Deadly Beds

July is UV Safety Month, but educating clients on the dangers of tanning beds is important all year long.

While being tan may make you look good today, you need to know the consequences tomorrow can bring. This unhealthy procedure not only increases your chances of skin cancer, but also inevitably will inflict premature aging and wrinkles. If your reason for tanning is your looks, you should think it through a bit more.

According to an American Academy of Dermatology survey, most teen girls and young women tan indoors for the sake of vanity despite being aware of the health risks. The vast majority of those surveyed who tan indoors (86%) reported that they know the beds cause skin cancer, but use them anyway. 87% of those respondents feel strongly that people look more attractive when they are tan.

These findings are absurd when you think about it. If you tan indoors for cosmetic reasons, the process itself accelerates the aging process, which cancels out whatever it is you are wanting to accomplish as far as looks go. The ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds lead to the development of wrinkles sooner in life, and indoor tanners (when surveyed) were more concerned about wrinkles than their non-indoor tanning peers (42% versus 28%). So if wrinkles are your kryptonite, why would you expose yourself to the poison that inflicts them? The most alarming finding in this round of surveys is that nearly half (48%) of those questioned who have tanned indoors in the past year reported knowing someone who has or has had skin cancer. Aside from wrinkles and aging, tanning beds also lead to melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer.

If this trend continues, and attitudes about tanning beds do not change, future generations will develop more skin cancers earlier in life and can have fatal results. Be smart about the one cancer you can prevent on your own by protecting and educating yourself.