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Effects of Tanning Beds

vincewrites | Aug 6, 2010 |

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What is the answer to the urgent need to get that bronzed body in a jiffy? The tanning salon! These days, girls who need to get tanned but don't have the hours to spend under the sun frequent tanning salons for a quick fix on the tanning bed. But do we really know all the effects of tanning beds? Let's take a quick look at the history of tanning beds.

The first tanning lamp was made in 1906 in Germany and was designed to treat rickets and other illnesses resulting from lack of calcium in the body. A decade later, Friedrich Wolff, built on the concept of the tanning bed and used this to study athletes and the effects of their intensive exposure to sunlight. The study led to the discovery that one can get a tan from lying on a tanning bed indoors. This is the birth of the indoor tanning industry.

The initial machines had a lot of problems. They emitted intense levels of UVB rays, which speeded up the production of melanin, which is responsible for the skin's dark pigmentation. The first machines had no capability to control the amount rays being emitted. As a result, many of those who used them quickly developed skin disorders such as skin cancer.

This led scientists to rework the tanning beds and address these concerns. Today, there are safer beds that are able to minimize ultraviolet emission, thereby also minimizing the harmful effects of tanning beds. Some beds specifically use long-wave rays or UVA instead of short-wave rays or UVB.

What is the difference between the two? UVB rays have been proven to cause skin disorders such as cancer. They reach only the superficial levels of the skin, unlike UVA, which penetrates the innermost layers of the skin. As such, in terms of penetration, UVA could cause an even greater and more permanent damage than UVB.

At the end of the day, it is your decision whether or not the effects of tanning beds are worth that bronzed body that you can flaunt. Remember, however, that long-term exposures to ultraviolet rays have been proven to have diverse health effects.