Is Indoor Tanning Bad For You?

What is indoor tanning exactly? Tanning indoors is basically where you get a tan from a tanning bed inside of a salon, or even in your own home. Hence the phrase, indoor tanning.

Most people think of tanning outdoors when it comes to getting bronzed skin, but now tanning in a tanning salon is becoming more and more popular. You can get a tan, fast, and without spending lots of time in the sun. It's hip too. So hip that there was a reality TV show based upon it called Sunset Tan!

Sunset Tan is the name of a chain of Los Angeles tanning salons, and the show follows the lives and characters involved with the salon chain and even some customers too.

Contrary to what many people say about indoor tanning, it has benefits. For example, tanning in a tanning bed gives you a tan at a measured amount of time and UV. Also, you can get a tan in a tanning bed that emits mostly if not all UVA. UVA is the better UV ray. UVB is the other ray, and it's not good for you. It's referred to as the burning ray.

Tanning in an indoor salon provides you with not only a nice healthy looking tan, but you get the UV you need. Now I am not saying that tanning indoors is healthy. Not at all. It can be a healthy alternative though if you are indoors all the time and you do not get enough UV exposure. Many people actually have severe medical problems related to NOT getting enough UV exposure.

Some doctors even prescribe indoor tanning to patients for medical conditions that require UV. Or give the what is called 'UV therapy.' A tanning bed is cheaper than getting 'UV therapy' from a doctor (usually).

So tanning has benefits. Certainly, some people abuse it and it then because unhealthy.

But tanning indoors once or twice a week is probably not bad for you. It might be good for you so long as you don't burn.

Like I said, you need UV to live. So if you are working indoors all day, and don't get outdoors and exposed to UV, you probably need a dose of UV. So why not get a nice tan while your at it.

Another benefit of indoor tanning is that you can build up a nice base tan before you go on vacation or before you engage in outdoor activities. If you spend lots of time indoors and don't get UV exposure and then go outside for long periods of time, you'll get burned and damage your skin. A base tan will reduce your chances of burning, and reduce the damage from a burn.

Burning is the big culprit, so you want to avoid this as much as possible whether you are tanning indoors our outdoors.

For exact details on how much time to spend in a tanning bed please ask your doctor.

But indoor tanning isn't just tanning in a tanning bed. The new hot trend is spray tanning or spray on tans. This is a really cool way to get a tan without all the UV.

Read this article on spray tanning for more on this wonderful UV-free option.

To be sure you get a nice tan without burning and you are going to be tanning in a tanning salon, get these indoor tanning tips. They are free, and there is not obligation to buy anything.