Question:
My question is as follows, since I am a fair skined redhead, who burns
somewhat easily, would it not be to my advantage to use a tanning machine to avoid burning. It is to my understanding that it is the burning of the skin which generally leads to skin cancer, and therefore by getting a tan from a machine ones likelyhood of burning is decreased and thus the risk of achieving skin cancer is also decreased. I reaslize that there are those people out there who say that no sun is the best way to prevent skin cancer, and since I am not nocturnal it is out of the question to avoid the sun completely. Also do not misunderstand me, I do use sun screen when possible.
In summary would tanning through the use of a machine prior to being
exposed to the sun be benefical in avoiding the development of skin cancer
since burning is no longer as great a factor.
Answer:
The answer is no. A tanning machine will increase the risk of
melanoma, not decrease it. The burning is a marker for sun exposure, not
the cause of the melanoma. The u.v. light itself causes the melanoma.
Avoid it. And don't believe the people who want to sell you tanning
booths or rent them to you: there are not "safe" wavelengths of U.V.
light for tanning that do not increase the risk of skin damage.
Pale is beautiful! The only reason we think that tanned is
beautiful nowadays is because it is the leasure class that can get out of
the factories to get a tan. When the working class was predominantly
agricultural, pale skin was considered beutiful for similar sociological
reasons. See "Theory of the Leisure Class" by Thorstein Veblen. His
style of writing is dreadful, but that is worth enduring to get his ideas.
