Commercial Tanning Beds – Pros & Cons

Man has always been obsessed with technology and inventions. Commercial tanning beds are one such invention that facilitates tanning in an indoor setting. Tanning beds carry ultraviolet ray (both A and B) sources, which creates an effect of sun tanning for the person who is lying on the bed. In other words, tanning beds provides a way for sunless tanning. But as in any man made things, it has its pros and cons. So the million dollar question is whether tanning beds a boon or a bane? In the following paragraphs, we’ll list few of its advantages and disadvantages before drawing the final conclusion.

The advantage of sun tanning is that it produces melanin – the pigment that protects the skin from UV rays – and the exposure stimulates the production of Vitamin D. In fact, this is the reason why we have so much of sun bathing going on in the beaches and this is also the logic that is projected by the tanning bed manufacturers to market their indoor tanning products. But the one aspect people tend to forget or ignore is that in order to receive enough Vitamin D, one only has to expose his/her body or a part of the body for a few minutes to the sunlight. In other words, in order to tap the health benefits of tanning, there is no real need to lie under the sun for hours or spent minutes cuddled inside an indoor tanning bed. Instead, the normal exposure to the sun’s rays in our daily lives will serve the purpose. 

As mentioned earlier, tanning beds effects tanning by producing UVA and UVB rays artificially, in the same composition as in the sunlight but from close quarters. But over exposure to these rays can raise serious health issues. In fact, this is the disadvantage of tanning beds, sometimes to the extent of outweighing its advantages. Scientific studies have confirmed that both rays affect the skin in a genetic level and are the primary cause for skin cancer including the deadly melanoma. Long term exposure also causes other skin damages such as wrinkles, age spots and change in texture and thickness, caused by the drying out of skin and weakening of connective tissues. Also, it has been found out that a person lying in a tanning bed is likely to stand radiation levels to the eye as much as 100 times than in the outside sunlight.  

So, comparing both sides, the pros and cons, it can be concluded that tanning beds have more disadvantages than advantages. Therefore, it is better to avoid it in the first place, and if you are itching for some summer glow, go for some tanning products such as a bottle of skin tanner. After all, that does not spoil your skin and hence your health.