We hear it all of the time, "Don't go tanning" "Tanning is so bad for you" "Wear sunscreen". The sad part is most of us, including me, never really listen to this smart advice. Of course, we can't completely stay out of the sun...it is a part of life, but we can protect ourselves.
When I was in middle school and high school, going indoor tanning was the cool thing to do. Girls were coming to school looking like they'd just stepped off a plane from Florida. I was always begging and pleading with my mom to let me go, but she kept telling me how unsafe it was.
Eventually, in high school, she cracked. I got to go tanning for the first time and I loved it. I am lucky enough to have the skin type where I don't burn too often. I loved being able to walk around my Indiana high school in the dead of winter looking like a bronze goddess.
It wasn't until I got to college when I began actually reading articles about tanning beds and the dangers that they cause. Of course, tanning has its benefits. You overall feel better, it reduces acne, and the light makes you feel happier. But when I came across wellness site Health Essentials recently, their article warned of the dangers of indoor tanning. It stated that if we begin restricting indoor tanning beds to people 18 and under, then we could reduce melanoma cases by 61,839, and deaths by 6,735.
Melanoma isn't a pretty disease, as the cancer attacks the skin, and is responsible for 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. What scared me the most was learning that only going tanning ONCE in a tanning bed increases a person's risk of skin cancer by 79%. That is a shocking rate, enough to make me feel like I am doomed. I have definitely gone more than once, and I know so many others who have as well. It makes me sick to my stomach, but I can't go back in time and change it.
But, I have recently decided to start taking better care of my skin. Being pale isn't the end of the world. You should love the skin you are in, and stop putting harmful tanning bed rays in it. Wearing a hat, visor, and correct SPF is the way to prevent your body from being harmed by damaging skin cancer. Spreading the word about indoor tanning is smart because we could be potentially saving so many youths from starting a habit that is hard to stop.
