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Now is as good a time as any to decide how much your tan really means to you. No longer can you ignore the ever increasing evidence that sunbathing can lead to skin cancer. The ultraviolet light from the sun's rays damages your skin. It can lead to premature wrinkling, skin cancer and other troublesome skin disorders. A tan, something people not only spend hours outside trying to achieve but would pay for tanning time at salons, is actually the body's way of protecting itself from the sun by creating a coating of darker skin. Those who burn do not have this natural protection. For any of you who feel that tanning salons are safer, don't buy into it. They use the identical ultraviolet light harnessed into their tanning booths or tanning beds. Although there are two types of ultraviolet light, UVA and UVB, don't believe the advertising that claims only harmless UVA light is used. UVA is just as harmful to the health of your skin; it just takes longer to do the same damage. An average session at a tanning salon of fifteen to thirty minutes is equivalent to spending the entire day lying in the sun. Those who are fairest skinned, with blond or especially red hair, with light colored eyes, blue or grey, are most likely to develop skin problems and possibly skin cancer than those who are less pale, darker haired and have darker eye color. It's true that natural hair color seems to be a big factor in potential skin cancer probability. Woman with red hair are four times as likely to develop skin cancer and blonds have two times the risk as their darker haired counterparts. Research has found that women who use tanning salons as little as once a month still have a 55 percent chance of developing skin cancer as compared to women who have never used artificial means to tan. More surprising was the report that if you used these artificial means when younger, in your teens and twenties, the chances of developing skin cancer increased to 150 percent. What about guys? We know that many women tan because they feel it makes them look more attractive to their boyfriends or husbands. Do men inflict the same foolishness to their skin? Generally, they don't. Much fewer men use artificial means to tan. But, the case of skin cancer among men is on the rise having increased by more than 12 percent in the last six years. This is likely due to the activities that men play outside where they are either shirtless or wearing little more than a tank top. Research illustrates that 80 percent of diagnosed skin cancers cases in men can be traced to the amount of sun contact. To help reduce your risk of skin cancer, simply follow some easy steps to protecting your precious skin. Always use a sunscreen when outside for extended periods of time. Be sure it has a rating of no lower then SPF 15, though higher is better.
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