When I was at a body attack class this morning a I looked around and noticed I am a tidey whitey. I think everyone is starting to get spring fever so more people are starting to go tanning. Big no no though. ........
Want to banish your pale skin in favor of a deep, dark tan? Join the club. Especially when summer looms, many people start considering the best way to get that sun-bronzed – glow turning to self-tanners, tanning booths, sunbathing, or a combination of these.
To lots of people, summer means hanging out at the pool or the beach, soaking up the rays and baking in the sun in pursuit of the perfect golden tan. Indeed, most Americans think they look better with a tan.
But before you pull out the bathing suit and head to the pool – or into a tanning booth – spend a few minutes finding out about your skin and sun exposure. These facts can help you get the look you want without stressing your skin.
How Tanning Happens
The sun’s rays contain two types of ultraviolet radiation that reach your skin: UVA and UVB. UVB radiation burns the upper layers of skin (the epidermis), causing sunburns.
UVA radiation is what makes people tan. UVA rays penetrate to the lower laye
rs of the epidermis, where they trigger cells called
melanocytes (pronounced MEL-uh-no-SIGHTS) to produce melanin. Melanin is the brown pigment that causes tanning.
Melanin is the body’s way of protecting skin from burning. Darker- skinned people tan more deeply than lighter-skinned people because their melanocytes produce more melanin. But just because a person doesn’t burn does not mean that he or she is also protected against skin cancer and other problems.
Tanning Downsides
UVA rays may make you tan, but they can also cause serious damage. That’s because UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin than UVB rays. UVA rays can go all the way through the skin’s protective epidermis to the dermis, where blood vessels and nerves are found. Because of this, UVA rays may damage a person’s immune system, making it harder to fight off diseases and leading to illnesses like melanoma, the most serious (and deadly) type of skin cancer.
Melanoma can kill. If it’s not found and treated, it can quickly spread from the skin to the body’s other organs.
Skin cancer is epidemic in the United States, with more than 1 million new cases diagnosed annually. Although the numbers of new cases of many other types of cancer are falling or leveling off, the number of new cases of melanoma is growing. In the past, melanoma mostly affected people in there fifties or older, but today dermatologists see patients in there twenties and even late teens with this type of cancer. Experts believe this partly due to an increase in the use of tanning beds and sun lamps, which have high levels of UVA rays.
Doctors also think that UVB rays play a role in the development of melanoma. That’s because a sunburn or intense sun exposure may increase a person’s chances of developing this deadly cancer.
Exposure to UVB rays also increases your risk of getting two other types of skin cancer: basal squamous and cell carcinoma.
The main treatment for skin cancers is excision – cutting the tumors out. Since many
basal or squamous cell carcinomas are on the face and neck, surgery to remove them can leave people with facial scars. The scars from surgery to remove melanomas can be anywhere on the body and they’re often large.
Cancer isn’t the only problem associated with UV exposure. UVA damage to the dermis is the main factor in premature skin aging. To get a good idea of how sunlight affects the skin, look at your parent’s skin and see how different it is from yours or take a look at pictures from younger years. Much of that is due to sun exposure, not the age difference! UV rays can also lead to another problem we associate with old people: cataracts.
Sun Smarts
Staying out of the sun altogether may seem to be the only logical answer. But who wants to live like a hermit? The key is to enjoy the sun sensibly, finding a balance between sun protection and those great summer activities like beach volleyball and swimming.
Sunscreens or sun blocks, which block the sun’s harmful rays, are one of your best defenses against sun damage because they protect you without interfering with your comfort and activity levels.
There are so many types of sunscreen that selecting the right one can be quite confusing. Don’t let those high-SPF sunscreens lull you into a false sense of security when it comes to skin cancer. People overestimate just how much protection these products can prov
ide. Part of the problem is that many believe that the higher the SPF, the longer you can stay in the sun.
The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is a laboratory measure scientists developed to measure the time it takes skin to burn under UV exposure, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. If you know how long it takes you to start burning without protection in the midday sun—say 10 minutes—multiply that by the SPF number. For someone who burns in 10 minutes without protection, a sunscreen with an SPF 30 would deliver 300 minutes of protection against burning, or five hours. That ‘s the theory anyway, but the SPF physically wears off with rubbing, sweating, and water. The protection you get is more likely one hour to 80 minutes.
Studies over the years have shown that sunscreen with an SPF, or sun protection factor, of 30 blocks about 97 percent of ultraviolet rays. A rating of 15 means 93 percent of UV rays are blocked, and anything higher than 30 remains in the 97 or 98 percent range. The bottom line is sunscreens with an S
PF above 30 have very minimal increased
protection.SPF is a measurement of UVB rays (burning rays). With more sunscreens providing protection against UVA rays (aging rays) the FDA wants the labeling on your sunscreen to tell you more about protection against the sun’s harmful rays. Under a new regulation, the agency has proposed that sunscreen labeling be expanded to provide a four-star rating system that informs consumers how well the product protects them against Ultraviolet A (UVA) light. The label will also include information on other ways people can limit their risks to dangers posed by overexposure to sunlight. The FDA also wants to revise the phrase “sun protection” to “sunburn protection”. The front label of the sunscreen must include ratings for UVA and UVB protection.
