With the days slowly getting longer and the temperature beginning to creep higher on the thermometer (finally!), most of us are looking forward to the warm summer months of lounging by the pool, lazily warming ourselves like lizards on a rock as the stress of school melts away. Add refreshing drinks with little umbrellas and a brightly colored towel and call it heaven. After a hard school year, we've earned it.
What isn't at the forefront of our consciousness is our skin. We picture the perfect summer glow and might consider hitting up a tanning salon before a big vacation to get a "base tan," with little consideration for the damage we are inflicting on our body's biggest organ and first line of defense. Sorry to disappoint all you sun worshippers scheduling your first big visit to your favorite salon, but there is no such entity as a healthy base tan. According to dermatologists, any tan is an unhealthy tan, even if you're looking like Wednesday Addams these days and see a little color on your near-translucent skin as a way to boost you from sickly to just pale.
Tanning works because the ultraviolet light from the sun or tanning bed causes melanocytes in the bottom-most layer of the epidermis to release the skin-darkening pigment melanin. Melanin then protects the skin from further skin damage caused by UV radiation. (Sorry, it's still not a healthy base tan; the damage has been done, and your skin is trying to prevent further damage.) There are two types of UV light: UVA and UVB. While tanning salons would like to convince you that they use only the "safe" kind, rest assured that both types are damaging to your skin. UVA seems to be more responsible for melanoma, along with other skin cancers, and is blocked less by sunscreen (but is blocked by clothing), while UVB seems more linked to sunburns and only non-melanoma skin cancers, and is blocked by sunscreens. UVB is also responsible for the creation of Vitamin D within the skin. Again, this is not a loophole. While sun exposure is beneficial for many reasons, including the production of Vitamin D within the skin, you only need about 10 to 15 minutes of sun twice a week to produce adequate levels. Thus, spending hours laying out by the pool showing off your new swimsuit does not benefit your health by increasing your Vitamin D.
Excess sun and UV exposure mainly age your skin prematurely. This gives rise to wrinkles and is responsible for those people whose skin looks like worn leather. It also increases your chances of developing skin cancer. The rise in popularity of sunbathing and tanning salons has led to a rise in skin cancers of various types -- the scariest of which is melanoma, because it can invade below the skin and spread to other parts of the body. While skin cancers can be removed without leaving much more than a scar if they're caught early enough, they are sometimes missed and can have very serious consequences if not treated. Yes, skin cancer can kill you.
The cold, hard fact is that the only kind of tan that doesn't involve inflicting damage to your skin is the kind that comes from a bottle. The bad news is that dyeing your skin does not magically protect you from sun damage, because there is no increased melanin to prevent UV overexposure -- much like dyeing your hair blonde does not make you a blonde -- so you still need sunscreen and protective clothing. The good news is that new products are looking more natural and less orange and are easy to apply. Even tanning salons offer spray-on tans that provide all the color and none of the damage.
I would also urge everyone to remember that tanning wasn't always in vogue. In fact, lighter skin used to be a sign of higher social status because it meant you weren't working outside, so people would intentionally try to lighten their skin (also a current craze in some Asian markets) and remove freckles with treatments such as lemon juice and lead-based cosmetics. So don't look at your pale skin in dismay -- view it as a reminder that you're protecting yourself from harmful radiation and keeping yourself healthy. Your skin will thank you when you're 40 and you don't look like an old snakeskin-leather purse.
To paraphrase the lyrics from that ubiquitous 1999 Baz Luhrmann spoken-word remix of a Chicago Tribune article, "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)," wear sunscreen when you're outdoors. Make sure it's at least SPF 15 and also wear protective clothing, a large floppy hat, some cool sunglasses and a nice shady umbrella. But if nothing else, wear sunscreen.
Katie is a University Medical student. She can be reached at kmcbeth@cavalierdaily.com.
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