Tanning Beds & Protecting Your Eyes - More Than One Reason to Protect Your Skin Part II

This article is the second part of a three part article “More than one reason to protect your skin”. The second part of the article covers tanning beds and your eyes. These are two subjects that are overlooked at times, and there are many myths about tanning beds.

In the 1990’s, there was a tanning bed boom, and there were many misconceptions about how tanning beds work and that they are safer. It is the exact opposite, and there are some simple ways to figure this out on your own. If they were safe, would they recommend you wear special goggles? This is because the rays from the tanning bed can damage your eyes and that includes your skin. People who use tanning beds are 74% more likely to develop melanoma, the most lethal of all skin cancers, than those who have never used them. That’s a staggering fact to swallow.
Source: http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/tanning

Moreover, when you go out to find information on your own, you’ll find there are those who have misconceptions about tanning beds being safer! This was brought on by the tanning bed industry. An article released by the leaders of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce showed that it is routine practice for the tanning industry provided false information about the serious risks of indoor tanning and made erroneous claims about the health benefits that indoor tanning provides. In other words, consumers were being lied to for years, and consider how many people out of that 74% who more likely to develop skin cancer feel about that now.
Source http://www.skincancer.org/news/tanning/tanningreport

Committees involved found that nearly all salons denied knowing the risks of indoor tanning, 4 out of 5 salons made false claims about tanning being beneficial to one’s health, they used various technique’s to minimize the health risks of indoor tanning, they failed to follow FDA recommendations on frequency of tanning and their primary target were young teenage girls. When the facts are when you go to a tanning booth 4 times you increase your risk of developing melanoma by 11%, and 15% for basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. It should be appalling to anyone, to think that an industry would consider being dishonest about informing the public in regards to their risks of skin cancer from such a dangerous machine.

Photo Credit - Erin Vermeer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilerin/3096163337/sizes/m/

Here are some staggering facts about tanning booths. Taken from an article on The Skin Cancer Foundation website: 

INDOOR TANNING

• Those who make just four visits to a tanning salon per year can increase their risk for melanoma by 11 percent, and their risk for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma by 15 percent.
• Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen. Currently tanning beds are regulated by the FDA as Class I medical devices, the same designation given elastic bandages and tongue depressors.
• The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices in its Group 1, a list of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances.
• Group 1 also includes agents such as plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation 
• Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure 
• Ten minutes in a sunbed matches the cancer-causing effects of 10 minutes in the Mediterranean summer sun 
• Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. every year39; 2.3 million of them are teens. 
• On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons. 
• Seventy-one percent of tanning salon patrons are girls and women aged 16-29. 
• Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors. 
• People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. 
• The indoor tanning industry has an annual estimated revenue of $5 billion.

Source:  http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts

Protecting Your Eyes from the sun

It’s easy to forget about our eyes, because we might automatically assume that putting on a pair of sunglasses will do the trick. Well, that’s only if they are polarized, which means they protect your eyes from the sun. UV can damage your eyes  and cause cataracts, age related macular degeneration, cancer and growths on the eyes. We have mentioned tanning beds earlier, and this is even more important if you use a tanning bed (which we highly recommend against), but if you do, it is extremely important due to the higher radiation levels and frequency that people tend to use them.

Here are some tips on protecting your eyes and purchasing the right types of Polarized sunglasses:

Look for sunglasses that block 100% UVA &UVB Rays. The color of the lens is not important. However you might want to a pair with a lighter lens so you can see in lower light and a darker lens for brighter days to reduce glare. Never look directly at the sun, ever.

• It is best to choose styles that wrap around your head, so that light does not come in the sides of your head.
• Use a sun protective wide brimmed hat with a UPF factor, to keep sunlight out of your eyes.
• Even on cloudy days you can still get sunburn, UV radiation is still present.
• Peak times of sunlight are between 10AM and 4PM, avoid direct sun exposure at these times. If you have to be out in the sun, protect your skin and eyes.