It’s a lot of information to take in, but just remember these tips to enjoy the great outdoors while protecting your skin and eyes from sun damage.
• Wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 every day, even on cloudy days when you don’t plan on spending much time outdoors. Wearing sunscreen every day is essential because as much as 80% of sun exposure is incidental—the type you get from walking your dog or eating lunch outside. Wearing sunscreen on the back of your hands is a good idea too. Think of how much sun the backs of your hands see when your driving. If you don’t want to wear a pure sunscreen, try a moisturizer with sunscreen in it, but make sure you put on enough.
• Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that blocks UVA and UVB rays. Ideally, it should also by hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic so it doesn’t cause a rash or clog your
pores and give you acne. A great sunscreen to use is Anthelios by La Roche Posay.
• Apply sunscreen thickly and frequently. Always apply sunscreen half an hour before you expose yourself to the sun. Reapply every two to three hours. Do so even when you are using a waterproof sunscreen. Be aware that reapplying does not increase SPF! For an average body you need about 35 ml (about 1 ¼ fl. oz.) of sunscreen.
• Take frequent breaks. The sun’s rays are strongest between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. During those hours, take breaks to cool off indoors or in the shade for a while before heading out again.
• Wear a hat with a brim and sunglasses that provide almost 100% protection against ultraviolet radiation.
• You probably know that water is a major reflector of UV radiation – but so is snow. Snow skiing and other winter activities carry significant risk of sunburn, so always apply sun block before hitting the slopes.
• Certain medications, such as antibiotics used to treat acne and birth control pills, can increase your sun sensitivity. Ask your doctor whether your medications might have this effect and what you should do.
• Avoid tanning “accelerators” or tanning pills that claim to speed up the body’s production of melanin or darken the skin. There’s no proof that they work and they aren’t approved by the government agencies for tanning purposes.
Trauma Free TansEven when you’re serious about protecting your skin, you may some
times want the glow of a tan. Luckily, many products on the market – but not sun lamps or tanning beds – will let you tan safely and sun-free.
One safe way to go bronze is with sunless self-tanners. These “tans in a bottle” contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which gradually stains the dead cells in your skin’s outer layer. The “tan” lasts until these skin cells slough off, so exfoliating or vigorously washing will make the color fade faster. Typically, these “fake tans” last about a week.
You might also check out salons that offer airbrush tanning. Airbrush tans may look more like a natural tan with more even results. With an airbrush tan, a salon technician will hook up a DHA solution to a spray compressor, and spray the tan onto you. Your eyes, lips, and nose will be covered to protect them during the process, which takes anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute. A few hours after the application, you’ll start noticing your new, safe tan.
With both self-tanners and airbrush tanning, you’ll get better results if you exfoliate your skin with a scrub brush or loofah before the tanner is applied. This evens your skin tone and removes dead skin cells. Also with both types of sunless tanning, you’ll still need to wear sunscreen when you go outdoors to protect you from the sun’s rays. Fake tans don’t generate melanin production, so they won’t protect you against sunburn. But the upside is that you get the warm glow of a tan while you keep your skin beautiful for years to come.
I made this for a work e-mail that is going out. It's kind of a rough draft, but its important information for everyone to know about. I have so many people come into to see me at work for chemical peels because they want to get rid of their brown spots. Most of them say that they wish they would have stayed out of the sun when they were younger, but the truth is we have more information now than ever. Back in the day you slathered baby oil on and then cooked yourself outside. Here is a oh so lovely picture of hype
rpigmentation (brown spots or age spots) As we get older we start seeing these spots. Age spots develop when the extra melanin becomes clumped or is produced in higher concentrations than normal. Most often, it takes years of sun exposure for these dark spots to occur-- they typically develop slowly over time.
I used to tan a lot even when I had people tell me how bad it is. One day I read a story in a magazine about a lady who had skin cancer. I don't remember what magazine it was in, I really wish I would have saved it because it was so eye opening. A lady wrote it and talked about her story, as I read on I thought oh I am so happy that she is doing good, but at the end her husband finishes it and tells how she fought, but could no longer fight it any longer. She left behind two little boys. It was so sad.
The best alternative I have found for tanning is using a self-tanner called "Fake Bake". It is awesome it has a green base so you don't get the orange look. I exfoliate my skin before I use it and then put it on before I go to bed. When I wake up I am tan. I think it looks just as good as a real tan, possibly better because it is more even. Sorry this is such a long blog, but I really want people to be informed.
www.Fda.gov
www.kidshealth.org
