Tanning Salon's (Seattle, Starbuck: salons, neighborhood, school)

[41Willys]

Hey are tanning salon's big in Seattle? Ive never been to one but would imagine they would be quite popular there especially in the winters.

Sorry for the noob question but, do they give off vit. D ?

[wythors]

I don't know about the vitamin D thing, but there seems to be almost as many tanning salons as there are Starbucks in my neighborhood. The only time I ever use them is if we're getting ready to go to Hawaii or something along those lines.

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by wythors

I don't know about the vitamin D thing, but there seems to be almost as many tanning salons as there are Starbucks in my neighborhood. The only time I ever use them is if we're getting ready to go to Hawaii or something along those lines.

Ah yes, the "pre-tan", good move!!

[CityGirl72]

Well I can't say people use them as much as when I lived in Calif, but there are quite a few of them up here. And they are more expensive the Calif!

My husband always says "Go to the tanning salon" when I start getting depressed and cold during the winter. SO I go for the "boost"

[AzDreamer]

Vitamin D is something your skin produces when the right kind of light hits it. Tanning booths do not "give off" vitamin D any more than the sun does.

If you are looking for viatmin D it's pretty cheap and safe to take the pills. Tanning booths are not known to be safe.

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

Vitamin D is something your skin produces when the right kind of light hits it. Tanning booths do not "give off" vitamin D any more than the sun does.

If you are looking for viatmin D it's pretty cheap and safe to take the pills. Tanning booths are not known to be safe.

Bleh, propaganda.

Tanning booths are safe. There are lots of misconceptions when it comes to tanning, whether it be indoors or outdoors.

Your skin produces vitamin D when it absorbs ultraviolet light (specifically, UVB). In the summer months, it's very easy to get an adequate amount of UVB to stimulate vitamin D production. During winter months, sun light is not intense enough to stimulate vitamin D production unless you're at least in the southern US. Tanning booths are superior to sunlight under those conditions.

Most Americans are vitamin D deficient due to the "sun scare" in recent years. The problem with this is that people who are vitamin D deficient also have a higher risk of cancer. In fact, the cancer risk from vitamin D deficiency is greater than the risk of skin cancer from moderate sun exposure. So it turns out that the FDA warnings to avoid the sun were in error. It makes sense, since Europeans evolved light skin in order to better produce vitamin D in the higher latitudes of Europe. The darker your skin, the more likely you are to be vitamin D deficient, which coincides with higher rates of deficiency (and cancer) among African-Americans.

[41Willys]

So they "ARE" good for you, in a way! Good news Seattle!

[argo69]

Vitamin D is actually the only supplement that I take since milk, eggs and cold water fish are just about the only dietary sources of it and even they don't contain huge amounts. I have read that if you live anywhere north of San Francisco on the west coast that the sunlight isn't strong enough to produce Vitamin D for about half the year. There has also been speculation that the low rate of Vitamin D is why the rate of MS among women up here is so abnormally high compared to the rest of the country.

As for tanning salons, I believe the rays are pretty much the same as from the sun (don't quote me on that though). The main issue is that while many people like the way they look with a tan, if you are fair-skinned and of northern european ancestry you need to exercise moderation. There's a reason why Southern California is the plastic surgery capitol of the world...all the people who soaked up the sun for the first half of their lives are spending big bucks trying to undo the wrinkles, sun spots, skin cancer, etc. they have accumulated. Moderation...

[AzDreamer]

If you really want to get info on tanning salons, just google "tanning bed skin cancer". You'll get lots of links, both pro and con.

I couldn't find any pro tanning links that were backed up by any reliable studies. There are plenty of studies that report raised cancer levels among tanning bed users.

Below is an article that cites three studies.

In 1994, a Swedish study found that women 18-30 years old who visited tanning parlors 10 times or more a year had seven times greater incidence of melanoma than women who did not use tanning salons. In another study, people exposed to 10 full-body tanning salon sessions had a significant increase in skin repair proteins typically associated with sun damage, indicating that ultraviolet (UV) radiation from indoor tanning is as dangerous as UV from the sun. And in 2002, a study from Dartmouth Medical School found that tanning device users had 2.5 times the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times the risk of basal cell carcinoma .

http://www.skincancer.org/artificial/index.php (broken link)

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

If you really want to get info on tanning salons, just google "tanning bed skin cancer". You'll get lots of links, both pro and con.

Yep, the sunscreen industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, just like the indoor tanning industry. They are at odds with each other.

I couldn't find any pro tanning links that were backed up by any reliable studies. There are plenty of studies that report raised cancer levels among tanning bed users.

Study Shines More Light On Benefit Of Vitamin D In Fighting Cancer

150,000 people could avoid just the two cancers mentioned in the article (colon and breast) with adequate amounts of vitamin D. There are only 60,000 new cases of skin cancer each year. Skin cancer survival rate is over 90%.

Below is an article that cites three studies.

In 1994, a Swedish study found that women 18-30 years old who visited tanning parlors 10 times or more a year had seven times greater incidence of melanoma than women who did not use tanning salons. In another study, people exposed to 10 full-body tanning salon sessions had a significant increase in skin repair proteins typically associated with sun damage, indicating that ultraviolet (UV) radiation from indoor tanning is as dangerous as UV from the sun. And in 2002, a study from Dartmouth Medical School found that tanning device users had 2.5 times the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times the risk of basal cell carcinoma .

The Skin Cancer Foundation - The Case Against Indoor Tanning (broken link)

The statement I bolded is a great example of stupidity because it implies that some people actually think there's a difference. I'm tempted to call the author of that article a bunch of names, because that assertion...god...are people really that stupid?

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is just as dangerous as ultraviolet radiation from a tanning bed. What matters is intensity and duration, not the source. Outdoor tanning also increases your skin cancer risk. Duh. What this article fails to mention is that vitamin D deficiency is RISKIER than moderate tanning.

In short, vitamin D is very important. You don't find adequate amounts in food. Our bodies produce it naturally when we're exposed to sunlight, which is our largest source. Popping a 500mg vitamin D pill is NOT the same as your body creating 500mg of vitamin D, naturally.