causing cells such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma. Mutation of the cells causes development of cancerous cells. They depend on the type of genes and usually cause cell deaths. The human DNA has the ability to repair enzymes and fix some mutations, but they are not effective in preventing cell mutations and cell deaths.

UV radiation causes the destruction of collagen and connective tissues and makes the body vulnerable to skin disorders. Use of UV rays for such purposes has been the cause for premature aging, early wrinkles and reduction in skin elasticity. The human immune system is badly affected when continually exposed to UV radiation. Antigens such as langerhans cells and macrophages are weakened and the body becomes very weak. The effectiveness of the killer cells and T-cells is reduced with the disruption of the cytokine release. This leads to the growth of skin tumor and increase in skin infections. UV rays also affect the eyes causing retinal damage, burning of the cornea and also affects the lens. Such overexposure to UV causes eye clouding and cataract leading to eye cancer and arc eye condition. However, these are preventable with the use of eye goggles.

Though very rarely, tanning beds can transmit pubic lice, also known as crabs. They are found on the surface of an unclean tanning bed. These crabs are difficult to notice in a dimly lit tanning bed and difficult to kill, even by using anti-bacterial or anti-viral cleaning agents. They can be detected and killed by physical effort only.

Though, the dangers of tanning beds are now known to most people, it has failed to deter anyone from using the bed. So, take all the necessary precaution before tanning and you are surely going to be satisfied with the results. So, what are you waiting for? Rush to the nearest salon and give yourself the 'revolutionized' look.