who goes tanning?

[mustlovecatz]

how many of you go tanning at a salon or just soak in the sun for hours??? my SO just bought a tanning bed for the house and everyone has been scaring me about cancer.. does anyone know anybody or has gotten skin cancer due to tanning?

[Irishgal]

Well, I used to tan in tanning beds and the beach like crazy. Quite a number of years ago I was diagnosed with early stage malignant melanoma. Had the area removed and some radiation. So, it was probably both. Now I only use bottle tan.

[amber11]

yea a girl i went to school with was 21 when she was diagnosed with skin cancer from tanning- tanning beds are even worse then the sun, you should really just stick to bottle tans, i use jergens natural glow medium on my legs and i never get any streaks and i use neutrogena spray mist in medium on my upper body and it always looks natural- plus down the road no cancer or wrinkles

[mcb100]

I wouldn't reccommend getting one for your house. I know someone who has leathery skin from that, although I occasinally tan in the bed. I think a spray tan booth for your house would be better.

[holly di]

I am a big tanner, either from the tanning bed or being on the lake all summer long. Most of my friends have tanning beds in their homes (I have tanning beds at the salon I work at) for some retarded reason it is a sin around my town to not be tan. I am sure all my friends (maybe me, too) will look like Magda when we are 60. I do use sunscreen when I go out though, and have 2 checkups with my dermatologist every year.

[LAltiero85]

Originally Posted by holly di

I am a big tanner, either from the tanning bed or being on the lake all summer long. Most of my friends have tanning beds in their homes (I have tanning beds at the salon I work at) for some retarded reason it is a sin around my town to not be tan. I am sure all my friends (maybe me, too) will look like Magda when we are 60. I do use sunscreen when I go out though, and have 2 checkups with my dermatologist every year.

Awww....Magda's a cute little old lady...lol.

I used to go tanning when I was in highschool all of the time...especially around prom and homecoming.

When I entered into my 20's (I'm 23 now) I got a little freaked out, and realized that I needed to start taking care of my skin....moisturize, exfoliate, and be pale forever...lol. But I do use Nivea Firming and Self-Tanning lotion--it actually works really well! And it actually shows up rather quickly, like a day or two after you start using it. And I use Jergen's Sunless Tanning Lotion for Face for my face. It moisturizes really well, smells a little funny (so I only ever put it on before bed), but it works wonders and no wrinkles or worries of cancer!

[LemonDrop]

My mom had skin cancer removed she claims it is from the years tanning. who knows? But you know how you meet me people and for the most part people look younger than their age or right at their age? The 2 people who I had thought were like 35 and turned out to be late 20's were both BIG tanners. One's family owned a tanning place. If cancer doesn't scare you enough and you are more worried with your looks then looking about 7 years older than you should at age 28 should scare you.

[frostedcouture]

My mom is a dermatologist and she has made it very clear to me again and again that tanning is horrible for your skin. I love to be tan too though :) I do not go out and lay in the sun to tan, I wish I could :( The way I tan is by playing all my tennis matches in the sun. You really do get tan and there's no way my mom can keep me from doing that. Hehe Tanning may be fun and the color is great, but do you really want all that risk? You could get skin cancer, sun spots, wrinkles, leathery skin and after excessive amounts of tanning you will look a lot older than you really are.

[courtneyh]

i tan at a tanning salon and i sit outside.....if i am sitting outside i do use sunscreen but if i tan indoors i dont..... i get my skin checked once a year

[Pinkdancer]

I don't. I've never set foot in a tanning bed. I don't lay out in the sun, either. The risk outweighs the award, in my opinion. While I do think tanned skin looks better (I'm fairly pale and sometimes wish I were tan), I know that my skin will look better and I'll be healthier overall years down the road. I don't think I've ever seen someone who tanned a lot in his/her youth and actually looks good later on in life.

I have a question for those of you who do tan, and I'm asking this in a completely non-judgmental way (I'm honestly curious) : When all the risks associated with tanning are known and the one piece of advice all doctors/dermatologists/etc. agree upon is to "wear sunscreen," why do you tan?

[jan228]

My MIL has a cancer scare every other week. She's had skin cancer multiple times. She gets poked, prodded, and scrapped to remove precancerous cells on her skin. Last year, she had her entire face chemically burned to remove cancerous cells. She sees her dermatologist once a month for check-ups. Last month, he cut out a precancerous spot on her hand.

And you know what? When she was younger, she lived in the sun, as she grew up on Long Island and was at the beach all the time. Sun damage is cumulative over a person's lifetime.

Did you know that the sun can also cause melanoma in your eyes? Remember those UV protective sunglasses!

Personally, I could never live with wrinkled, leathery skin. When I was in high school, I was just grossed out over the way girls' foreheads would retain wrinkles when they tanned.

If I want to be tan, I use Jergen's gradual tan moisturizers with SPF. I make my fiance wear sunscreen all the time, including an SPF lipbalm.

[Jahpson]

I tanned in a tanning bed. Make sure you use extra strength sunblock to block out those harmful UV rays (tanning beds have them as well).

I tan easily so even when I get outside I get tan lines. I use the bed to kind of even it out. Really nice.

[BasketballCourt]

I wrote an article on indoor tanning for my school's newspaper. So many girls in my grade do it, and I'm sure that they didn't like to read all of the harmful effects that they have, like the fact that women who tan have a fifty-five percent greater chance of obtaining melanoma, and that some tanning lamps emit ultraviolet rays up to fifteen times more than the sun.

My mom had to be treated for skin cancer and they thankfully removed the few spots before it spread, but ever since that I have been worried about it.

So sorry if I sound like I'm preaching!

[ChristyR143]

I tan in the winter, but in the summer, we are out in our pool a lot so I get tanned from being out there. I have a lot of American Indian in my genes, so I tan very easily.

From what I have been told, all tanning beds are not created equal. Some of the nicer ones only put out the "good" uv light, and not the "bad" uv light. Also, they have filters on them that supposedly filter out the free radicals so basically what you end up getting is the purest of light. Again, I do not know this for a fact, but this is just what I have been told.

[tmc089]

I used to tan every now and then..around prom etc. I dont anymore though. My mom lays outside every chance she gets....she's getting leathery and she just turned 50. Honestly, I think pale skin is beautiful compared to tan skin that is leathery and nasty. I go out in the pool and catch a few rays every now and then, it's certainly not a priority though.