Several medical studies have proved that tanning is beneficial to the human body. The major benefit is the strengthening of the bones. That is, the absorbed ultraviolet radiation activates substances in the skin the much needed vitamin D, and vitamin D is important in making the bones tough.

There is, however, another documented benefit of tanning. Tanning helps the skin protect itself from further exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This was reported in the September 1999 issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. The report was authored by Dr. Barbare A. Gilchrest and Dr. Mark S. Eller. Both worked at the Department of Dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine.

The journal report stated five important points:

1. The UV radiation produces the protective melanin pigments.

Why are melanin pigments considered protective? The melanin in the skin helps the body expel excess energy from further ultraviolet exposure. The excess energy can cause harm but, with the aid of melanin, this is removed from the body in the form of heat. The melanin can also deactivate the free radicals, which are infamous for their destructive action on the body.

2. Tanned skin prevents UVR injury.

Related to above findings, the authors reported that a tanned skin is less prone to blisters and sunburn. Blisters and sunburns are UVR damages that a skin sustains when the skin can no longer tolerate the UV it receives. A tanned skin has a higher tolerance of UV rays. Thus, having a tanned skin is similar to wearing a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor of 3-5.

3. Tanning provides photo-protection.

When a person undergoes the tanning process, the stratum corneum layer of his skin is considerably thickened. With this thicker layer, the skin becomes less sensitive to the ultraviolet radiation. Such is called photo-protection. A person with pale white skin may not attain the dark olive color that he desires but his stratum corneum has achieved a certain thickness that gives him photo-protection.

4. Tanning elevates the skin’s repair capacity.

One of the greatest fears of people when they face tanning is the disease called skin cancer. But skin cancer only happens when a person abuses the tanning process. That is, he stays in the tanning bed longer than what is recommended by the manufacturer or the tanning salon professional. Skin cancer happens when too many damaged and abnormal cells are produced. With gradual and responsible tanning, the skin’s capacity to repair itself is actually enhanced. When the skin repairs itself, it gets rid off abnormal cells and fixes damage cells.

5. Both natural tan and acquired tan gives the same skin protection.

All the above-described protection obtained from a tanned skin is not limited to a natural tan. An acquired tanned skin can also provide the same protection.

Pressure points

The indoor tanning lotions promote blood circulation to the skin, which helps in carrying more melanin to the epidermis, thereby increasing skin tan. When you lie in a tanning bed, your body position entails some areas being in constant contact with the bed and subject to more pressure than other areas. This pressure due to body weight reduces the flow of blood in those regions. Melanin action

On the account of a genetic disorder, Idiopathic Guttate Hypomelanosis, the epidermal layer partially fails to produce melanin. Therefore, there are some patches or spots on the skin, which are affected so. Artificial tanning procedures also fail to stimulate pigmentation in these areas and they begin to appear white more prominently due to the increased tan of the neighboring area. So far, no cure could be found for this syndrome. Fungus

Sometimes an innocuous fungal growth, due to heat, humidity, and resultant sweating also becomes a factor in creating white spots from tanning. The simple explanation is that such fungal growth prevents light from entering the affected area and minimizes or prevents pigmentation.

Prescription drugs

Some medicines, such as antibiotics (especially tetracycline), hormone replacement drugs (especially birth control pills), and certain strong prescription drugs can adversely affect, a condition called the photo sensitivity of skin. This leads to uneven pigmentation, freckled appearance, and white spots from tanning.

Except for some kinds of genetic disorder, the problem of developing white spots from tanning can successfully be addressed. You can consider the following options, depending upon the cause of such reaction:

Medical help

Do not shy away from medical help or ignore white spots from tanning as trivial. For a correct diagnosis, a thorough medical checkup is necessary, as the white spots can well be the indications of other more complex problems, or the tanning side effects of serious nature.

Changing position

It is advisable to change body posture occasionally, when you lie in a tanning bed. Try to expose the different sides of the body during one tanning session. Use of a sunless tanning spray can also help in this situation, as it does not require a tanning bed and eliminates the possibility of uneven pressure.

