Tanning for Prom? READ THIS FIRST!!

Young adults who use tanning beds increase their risk of developing skin cancer by 75%, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

I know, I know, how can this be? Tanning salons look so inviting, clean and sterile, almost like a medical spa. Salons state that the beds are a healthy dose of Vitamin D. They are not. Please don’t believe this. Tanning beds expose your skin to carcinogenic levels of radiation. You may look great now, but wait until your 35 and look 50. Wait until your Dermatologist takes an extra look at that suspicious mole or worse yet a biopsy of it or worst yet has to give you the news you have skin cancer. No one wants to get cancer.  SKIN CANCER is PREVENTABLE!

Did you know that tanning of the skin is the body’s way showing damage? Skin darkens from UV exposure because the body adds pigment in response to tissue injury. (Dr. David E. Fisher, Chairman, Harvard Medical School).

I have heard from young adults “well, if I get skin cancer, I’ll just have my dermatologist remove it”. Hmmm….okay. That process is includes scars is involved, long and painful. That is if you have Squamous and basal cell carcinomas. If diagnosed with Melanoma, the most dangerous/deadly form of Skin Cancer, your treatment plan will include scars, radiation & possibly death. In fact Melanoma rates have increased by nearly 50 percent in the last 30 years.

So if you do this…

You’ll look end up like this

So do this! & wear sunscreen…

and you’ll have younger looking skin like this! I can’t believe she’s almost 50!

Please refer to this article in Teen Vogue for more info on the dangers of tanning beds/suntanning.

Also, my apologies in advance if this article seems a little harsh, however, it pains me to see such young girls ignorant to the facts. I, as a mother, will make sure to educate my daughter (she’s only 3 now), when she gets to that age of wanting to tan. Hopefully she will make the right decision and choose THE SMART GIRL’S TAN!