How to Use Tanning Beds Safely
Tanning beds have come under the scrutiny of the FDA and World Health Organization cancer division in recent years, and increased FDA regulation may soon result.
The newest regulations are directed at persons under sixteen who want beautiful skin and who may not realize the risks involved. Any skin damage done at an early age often affects health later in life in the form of skin cancer.
Use tanning beds safely at any age by following some common-sense recommendations.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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1
Read the warning labels on tanning beds.
Locate warnings on the tanning beds and the dangers of ultraviolet radiation. They are very small and not easy to read. Make sure you find the warnings and read them carefully. It is anticipated that warning labels will be enlarged and increased under stricter tanning bed regulations, but until this happens, it is important to read the fine print in order to use tanning beds safely.
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2
Regulate your use of tanning beds.
Use a tanning bed once a week if you are in a beauty or glamor industry and feel you must. Studies have shown that once a week provides visually the same tan as three times a week. Use tanning beds safely by restricting use to once a week.
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3
Know the risks before you use tanning beds.
Review the risks for melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. Fair skinned beauties who do not tan easily are at high risk for skin cancer, but others who tan easily are also at some risk. Over a million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every year. Understand the risks to encourage using a tanning bed safely.
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4
Do not substitute sunshine for tanning beds.
Control your urge to get additional ultraviolet rays by supplementing your once-a-week tanning bed experience with roasting in the sun. Use early morning and late afternoon for any time in the sun, and take care of your health as well as your beautiful skin.
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Do not become a prune.
Review the long-term risks of spending time in tanning salons, and take a look at some of the older people you know who have been exposed to tanning beds and sun. Look at the texture of the skin, and see the surface wrinkles, the leathery look, the "old age" freckles, and resolve to not look like that. Be good to yourself and your skin, and retain the beauty as long as possible by not tanning in the hot sun or using tanning beds often. Spend less time at the tanning salon and in the hot sun, read the warnings, know the risks, and use tanning beds safely.
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Tips & Warnings
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copyright 2010 Linda Richard
