Fake baking is the new fashion faux pas. It's time to break up with the tanning bed, for good.
With more than five local tanning salons to tempt tanners in Oxford, it's hard to say no to a bronze glow.
Ali Arnett, a Miami University sophomore, said she used to tan one to three times a week until she recently discovered a strong history of skin cancer in her family.
Despite the risks, Arnett explained why she feels being tan looks good.
"'I'm blonde and I have a tendency to get really pale," Arnett said. "When a person is tan they have a glow about them and stand out more. Clothes look better on you when you are tan."
Carcinogens cause cancer
But sun abusers must beware.
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has come out with research that tanning bed users before the age of 30 have a 75 percent increase in risk for melanoma. UV tanning beds have been named carcinogenic to humans and placed in the highest cancer risk category.
Junior Melissa Stout works at A Place to Tan and said she used to tan at least three times a week until she read the study.
"The urge to go tanning and be tan is gone now," Stout said.
According to Dr. Jennifer Ridge, a dermatologist in Middletown, a carcinogen is something capable of causing cancer, for example, the UV bulbs in a tanning bed or the sun. Ridge said students should care about the new research.
"(Students) are young and think nothing is going to happen to them," Ridge said. "The No. 1 thing I hear from women is that they deal with a lot of regret. It catches up to them."
Stout said the study is opening eyes but thinks there will still be a high percent of people who won't pay attention and will keep tanning.
"Just because the study is out, it doesn't really change people's opinions on what they think about how they look when they are tan," Stout said.
Who fake and bakes
Tammy Wagner, owner of Attitudes Uptown, said she has seen that people do not abuse tanning as much as in the '90s. Wagner said she thinks people do pay attention but at the same time if there are a lot of gray days in the winter, people get pasty and want some color to feel better about themselves. Wagner said she hasn't seen much of a change in business besides people going less often.
"I don't know if it's just at Miami, but I think that among teenagers there is a pressure to be tan," Arnett said. "I think that television, magazines, etc. portray the idea that being tan is prettier than being pale."
Stout said in general, she thinks people associate being tan with being more attractive.
Stout said she has not seen any difference in customers coming to tan. She said she has registered a significant amount of new clients with all the great deals out right now.
Wagner's advice for tanners is to, "take it slow and don't abuse it."
"I think some people will continue to tan because when you're young you don't think anything will happen to you," Arnett said. "Then there are people like me who have realized that the risks outweigh the benefits."
The effects
The risks to tanning, according to Ridge, are weathered skin that becomes more susceptible to tearing and trauma, slow healing skin, faster aging skin and skin cancer.
Ridge said an average person with brown hair and medium skin tone should use an SPF of 30 to 40 and use common sense when out in the sun. Ridge recommended bringing an umbrella to outdoor events or wearing a hat.
"The main reason why I stopped tanning (was) just because I read the study," Stout said. "It is a very real thing, so I needed to do something or else I would get it."
Ridge said people think a tan makes them feel thin but it's not worth the short-term effects.
"They are always regretful, but it's too late," Ridge said. "All day long I am removing cancer and most of my patients can tell me exactly how they got it. Whether they were in the South Pacific or tanning bed abusers."
Getting your fix
Ridge said the tanning industry works hard to get customers by telling them they have a vitamin D deficiency. It may be possible for some, but not likely.
Ridge said it is rare to see a vitamin D deficiency in Caucasians. It is normally seen in African-Americans who can afford to get more sun exposure. Ridge said it's not beneficial to risk skin cancer to get vitamin D because there are better ways to stock up on the vitamin.
Wagner said it is required in every tanning room to post the risk factors.
"Most people are now concerned with not being burnt," Wagner said. "That is definitely a change. People used to never care if they got burnt."
Ridge said there are no benefits to being in the sun besides the metabolism of vitamin D, but even then the benefit is very small. Ridge said a lot of times being out of the sun is unavoidable, but the best way to handle it is to use lotion and get as little exposure as possible.
