Tanning Bed Sunburn
Tanning Bed Burns Said to be Common in Young Women
Have you ever emerged from the tanning bed with a mild to severe sunburn? Damage from ultra-violet rays, the kind in which many indoor tanning beds use, may lead to skin cancer. Articles in a recent issue of HealthDay by Mary Elizabeth Dallas and a posting on WebMD by Cari Nierenberg cite a study finding that tanning bed sunburns seem to be common in college-age women. The articles refer to a study by the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine that examined about 200 college women who used tanning beds and found that one in five came out with a sunburn. Investigators also found that about two-thirds of the women studied had experienced skin redness or sunburn from an indoor tanning bed at least once, with more than one-third reporting that these events happened three or more times. Women in the study who said they had skin that was sun-sensitive were also more likely to develop a sunburn – even with the knowledge that they were more susceptible.
Researchers found that people who were more experienced with indoor tanning had a lower sunburn risk, even for those who had the highest average number of indoor tanning sessions before the study took place. They said that may be because those who tan frequently often learn how to adjust U-V exposure to limit the possibility of sunburn.
In addition to the sunburn risk, the study’s authors found that, in 39 percent of indoor sessions, women did not wear goggles to protect them from ultra-violet radiation and eye injury.
The authors of the study recommended more safeguards to prevent the damage that can be caused by exposure; however, researchers said that people of all ages should be discouraged from indoor tanning beds. They say that young people in particular can have skin that is more prone to U-V ray damage. One of the study’s authors quoted in the HealthDay article, Jerod Stapleton, said their results showed that sunburn is a common occurrence in relation to tanning bed use, which is worrisome based on previous data suggesting that sunburns increase the risk of skin cancer.
For more information, or to schedule an appointment with our experienced dermatologist, please contact Dr. Nancy Silverberg.