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Get the Facts – Top 5 Reasons to Take a Stand and Not Tan!

  1. There’s no such thing as a “safe” or “healthy” tan.  Don’t get conned by tanning salons’ talk about vitamin D and a “healthy glow.”  You can get all the vitamin D you need from a healthy diet or vitamin supplement (that won’t give you cancer).  The truth is you receive 4-7 times the amount of UV radiation needed for vitamin D production in one 20-minute tanning session. Tanning to get vitamin D is like smoking cigarettes to relax! 
  2. Tanning can make you look old!  Every time you tan, you speed up your body’s wrinkling process, so people will think you’re a “cougar” when you’re out with your guy, instead of his hip, hot girlfriend.Who wants to look leathery and shriveled when you’re young and gorgeous?!
  3. Tanning and melanoma – joined at the hip!  Hey, the tanning industry is trying to make money, so OF COURSE, they’re going to say that there’s no link between tanning and melanoma.  But the researchers and doctors, who don’t stand to make any money off your fake bake, give us some sobering facts:  Just one blistering sunburn can double your chances of developing melanoma later in life.  Using tanning beds before age 35 increases your risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent and occasionally using tanning beds can triple your chances. Does that sound like a “healthy” tan to you?
  4. Skin cancer doesn’t wait for you to get old to strike.  Melanoma is the second most common type of cancer in teens and young adults and the most common type of cancer for young adults.  As a matter of fact, melanoma is the leading cause of cancer death in women 25 to 30 years old and the second leading cause of cancer death in women 30 to 35 years old. Increasing cancer rates is NOT the trend you want to keep up with. 
  5. Skin Cancer – Not just for blondes and redheads!  You might think you’re not at risk for getting cancer from tanning because your hair is brown or your skin is dark.  Whatever!  Melanoma doesn’t discriminate – it strikes men and women of all ages, races and skin types.  Having darker skin tones lowers, but does not eliminate, your risk of melanoma.  Anyone can develop this cancer on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and under their nails.  In fact, reggae musician Bob Marley died in 1981 of melanoma at the age of 36.

Everyone needs to stay clued in to the signs of melanoma.  Regardless of your skin color, you have an increased chance of developing melanoma if you’ve got a lot of moles (more than 50).