Question:
I got a membership at a tanning bed a few weeks ago, and I've started going to
get tan. I was only going to do it for a month and then try to maintain the
tan, but then I got really paranoid about the damage it would do to my skin
(especially my face, although I barely ever tanned it---my body is considerably
darker than my face, but close enough to not look too weird). I stopped for a
few days because of this concern, and now I'm thinking of only going for a few
days a week for only 12 minutes and keeping my face covered the whole time.
So, with that said, I wanted to ask you guys about tanning beds. Are they as
damaging to the skin as the sun? Are they even damaging at all? I would
imagine that they would be considering its pure UV rays and all. How come I
see people that go to tanning beds that are really tan that I know are at least
40, but they don't look really old? Did they get facelifts? Is tanning in a
tanning bed a guarantee for wrinkles? .
Answer:
Maybe they're really only 20? I spent my growing up years in the sun - skiing,
swimming, boating, etc., - tanning that was incidental to the activities I was
doing on a very regular basis. I can't say that my skin look *horrible* now at
age 45, but the damage is definitely there. I probably have a normal amount of
wrinkling for my age, but I developed awful age spots that I'm sure are a
product of sun exposure. Luckily Pola's White Shot is taking care of the spots
for me, but I'd much rather not need it. If I could turn back the clock, I'd
still do all the water sports, but would have applied sunscreen.
