Students head indoors to tan despite risks

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As the sun begins to fade, so do summer tans. In search for a remedy to the increasingly pale face, some students start turning to tanning beds in fall.

No matter the questions about its risk, the tanning business continues to boom. Lindsay Benson, employee at a Gold N Glow Tanning salon, said BYU and UVU students make up a large portion of the salon’s clients. Benson said their busiest months are during the school year, when the weather in Utah starts to cool down.

“Things pick up in October and stay busy until about mid-May,” Benson said.

Some students tried to put their finger on what motivates them to visit a tanning salon in search of bronzed skin despite the possible dangers.

“I guess I am just in denial about it and want to look good even though I know it’s horrible for me,” said Lexi Robbins, a sophomore at UVU studying nursing.

“Obviously it’s not good for your skin to be in the sun very long,” said McKenzie Giles, a junior majoring in special education. “But if you go every once in a while it picks up your mood. It feels good and looks good to be tan.”

Michaela Peringer, a senior from Auburn, Wash., said she feels fine tanning at her own risk.

“I know that indoor tanning isn’t very good for you, but I don’t think tanning means that I’m guaranteed to get cancer,” Peringer said. “I think if tanning was really as dangerous as people say it is, there would be more regulations against it.”

What it comes down to is whether it’s worth paying later with premature aging, wrinkles and possibly skin cancer for a sun-kissed glow today.

Jeff Yancey, health educator at Huntsman Cancer Institute, confirmed the cold hard fact: any type of tanning is dangerous.

“Both indoor and outdoor tanning give you ultraviolet radiation and there is no safe form of it,” Yancey said. “Both can actually lead to skin cancer and both are listed as known carcinogens.”

Yancey said studies give solid numbers exposing the harms of artificial tanning. One study done on women showed frequently visiting a tanning salon is linked with fatal skin cancer.

“When women use tanning beds more than once a month it makes them 55 percent more likely to develop melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer,” Yancey said.

Other research showed the increase in risk to those who have used any tanning equipment in the past.

“Studies have shown people who have indoor tanned before at all do show a 75 percent higher risk of melanoma,” Yancey said.

Researchers suggest using sunless self-tanners and cautiously exposing your skin to UVA and UVB rays. Many also suggest wearing sunblock or sunscreen whenever exposed to the sun.

 

 

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