It has been determined that the UV rays emitted in a tanning bed is two to three times more powerful than the UV rays that you can get from the sun. However, this does not necessarily mean that tanning bed use is bad for every person. Skin cancer is the number one disease caused from UV rays and most people that tan just expect there skin to go through changes such as becoming pink, red, or even blistered.

This is a false myth. Your skin does not have to go through these severe changes in order to get a deep dark tan. It may take a bit longer to achieve your goal, but you will be protecting yourself from diseases that are brought on by UV rays. The idea is to only tan for a short period of time, you can regularly tan even every day as long as you do not receive burns or your skin turns pink.

When a person receives too much UV exposure it can lead to all kinds of damage, not only to the skin but also can lead to eye damage, cataracts, immune system changes, wrinkles and yes, premature aging of the skin and skin cancer.

You can look at your own skin right now to see what exposure to UV rays does to your skin. Look at the areas that are exposed more to the sun, such as your hands and face. Now, compare your skin’s texture, wrinkles, and tone to areas of your skin that are never exposed to the sun. Do you notice more wrinkles and even a very different texture? This is what UV rays do to your skin. So, imagine what tanning does to your skin.

The bad news is that around 90 percent of all skin cancers are traced back to exposure to UV rays. The majority of the time skin cancer occurs on the face and practically never under the arms, the inner thighs, or on the buttocks. There are three main types of skin cancers, which are basal-cell carcinoma, squamous-cell, and melanoma. Out of these three, malignant melanoma is the most deadly form. This type of cancer is increasing at a dangerously fast rate in women under the age of 40.

The risk of tanning bed use of course can result in skin cancer. Anyone is susceptible; however, there are a few people that are more at risk than others are. Individuals that have fair skin; blonde, red, or light brown hair; blue, gray or green eyes; those that burn easy; people who do not tan easily even though they are outdoors quite a bit, people who burn prior to tanning, and people who have been treated for skin cancer in the past or have a history of skin cancer in their family are more at risk to developing skin cancer.