share: Tanning Salons Selling the Myth of a Healthy Tan
People often look at someone who has a sun kissed glow and think of them as looking fit, healthy and even slim.
A tanning salon chain in my town ran the slogan "because tanned fat looks better!" - encouraging people of all shapes and sizes to get a tan, rather than advising those heavier folks among us to keep skin cancer and premature aging off their health resume.
Sunset Tan, a tanning salon chain with a popular reality show in it's second season, talks up the "health" aspects of tanning in their sales pitches. And no matter what you say, or what the experts know to be true, the notion of tanned skin meaning we're all healthier, sexier...and thinner, is hard to dispel. Many of us ignore the evidence and march to the tanning salon regardless.
Personally, I love a tan. I settle for the fake variety nowadays but can completely understand why people confuse tanning skin with health and vitality. It's not just a media message - while some don't care either way, many people genuinely feel that tanned skin looks more attractive.
In a story from Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com), it has been found that tanning salons are omitting the real facts about skin caner and other negatives aspects of tanning in order to make a hefty profit from consumers who believe the hype of a healthy tan.
Three new papers will be published in the October edition of Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research that show evidence of the dangers of tanning beds and the UV lights used in them. The authors of the papers want to ban anyone under the age of 18 from using commercial beds and any kind of advertising that promotes tanning beds as safe.
Research has shown that melanoma - the deadliest of skin cancers, can be caused by tanning beds.
If you do go into a tanning salon - look at the employees. Often young, thin, blonde, dressed in the latest fashions (albeit the trashy latest fashions, at times)...and always deeply tanned. Free tanning is often a 'perk' of employment. They are selling a lifestyle and a theory - "look like us and you'll have a better life."
We can only hope the tanning industry is reigned in a bit, much like the tobacco companies. I think it's only a matter of time. Ultimately, as cigarette packs have large warnings on them regarding heart disease, stroke, cancer and pregnancy issues, tanning salons may well have to do the same.
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Should tanning salons have to clearly post warnings about the dangers of indoor tanning?
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Add a Comment9 Comments
In my opinion, even if tanning salons did post warnings about all the dangers, people would still just ignore them as they do cigarette packs.
April 30, 2009 - 7:43amThis Comment
A tan can look GREAT on someone who is a little darker naturally or olive complexioned but I see these girls where my finacee goes to college who are pale little white girls and lie out in bikinis to get "tanned" but turn red like lobsters and then peel...looks awful...and is SO dangerous! They also regularly use tanning salons. It's mad to me, that in this day and age, the tan is still considered a "healthy" look. I believe that tanning salons should clearly state the dangers of UV rays.
April 30, 2009 - 10:52pmIn Hollywood, where I lived 'till recently, you never saw a beautiful actress or model with a tan, as they all know the dangers and also want to keep their skin looking young for as long as possible. And it works! I have never tanned atall and have baby skin...I am pale as a china doll..but so what? I think I look healthy...I have rosy cheeks.
A tan is great if you have lots of melanin in your skin but if you are a pale, red head or blonde, then embrace your paleness or like susanc says, use a tanning cream!
I am an avid tanner so I can relate to the idea of although it is an unhealthy lifestyle I still tan on a weekly basis. Mainly, I started tanning due to seasonal depression throughout the winter. I continue throughout the summertime, once a week, to hide tan lines from being outside in the real sun. Overexposure maybe, but I own a swimming pool and love outdoor activities in the summertime which is impossible to stay out of the sun.
Funny enough, my tanning salon already heeds warnings about sun exposure right when you walk into the door. You also have to sign a waiver form before indoor tanning that also states the warnings of sun exposure to your health and you have to sign that waiver form that you read and understand all the warnings.
In addition to the written form (at initial sign up), any time I go tanning, I sign my name in a book as well to acknowledge that I will wear the eye protection that they provide. So, in other words, every time I tan, I am acknowledging the risks.
The effects of radiation on the body can certainly be toxic in every form. I work everyday with the individuals that were involved in the production of the atomic bomb and the health effects of radiation can be somewhat horrific.
Everyday, we are exposed to radiation in some form but overexposure is what will cause long term effects. Did you know that flight crews are monitored for radiation exposure (dosimetry badges) since when you fly, you are closer in the atmosphere to the sun which causes higher radiation doses?
Recognizing the risk is one thing but making a poor decision is another. I would say choosing to tan is a poor decision based on the sun exposure I endure in the summertime but it is a price I pay and certainly may be a bad decision later in life.
I also agree with the above post that even cigarettes have their warnings on every pack although, people continue to smoke. It is a decision.
May 3, 2009 - 8:24amAs a former employee of a tanning salon, I know that several of the "facts" you have posted in your article are simply false. You, as well as several other Americans, have bought into a pharmaceutical scandal called "Sun scare." Sun scare is an attempt (and apparently a success) by Skincare companies to frighten the American people into staying away from the sun, and to purchase more sunscreen. They sell millions and millions of dollars of their products to women just like you who are afraid of stepping into the sunlight. If you had studied up on skin cancer instead of making vast stereotypes about tanning salon employees (I'm brunette, not blonde, not skinny, and try to consider the clothing I put on my body to be anything but trashy) you would have seen that the majority of skin cancer patients are people that have worked indoors their whole life, rarely people who work in the sun. Skin cancer, especially the melonoma you talked about, usually appears in areas that are unexposed to sun...such as the bottoms of the feet and armpits. While I agree that tanning religiously isn't ideal due to the possibility of getting sunburned (just like you can get in the sun if negligent), if an individual tans and learns to tan responsibly, I don't think that they are risking their health in half as many ways as this bogus article suggests.
Note to the author: Study up a little more on your topic before writing vague and unconvincing articles.
July 2, 2009 - 9:03amAnon,
July 2, 2009 - 9:51amNumerous dermatologists I have visited referred to sunbeds as "cancer chambers". Why is this then if they are benign?? Just wondering.....
I think I'll play it safe and stick to my healthier pale skin!
Btw, that tanningtruths website looks like a scam in itself ....by the sunbed companies!
The thought of a tanning bed has always been rather scary, to me. Besides the "cancer chambers" thought, the potential burn is a horrifying thought.
[shudder]
July 2, 2009 - 7:11pmModeration, moderation, moderation!!!!! Why is this such a hard concept for some folks to grasp?! Just like enjoying anything, tanning IS safe and smart and healthy when done in moderation - it's PROVEN!! Both the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society have stated that moderate exposure is actually healthy and does help fight against certain cancers. Yes, some people over expose, just like some people speed in their cars, or drink liquor every day - but used in moderation and within reason these activities are safe.
January 27, 2010 - 2:55amGreat article. Tanning beds cause cancer. It's a fact.
The sun is very important to us but getting a tan ALWAYS means you are damaging the DNA in your cells!!!! See my article below for more detailed information.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Preventing-Melanoma
February 9, 2010 - 5:33pmSorry, I missed the post by anonymous above that says "tanning IS safe and smart and healthy when done in moderation - it's PROVEN!! Both the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society have stated that moderate exposure is actually healthy and does help fight against certain cancers"
I'm not sure where that person is looking. Please see below for both the American and Canadian Cancer society positions respectively:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_tanning_Beds_May_Incr...
http://www.cancer.ca/canada-wide/prevention/use%20sunsense/indoor%20tann...
February 9, 2010 - 5:38pm