The Downside Of Sun And Sunless Tanning

Tanning to get golden brown is an activity that has been loved by many for decades now. However, although you may see a lot of people enjoying the heat as they expose themselves under the warmth of the sun, you can’t deny that there is the downside of tanning. It doesn’t really matter whether you are using the natural sun or going for sunless tanning, one thing’s for sure, either way has its downside. So, here are the downfalls of the two major tanning methods that men and women take comfort in.

Tanning: A Risky Addiction

Although a lot of people have the tendency to be addicted to tanning, what most people do not know is that public health professionals and dermatologists nowadays are actually concerned regarding the dangers that this activity presents. In particular, they are worried about the dangers of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, sun lamps and tanning beds.

Radiations Used When Tanning

When sun tanning, it may seem that you are only being exposed to the sun itself. However, this is not the case. In reality, you are actually being exposed to those various types of sun rays that have different radiations.  We discussed these earlier.  Remember that there are basically 2 kinds of ultraviolet radiation that affect your skin.  Namely: UVA and UVB. Both of these have long been associated with skin cancer and sunburn.

Skin Cancer In Either Method

Although skin cancer has always been associated with extreme tanning, even moderate tanning might also give you the same effect. The sun’s UV radiation, sun lamps or tanning beds can cause skin cancer. They could also have a damaging effect on your immune system. These could cause your skin to age prematurely, giving it a leathery, wrinkled appearance.

Sun Spots

Another downside of sun tanning would be sun spots. These are brown spots that develop on your skin. Sometimes they come out as small as freckles while there are times that they appear to be larger than that. These are also called liver spots. Generally, this kind of side effect appears when you are older. Also, Caucasians are more prone in developing this when tanning, compared to those that have a natural high dose of melanin in their skin pigment.

Turning Dark—Extremely!

Burning is another downside of sun tanning. If you do not watch your tanning habits, you might overdo your tan and get a burnt look rather than a healthy bronze.

In terms of sunless tanning, there are pills being sold that are marketed saying that they could give you a tan. However, there is a big risk in taking these kinds of pills since most of the time, instead of giving you a bronze color; they actually give you a dark orange color. Also, these pills aren’t really designed to darken targeted spots of your body; it would darken your whole body, as in—everything!

The effect would also be longer since the substance is already inside your body. It may stay in your system longer, especially if you have taken a significant number of pills already. Going back to your original color could definitely be a challenge for you!

Fake Sunless Tanning

There are also sunless tanning methods that do not involve any kind of body reaction. These are called airbrush tanning. In general, you would be body painted using an airbrush to give your body a tint of bronze. Although this method presents no risk of getting any kind of cancer or effect to your health, it still has a downside and that would be its non-permanency.

This method isn’t a permanent one. There are some that wash off as soon as you decide to wash it. There are also some that last for up to a couple of weeks before it starts to fade away.

UVA Is Still Dangerous

Additionally, tanning salons that promote sunless tanning methods market their service by saying their method is safe. They put special emphasis on the fact that their machines do not produce UVB rays but only UVA rays, which are said to be the ‘healthy’ UV rays. However, this is not true at all. Recent studies have shown that UVA rays also play a part in causing cancer. In fact, it plays a crucial role too since it is the one that has the ability to penetrate the skin deeper than UVB rays.