Old Leather Skin...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
August 10, 2008 10:04am CST
Most ppl know the dangers of lying out in the sun too long. The sunburn, the UV rays, premature aging, leather-like skin and possible dehydration. But some ppl think that tanning beds are a safe alternative…not so. They can be just as dangerous.
Years ago I went to a vo-tech school and they had a tanning bed. I decided to give it a try. They set the timer for 10 minutes and I went in and laid down. Needless to say I fell asleep from the heat. Well, the timer either didn’t go off or they forgot to check it but I ended up lying in there for about 30 minutes. Talk about cooked!! I looked like a lobster with blisters. I couldn’t wear any clothes other than my underwear (I’d laid in them when I tanned) so I had to wrap a sheet around me toga style and wear it home. I could hardly move. When I got home my Mom told me to rub Aloe Vera all over me and lay down for a nap…I did. Bad mistake!! When I woke up the sheet and aloe had dried to my body…the only way to get it off was to pull it off…talk about pain. Nothing like having severely burned skin and having to rip a stuck sheet off it. I finally got it off and spent several days trying not to move. I learned my lesson.
Recently my oldest brother, my Niece and Nephew all went up North on vacation. My half sister convinced my Niece, who just turned 13, to go lie in a tanning bed. When she told me I was shocked. I don’t see any reason for a 13 year old to lay in a tanning bed…afterall she’s outside so much as it is that she looks part Indian. I also worry b/c she has a history of cancer in her mother’s side of the family (her mom died from it). I don’t know why anyone would encourage a kid to do something so dangerous.
Would you encourage a kid to lay in a tanning bed? Do you protect yourself from the sun when you’re outside? Do you think tanning beds are safe or a danger?
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
13 people like this
28 responses
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
10 Aug 08
I don't think it's necessary for a young kid to get in a tanning bed, they can get their tan from the regular sun using some sun tan lotion.
I do not use protection when I am in the sun. I never had and it's a hard habit to get into, regardless of all the news. I also know sun light is really good for you as it provides your body with vitamin D... how weird is that?
I haven't gone tanning in a tanning bed in years, but when I did, I'd go to a tanning salon where the bed would turn itself off after 10 or 15 minutes, so there was no danger of over burning. Although my first time in the bed I still burned a bit, just not that badly.
3 people like this
@bonbon664 (3466)
• Canada
10 Aug 08
I don't know why people still insist that to go to tanning beds, and lie outside and bake themselves. Not to mention the skin cancer, I don't want my face to look like an old baseball mitt when I'm old. I would never encourage a kid to do this, all it takes is one really bad burn to increase your chances of skin cancer when you're older. Not worth it in my book. I'd rather be pale, with no skin cancer thank you very much.
2 people like this
@lucy02 (5015)
• United States
22 Aug 08
No way would I encourage a child to do that. I admit I use to go to the tanning bed myself. I finally quit. Don't need the wrinkles and sure don't need the cancer. Cancer runs in my family too. Plus I have reddish hair and fair skin. That makes me more of a risk for it.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
22 Aug 08
Yes I sure do protect myself when going outside or even if I know I'm going to be near the sunlights rays because I have lupus and I'm alergic to the suns rays. I almost always wear sunscreen. I hate it with such a passion but I found a way that helps make it dry instead of wet and sticky which is makeup powder. I just dab that on and presto! its nice and dry and not so sticky. People tell me all the time I look younger than my actual age so it does have it's benefits!! 
1 person likes this
@roberten (3128)
• United States
22 Aug 08
I have the darkest skin of all my siblings yet I burn in 15 minutes or less. The worse burn I ever got was on my feet, yes, I said my feet! It was a beautiful spring day and I had to go to work and decided I would walk. I put on my little cute sandles and walked the ten minutes down the tree-lined path to my office. By the time I got there my feet were so badly burned that I couldn't wear shoes at all for a very long time. I was still in the military at the time and nearly faced charges under article 15 for unsafe exposure to the sun causing servere burns. I learned my lesson that day, ever since I keep sun screen with me where ever I go and put it on every time my skin begins to tingle. My kids, who are fair like my siblings and their dad, cannot understand the pain I experience from just riding in the car on a sunny day. I am happy they do not suffer from exposure to the sun such as I but I worry that they will harm their skin because they under protect themselves. I would never encourage anyone to go tanning, I believe it is unsafe even under the best controlled conditions. It is like playing russian roulette with your life because you have absolutely no guarantee nor knowledge of how your skin will react to the exposure over time. My advise: stay inside, in the shade , wear long sleeves, wear a hat, and use skin protection when in danger of over exposure; no more than 10-15 minutes direct exposure to direct sunlight. Stay safe, stay cool, stay alive.
1 person likes this
@nickmarz333 (141)
• United States
11 Aug 08
I hate the sun...I try to stay away from it as much as possible that is why I am on the internet right now ha ha.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
11 Aug 08
My sister in law does the tanning be alot. I am to afraid to do it. When I tell her the bad things that can and does happen when tanning she brushes it off as nothing. She even went and got her own tanning bed. My other sister in law tried it and she fried, but she was talked into d it more by the first sister in law saying they all burn at first and all but she has a 12 year old and so far she won't let her lay. Thankfully. and she has had problems since. she has very sensitive skin and she thinks the tanning bed gave her skin cancer. I don't even get in the sun much. I will admit I used to want to tan and tried several times at it but gave up... I guess when she is looking older then me in a few years she will stop she is 5 years younger then me.
