Harmful affects of tanning ignored by college students

Monica Vainauskas

What started out as a simple way to achieve a perfectly sun kissed tan is now what many people are considering helpful for other things as well, but are continuing to ignore the facts that this could be dangerous to their health.
A lot of what is heard is true, that the use of tanning beds is harmful towards the skin that can cause serious skin diseases.
Dr. Amanda Beehler, from Midwestern/Alta Dermatology Residency Program explained how the use of tanning beds can be very unhealthy and dangerous.
“Melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young adults and 1/5 of patients develop metastatic disease,” Beehler said. “Tanning beds or any long term sun exposure not only increases your risk for melanoma but also for basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and actinic keratoses.”
Tanning today is especially most common for people below the age of 30, that alone as an age group is what’s making so many people more at risk.
“There is a greater risk associated with intense, intermittent sun exposure as a youth (more important than cumulative sun exposure), sun burns, those who have fairer skin & a tendency to burn, and a positive family history,” Beehler said.
MCC student and a frequent tanner, Lydia Castano said she has been tanning for about three years now.
“I’ve heard plenty negative things about the use of tanning beds,” Castano said.
“But honestly, I can’t say that there has been any negative turn out. In fact, I enjoy tanning a lot. It’s a major stress reliever and the UV rays that the tanning bed feeds off with A&B vitamins helps prevent acne, so tanning has helped me in many ways.”
Besides the fact that it’s convenient and time consuming, a lot of it has to do with stress relief, weight loss, and a positive mental state.
“I think tanning is a very popular thing now,” Castano said. “Not only does it make you look better but it makes you feel a whole lot better to. Tanning is like a confidence booster, it releases a hormone is your brain that makes you feel better about yourself.”
Mesa Tan’s tanning consultant, Nate Ethington said that they always expect people to tan responsibly when choosing to use the tanning beds.
“We have people come in and start at a low level trying not to get burned,” Ethington said. “So it’s easy to avoid when you’re using a tanning bed, especially when you can control the amount, where as if you’re outside in the sun, you can’t.”
Beehler said she recommends the much safer method, which is spray on tans and other sunless tanners.
“They have been found to be safe so far, and ever safer when compared to attempting to achieve that level of tan through sun exposure,” Beehler said. “You can also wear a sun block over the tanners and provide further protection.”
If tanning at home isn’t for you and you still enjoy going to a salon, many of them offer UV free self tanner spray which reacts with your skin to give you a tan look without any of the UV effects that the tanning beds give.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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