Tanning - Just Say No

You've heard that tanning is bad for you, but do you do it anyway?  Do you think a tan looks healthy?  It may look good in the early stages, but a tan is still UV damage to your skin and eventually will cause pre-mature aging and could lead to DNA changes that cause skin cancer. 

When UV rays enter your skin, it triggers melanin production to protect your skin from the damaging rays.  The melanin is what produces the tan you see.  But while this is happening, the UV rays are still damaging the cells which can lead to permanant changes in your skin. 

UV damage causes:

• Brown spots
• Wrinkles

Alot of the damage we do to your skin doesn't show up on the surface for years after we've done the damage.  There are 'skin scanners' that can show you the damage  below your skin.  If no action is taken, this damage will surface as brown spots years later. 

 

How can you stop this?  There are a few things you can do:

• Wear sunscreen EVERY day.  SPF 30.  This will stop continued damage. 
• If you tan in a tanning bed, stop immediately.  It may take time for you to get used to being 'pale' but remember, pale is healthy.  Tan is not. 
• Use of a Vitamin C serum can slow the damage  below the surface from reaching the surface.  The combination of Vitamin C and SPF can significantly reduce brown spots on the surface of your skin for years to come.
• Use of a Retinol cream can increase collagen production (which UV rays break down) to plump wrinkles.  SPF is mandatory if you use Retinol, as it  can be a photo-senstivitity agent. 
• Regular exfoliation can help remove surface damage so skin appears more youthful, even-toned and smoother. 

Please remember, none of the above will do any good if you continue to 'lay out' in the sun, or tan in a tanning bed.  There is no such thing as a healthy tan (unless it's from a self tanner/spray tan).  I have a Tshirt I love that says..."Pasty by Choice...Pale is beautiful".  Love the skin color you were born with, and you will be rewarded by looking younger your whole life.