Tanning beds use high wattage UVA and UVB lamps to bronze the skin. Since tanning salons charge a fee and home tanning beds can be very expensive, most tanning bed users try to get quick results by not using sunscreen before they use a tanning bed, greatly increasing their exposure to damaging rays. Most dermatologists do not recommend artificial tanning. However, if you are going to use a tanning bed, apply sunscreen and be careful to stay under the lights only for the number of minutes appropriate for your skin type--as few as five minutes or as many as 20.
Risks
The National Institutes of Health has done a number of studies on the use of tanning beds and sunlamps with less than definitive results. However, researchers did find a relationship between the incidence of melanoma skin cancers and amount of time spent in tanning beds. They reported that the younger users were when they started using tanning beds and the longer they stayed in them at any one time, the greater their risk was of contracting cutaneous melanoma.
Start Slowly
Fresh skin that has not been exposed to the sun yet should be slowly introduced to the tanning process, starting as low as five minutes per session to be safe. The experts at Easy Tanning suggest that the number of minutes per session should be determined by a person's skin tones--fair, medium, dark. While workers at some tanning salons are trained to advise customers how long they should remain in the bed, other salons do not provide trustworthy advice. If tanners become aware of a prickly sensation on the skin, it's time to stop the session immediately, because the skin is beginning to burn.
Frequency
People with dark skin tones may need to use a tanning bed only once a week for 20 minutes to attain and maintain a tan. Others who have skin that is fair or difficult to tan may need more frequent, shorter sessions. Ten to 15 minutes two or three times a week will maintain a deep tan. Anyone who regularly uses a tanning bed should take care to apply plenty of moisturizer daily.
Safety
In addition to timing to avoid burns, users of tanning beds must protect their eyes during the entire tanning process. The eyes should not be left uncovered for any amount of time, but should be protected by goggles provided free at most tanning salons.
Maximum
The maximum time that anyone should spend in any tanning bed is 20 minutes, say experts at Master Tanning. People whose skin is naturally dark often can hit the 20-minute mark after just a few sessions when they first begin to tan. Fair-skinned people may never reach 20 minutes without getting burned. Tanners of all skin types should skip at least one day between tanning sessions and never tan more than once during a 48-hour period.