1 person likes this
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
10 Aug 08
OUCH!! You poor thing. My sister stayed in a tanning booth too long and cooked herself too. She was blistered too, all she could do was lay there and cry. Now that she is grown she goes to the tanning salon and tans. I stay white year round, I do get some tan from just being outside, I don't lay in the sun. Someday the sun worshippers and tanning salon people will be sorry, their skin is going to look yucky. They are also damaging their skin to where the damage doesn't show up until they are older. Skin cancer can take many years to show up, they say the damage is usually done when you are young.
1 person likes this
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
10 Aug 08
There's no need to put up with that kind of pain when fair skin is not so 'out' any more. Besides, if your really desperate for that Malibu Barbie look, you can get some really decent tans in a can. That is especially so for the younger set.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Aug 08
Wetting the sheet wouldn't helpit come off, I knowit was stuck on, but it seems like something could have helped. Sounds like you may have ripped some skin off with it, too.
I'm against tanning beds.
I wouldn't advise a kid to go in one either, esp. when cancer is in their family.
@littleowl (7157)
•
11 Aug 08
Wow Twoey that must of been awful for you to go through...no I don't like tanning beds at all and would never let a young girl go under one..even when the sun is so hot I prefer the shade yes I do get a tan but that is just normally walking around as I dont like sunbathing...bright blessings littleowl
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
10 Aug 08
Arrggghhh your story set my teeth on edge, that must have been horrific. You are so lucky it was not worse thatn that, you could have ended up in hospital.
I have never ever been on a sunbed, yes I have laid out in the sun for way too long but not for Oh about 12 years now it is just not worth it. If I know I am going to be out in the sun for any length of time even if it is just a short walk. I cover myself with suncream.
I would never encourage any of my kids to go on sunbeds, I have a two year old daughter and as soon as she is old enough to understand properly I will be teaching her how to take care of her skin. I think any form of exposure to heat is a danger.
1 person likes this
@danrunsfast614 (1396)
• United States
11 Aug 08
This "tan is beautiful" craze is getting out of hand. We will have a big skin cancer problem soon if we don't change how we view things. Good discussion and thanks for bringing it up.
1 person likes this
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
8 Sep 08
First of all, OUCH!! I would have told you to wait to cover yourself back up after the aloe dried. I can just imagine the pain. I've gone to tanning beds before and never had a bad experience from them. Then again, I'm always too scared to fall asleep in those things. I don't think they are dangerous as long as they are maintained on a regular basis and you aren't in there for too long at a time. The longest I was in one was fifteen minutes and that was after going for almost two months. Thirty minutes is way too long, especially on the first time. I don't like going to the beach that much except for looking for shells, but when I am out like that I will put on some sun block. Other than that I normally don't put anything on.
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
10 Aug 08
wow so sorry for you.
they did the same to my son in law kept him in to damn long and his legs blistered I told him he ought to sue for they should have set it where daughter told them she had to make them check him for she was out and he wasnt!
and yes I think they are dangerous and wont tell any one ever to use them.
as for outside we do the sun blocker when goingint o the pool other than that right now to hot to get in the sun long.
Not even taking our walks like we shou;ld!
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (93883)
• United States
10 Aug 08
No, I never would encourage a 13 year old to get into a tanning bed. I wouldn't encourage anyone to do so. I think a lot of people are under the impression that tanning beds cannot cause skin cancer, which is not true. The younger people are when they start using them, the harder it is to get them to quit. My parent's neighbor is a lovely woman, in her mid 40s, but her face is like leather. She spends time outdoors quite often, but still she goes to a tanning bed. It's just not a good idea.
1 person likes this
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
10 Aug 08
I agree....I use to be a sun worhipper,and i also use to go to tanning beds...I am an olive skinned person because i have some cajan in me,but it has always been the in thing to be tanned...That was in my younger days...I do have signs from that time in my life.I have had to go to the dermotoligist to have spots removed from my face ,arms etc....To have been such a sun person ,my skin looks good but i could have avoided the damage had i not been in the sun so much...Some people call them age spots but that is really not true,it is damage from the sun,and as you get older these years of exposure just cannot help but surface,now this was told to me by a skin doctor...Luckily i stopped before the damage got so bad..I now really watch & wear sun screen, and when i did have some damage removed by a dermatologist ,i could have avoided the cost & trouble had i known...Sun & tanning beds will make you age & will cause skin cancer...I am sorry you had to learn the hard way but i have had to learn the hard wat as well,so hopefully we can help others from making the same mistakes....This is a very good discussion ...
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47670)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
10 Aug 08
It's still radiation exposure, so a good sunscreen is de riguere... as you found out the hard way.
As for removing the stuck-on sheet... soaking in the tub might have been a less painful alternative.
1 person likes this
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
10 Aug 08
I don't trust tanning beds at all. However, that being said, I will tell you that I lived in southern Calif for about 43 years and laid on the beach for at least 5 hours with no protection other than Hawaiian Tropic dark tanning oil SPF-2. Always had a great dark, golden tan and no skin damage at all. Only burned badly once and that was on a cloudy day with no oil.
I am fair skinned and blue eyed so you would think that the sun would have really done me in. So I believe it has a lot to do with a person's genes and suseptibility to sun damage.
But with a family cancer history, no I would not advise a youngster to use a tanning bed.
