Society’s image of beauty today involves many physical attributes – one being skin tone. More specifically, society tells women that tan skin is more attractive. Many young women strive to have perfect tan skin, but not always in healthy ways – the tanning bed. Although a tanning bed can give people the golden tan they desire, it can result in serious health problems later on in life.

Senior Angela Dehn states, “I have been to a tanning bed before spring break so I wouldn’t get burnt.” This is one of many ideas of why a tanning bed is okay. Many argue that the tanning bed is not that bad. Or that it is better for your skin to have a base tan before going on a vacation where you will be spending a lot of time in the sun. They also say that tanning a few times before a vacation does no harm. Many people believe these ideas, but medicine has a different story.

Through research and many studies, doctors have found that these common notions are incorrect. To start, the idea of a base tan being healthy before a vacation is false. According to the Melanoma Research Foundation, this “base tan” does not do much to protect against harmful UV rays. It provides no more than an SPF of 3.

Next the idea that “tanning beds are not that bad” and that “they are better than burning” are proved incorrect through statistics. The Melanoma Research Foundation has found that the occasional use of tanning beds triple chances of skin cancer, so tanning before a vacation is harmful. The Foundation also found that chances of skin cancer double if someone gets a sunburn about every two years. Although neither of these statistics or outcomes are good, it is clear which is worse: a tanning bed.

It is easy to throw out stat after stat about the dangers of tanning beds, such as the chances of getting melanoma later in life increases by 75% after just one trip to the tanning bed before age 35. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, there are 419,254 cases of skin cancer in the US due to tanning beds. Another very important piece to talk about is personal stories about skin cancer. Many people have been devastated by the loss of a loved one to skin cancer. Senior Rachel Kullas shares, “My grandma, grandpa, and some of my mom’s cousins have all had cancerous spots removed.”
Although always wearing sunscreen and never going in a tanning bed reduce chances at skin cancer, unfortunately, people are still affected by it. Yes going in a tanning bed does not guarantee cancer, but it is better safe than sorry when it comes to skin cancer.