[gap height=”15″]
Team IST searches for erroneous, suspect or negative reporting by the media that adversely impacts the tanning industry. Reports such as these have plagued tanning businesses for decades. Although the media sources will seldom admit a falsehood and print a retraction, IST offers these well-crafted responses to the negative reports that can be shared with your customers and potential customers, alike.
[gap height=”15″]
Perfect timing. Yep, spring is here and the anti-tanners abound with their archaic theories on moderate sun exposure. There always seems to be a preponderance of media reports that include quotes from local derms with offices located around college towns.
[gap height=”15″]
“Tanning remains popular, but at what cost?” The headline flew out at me as I perused the monthly swarm of media that surrounds our industry throughout the year, but always in full force each spring. From Clarksburg, WV, The Exponent Telegram (goo.gl/FChCEp) came forth with the usual. Using the Skin Cancer Foundation’s oft cited (and frequently misused) quote, “the first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75%”(goo.gl/Y3TQhr), Linda Carte, Vice President of Oncology and Post-Acute Care at United Hospital Center, tried similar verbiage.
[gap height=”15″]
“People who use tanning beds before the age of 35 increase their risk for melanoma up to 75 percent,” Carte said. “So, of course, everybody suggests you avoid using tanning beds to avoid developing skin cancer.” Okay, let’s break that one down. The “75% risk” statement invalidates itself when it’s logically reviewed. There are no generic tanning beds – they are designed with a wide variety of lamp types, number of lamps, total UV intensity and UVA/UVB percentage. Which bed are they referring to in their statement? Now, let’s proceed to duration. How long and how often did test subjects use indoor tanning? Let’s say one time and one session of one minute. That increased risk by 75%? Hmmm.
[gap height=”15″]
Carte also pointed out that while some people believe indoor tanning is better for the skin than outdoor tanning, “there’s no such thing as a safe tan.” Well, THERE’S a newsflash. As our industry has been aware for years, the Food and Drug Administration does not allow salon operators to make claims regarding the relative safety of indoor tanning. But as we also know, indoor tanning does in fact provide a controlled environment to obtain a cosmetic tan. Sessions are delivered by skin type and a timer and the risk of overexposure and sunburn are minimized.
[gap height=”15″]
Carte offered her thoughts on light therapy. “Light therapy, while it is certainly an effective treatment for some types, how it helps is that it comes through the eyes,” she said. “When you’re in a tanning bed, your eyes are closed. Well, if that was the case, we wouldn’t need eye protection to tan (no offense, Brenda Fishbaugh!). But as folks like Brenda have taught us for years, our eyelids do not completely block UV from our retinas. In fact, the FDA mandates that all indoor tanners use FDA compliant eyewear that blocks 99.9% UVB and 99% UVA rays.
[gap height=”15″]
Carte then tries a jab at photoprotection:“That’s a misconception, that a tan acts as protection against sunburn,” Carte said. “Considering the consequences of premature aging, wrinkling and increasing your risk for the most deadly form of skin cancer, the risks certainly outweigh the benefits.”
[gap height=”15″]
Tanning in fact, does provide a moderate level of photoprotection. A base tan provides an SPF (sun protection factor) of 3 or less, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. My cross-referencing research also brought me to David Leffell, Chief of Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology at Yale University School of Medicine. A person normally turns pink after ten minutes in the sun. An SPF 2 base tan would theoretically buy that person another ten minutes – or 20 minutes total – before he/she burns. That, Dr. Leffell said, is “completely meaningless” in terms of providing protection. I, on the other hand, know of nobody with base tan whose skin has turned pink after ten minutes of sun exposure.
[gap height=”15″]
I close with this nugget: further down in this online story, there is a paragraph break with the sentence,“Despite the dangers, tanning isn’t a trend that’s going away anytime soon.” Underneath the paragraph break was … wait for it … an ad for a local funeral home. I kid you not.
