Sunbeds

sweetilemon

Now I know sunbeds give a higher risk of skin cancer but just wondering how many people are using them and for how long how often? Is it purely tanning or other? I started going before my wedding to kickstart a tan but realised after having one it really lifted my mood, it warms your body right through and has helped my psorisis. I dont want to get skin cancer so wont go often but maybe 6mins (lowest amount in my local salon) every few weeks.

clairibel

I used to use sunbeds in my early twenties before all the info about skin cancer was well documented. The only concern we had was that they gave you wrinkles.

I only used to use them for my skin as i had spots and it helped them a bit but if i had colour it masked the redness, i would have tried anything at the time as they used to get me really down.

That was over 10 years ago and I would never use one now, I don't even really go in the sun but thats not a vanity thing I just don't like the heat. I'm pale and interesting now or maybe just pale.

I even once got sunstroke off a sunbed :eek: I dread to think the damage i may have done going on them but like i said i was desperate at the time

WolfSong2000

I'm another one who would suggest avoiding sunbeds...there has to be another way to get the "fix" you're after, surely? Everyone assumes that skin cancer will never happen to them, that they'll be careful, etc, but my mother has recurrent skin cancer (malignant melanoma) and I, despite staying out of the sun and never using a sun bed had a skin cancer scare when I was only 18 (specialist gave me the all-clear eventually - bigget relief of my life).

Seriously, no "feel good factor" is worth the possibility of heightening your risk of contracting this awful disease. Try something else, like a sauna, perhaps?

RachRubyD

You say it kicks starts your mood etc, thats bit of a concern. Tanning is very addictive. I have used them before for when I have a special event happening and like you I enjoyed being tanned and so wanted to look tanned and great everyday not just for special occasions.

However I stopped immediately a few months ago after I had a nasty turn after being on one. The sunbed had been used by someone else before me and so still very hot. When I came off I felt really ill and very dizzy. Must of been sunstroke like someone posted before. It was terrifying I couldn't see anything and nearly collapsed in the street. Ended up having my very first and only panic attack because I thought this isn't normal.

6 minutes barely tans you anyway and especially not if you just go every few weeks. You would have to go a couple times of week to keep ontop of the tan and thats extremely dangerous. And pushing the time up to 8 or whatever can mean you might burn and this increases chance of skincancer a great deal.

Stick to the fake tan I know its a pain and doesn't look as good but your skin will thank you for it. Even if you don't develop skincancer you will almost surely get sunspots/agespots and bad skin when your older.
There is plently of fake tan threads on here to tell you what people think are the best for different types of budgets.

MrsE_2

I like to have a few before a holiday, to give myself a head start.

Thinking of try this in November - before my Nov hol.

http://www.ergoline-sunangel.com/

j.e.j.

They were really popular back in the 80s and 90s but I don't know of anyone who uses a sunbed now. I think most people prefer fake tan.

(Mind you, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but I'm not convinced the chemicals in fake tan are all that good for you either!)

OP it sounds from your post that a short spell on the sunbed actually helps a medical condition, so it might be worth running it past your GP next time you go?

mazza111

They do help psoriasis. Just be careful not to overdo it. When my daughter gets her treatment from the local hospital, they start at something silly like 30s at a time and build it up slowly.

Gloomendoom

mazza111 wrote: »

They do help psoriasis. Just be careful not to overdo it. When my daughter gets her treatment from the local hospital, they start at something silly like 30s at a time and build it up slowly.

They most certainly do. A friend of mine who suffered terribly from psoriasis used to go to the local hospital every week for a sunbed session.

The sunbeds at the hospital are usually extremely high powered compared to commercial or home sunbeds. There was a story in the news a few years ago about a burglar who broke into a hospital and while he was there treated himself to 15 minutes in the sunbed. He ended up with third degree burns.

A burglar who decided to try for a quick tan after breaking into a hospital nearly roasted to death on a sunbed, a court heard Tuesday. Owen Crowther, 18, suffered third degree burns on 90 percent of his body after just 15 seconds on the sunbed in Salisbury District Hospital. After being treated at another local hospital, Crowther admitted the burglary.

I think the story actually should read minutes, not seconds.

Saturnalia

I used to have half-an-hour once a fortnight on a low-power sunbed. It didn't tan me as I am Celtic with four red-head grandparents and my skin does not make pigment, but it made me feel much better as I lived in a gloomy northern city and I suffer from SAD. The half-hour of UV seemed to make the world of difference to my mental & physical state.

Now I have a lightbox and that works as well, but I also have psoriasis now and I wonder if UV light would help (as the plaques are literally where the sun don't shine so I can't go and lie in the park)!!!

MrsE_2

Saturnalia wrote: »

I used to have half-an-hour once a fortnight on a low-power sunbed. It didn't tan me as I am Celtic with four red-head grandparents and my skin does not make pigment, but it made me feel much better as I lived in a gloomy northern city and I suffer from SAD. The half-hour of UV seemed to make the world of difference to my mental & physical state.

Now I have a lightbox and that works as well, but I also have psoriasis now and I wonder if UV light would help (as the plaques are literally where the sun don't shine so I can't go and lie in the park)!!!

My dd also has psoriasis & she too has the Sunbed type of treatment at a hospital.

mazza111

my dd does too and is on the waiting list to start it again. But now with her disabilities, I'm wondering if it might be better taking her to a lay down one iykwim. But as she's so fair skinned, we might be better waiting