Tanning beds can be a cheap, easy and quick way to get the dark summer skin that almost everyone wants when it starts to get warm out.
By Kiersten Fenwick
Most people know that tanning beds can be dangerous for your skin, but never really think about it. Sure, there are some advantages to indoor tanning, but there are also some disadvantages.
Indoor tanning can be cheap enough that people will pay for memberships and go two or three times a week. It can cost anywhere from about $20 to $40 for a monthly membership. It’s also pretty easy and only takes about 10 to 20 minutes.
Every body needs vitamin D for their bones and skin to stay healthy, according to Natural News, and lack of vitamin D can cause depression. UV rays can be the best way to get the vitamin D you need when you don’t have enough. A tanning bed gives you a lot of vitamin D, which can also keep you from getting sunburn later.
Tanning beds also have a lot of disadvantages that could outweigh the benefits. The biggest issue is skin cancer. Too much exposure to UV rays can cause melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. Women who have used a tanning bed regularly before they were 30 have a 75% higher chance of getting some type of skin cancer and in a lot of cases, melanoma, according to Natural News.
Tanning beds are not good for your eyes either. UV rays can be about 100 times harder on your eyes in a tanning bed than from the sun, which can cause cataracts, eye cancer, and other damage to your eyes. Tanning beds also cause early aging and texture changes to your skin and wrinkles according to the FDA website.
There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to indoor tanning and it’s up to you to decide if you think it’s a good idea or not. Yes, it looks good, but it can be really bad for you if you overuse it.