All about solarium…

There are many women and men who adore the chocolate skin color, so they recur to artificial tanning methods such as solarium.

 

But what is solarium and what are the risks beneath?   

Tanning beds, known as solariums, are a method of artificial tanning with the use of special devices, in the shape of beds. Specifically, the solarium devices include lamps that emit radiation similar to the sun’s and help our skin get tanned. The customer lies down on the described device or stands still inside a specially designed room full of Ultra Violet Radiation (UVR) lamps. They turn on, emitting UVR on the body and the skin gradually tans.

Because of it’s artificial nature and the usage of such UVR devices, the method has several disadvantages, being almost dangerous to our health.

First of all, even though nowadays skin tan is considered a “must”, in reality not only it is not a sign of health, but it is a visible sign of skin damage. The skin has suffered and tries to protect itself by generating melanin. Moreover, artificial tan does not properly prepare the skin before sunbathing and does not protect it from sun exposure, as we often hear, and – of course- it is not a safe option if we want to raise our Vitamin D levels. In a sunny country like Greece, a few minutes in the Sun per day are enough to cover our needs for Vitamin D.

Recent researches  have shown that artificial tanning can be hazardous, with consequences such as sunburns, photo-toxic and photo-allergic reactions or eye damage. The most important though, is cancer. A longterm use of solarium method, may lead either to non-melanomatic, or even rare but lethal melanoma. It is estimated that people who started solarium sessions at the age of 35 are 87% more likely to develop melanoma.

Experts recommend banning solarium to people under 18 years old, people with light skin that is easily reddened, those who have lot of nevus and freckles on their skin and also people who are very sensitive to sun’s radiation from their childhood and on or have a family history of skin cancer. Also to those who take medicines such as antibiotics, antihistamines, contraceptives, for diabetes, asthma, epilepsy but also women who are pregnant, breast feeding or in puerperium. Moreover,  longterm use can damage eyesight, if protective glasses are not used correctly during the session.

So , next time you want to go for a solarium session think more about it…