Treatment for fungus

The regular, non-infectious type of fungus, usually, has various remedies, such as herbal extracts, ointments, therapeutic toiletries, and oral medication.

Precaution

If you are prescribed some medication and are regular on skin tanning, do let your doctor know about it and understand any possible interference of the drugs.

Copyright (c) 2009 Rod Hoss

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Everyone knows that redhead sunburn easier. But do they get skin cancer easier? New research indicates that the pigment in their skin may instigate cancer even if they don’t suffer from sunburns. As you may have heard, getting sunburns in childhood is a risk factor for skin cancer, even later in life.

Who is prone to sunburn? Of course if you have light colored eyes, hair and skin, you are at higher risk. This combination is frequent among redheads. Redheads have a different type of melanin than people with dark hair. Blondes even carry some of the same pigments as redheads.

Duke University said that the melanin in redheads is more vulnerable to damage from the sun’s UV rays. Redheads, under exposure to the sun, developed a reaction of oxidative stress. This is where damage to DNA and cells may occur and over time, form cancer. Research used UVA and UVB rays for testing. UVA can cause damage without burning.

Sunscreens protect against UVB, but its not been shown to help against UVA. Sure, some protection is there, but the FDA will need to set guidelines for consumers. It all boils down to this: wear sunscreen and put it on your kids.

Here’s what you do:

Apply plenty of sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher and reapply every 2 hours or as indicated on the bottle.

Reapply after swimming, sweating, even drying with a towel.

Apply even during cloudy days.

Avoid the sun in the middle of the day. 10 and 4 is indoor time.

Wear a hat, clothing and sunglasses.

Take care of the kids. Overexposure early in life may lead to skin cancers later in life.

Even so, the FDA has a warning label:

“Warning -This product does not contain a sunscreen and does not protect against sunburn. Repeated exposure of unprotected skin while tanning may increase the risk of skin aging, skin cancer, and other harmful effects to the skin even if you do not burn.”

Sunless tanning, also known as indoor tanning, is becoming much popular these days. As the term implies, sunless tanning is the process of attaining a suntan by sunless means. The main reason behind the popularity of sunless tanning is that there are several people who live in a place where constant sunshine is not available and most of the people cannot afford such a vacation every month to top up their tans. Another reason why people are more attracted with sunless tanning is that the regular and constant exposure to the sun rays increases the chances of contracting skin cancer. Sunless tanning offers several harmless and easy ways for people to achieve the desired result.

Sunless tanning can take the form of tanning lotions, tanning sprays, tanning beds, and tanning pills. The results and efficiency of these methods differs from one another. Let us look on the four main sunless tanning methods:

Sunless Tanning Lotion

Majority of the sunless tanning lotions come with the bronzing ingredient dihydroxyacetone (DHA). DHA is a colorless sugar which can interact with dead skin cells resulting in a color change to that skin. Generally this change in color lasts for five to seven days from the initial application. Using sunless tanning lotions is a well liked method for sunless tanning. However, the only drawback is that, getting an even tan is very difficult.

Spray Tanning

Spray tanning is also the same as tanning lotion; the only difference is that tanning solution used here is a spray. Spray tanning can be done manually by a spray gun. If you wish to use it automatically then you can go for a tanning booth. A recent development in spray tanning is the colorless tanning solution. The solution does not have bronzer and affords a less streaky, more even tan.

Tanning Beds

Tanning beds, also known as sunbeds, feature fluorescent tubesto tan the applicants’ skin by emitting UV (Ultraviolet) Rays. Though, tanning beds are considered as an efficient sunless tanning method, continuous use of this method can cause skin cancer and skin aging.

Tanning Pills

Tanning pills usually comes in three varieties – pills which contain caretenoid pigments, pills which contain tyrosine, and pills with no active ingredients. Tanning pills which contain caretenoid pigments when consumed internally saturates the fat layers just below the skin, which results in the change in skin color. The other two varieties of tanning pills are not proven to have any desired effect on the color of the skin.

The cost of sunless tanning methods differs from just a few bucks to $100 or even more for one or more visit in a tanning salon. However, with sunless tanning you can easily achieve that beautiful bronzed look without damaging your skin.