Safe Tanning in Booths Made Easy

Indoor tanning is much safer for your skin than tanning outdoors, but it can still be hazardous. Avoid dangers and engage in safe tanning in booths with the following tips.

1. Make sure your booth or tanning bed is completely safe before using it. Always make certain the booth is in good repair, and all electrical plugs are grounded. It’s a rare occurrence, but just like with any electrical appliance, it’s possible to electrocute yourself with a tanning booth. Make sure all lights are well seated as well. Though they don’t throw off a lot of heat, tanning lights can get hot enough to burn you.
    
2. Don’t be in a hurry to get a deep tan. You can use tanning lights with higher proportions of UV-B (these are the ones with a percentage rating higher than 6%), and they are advertised as giving you a faster tan. But UV-B can burn your skin more easily than safer UV-A, and in the long term, UV-A offers better tanning results. Remember, every time you burn your skin, you give yourself increase the chance of getting skin cancer from tanning.
    
3. Always use lotions designed for indoor tanning, the kind without a SPF rating. These will keep your skin moisturized and prevent ultraviolet damage from indoor tanning.
    
4. If you have light skin that burns easily, use a self-tanning lotion a minimum of four or five hours prior to using a tanning booth. This will get your tan started before exposing yourself to UV light, and thus keep you from burning in the tanning booth.
    
5. Never tan longer than the recommended amount of time (usually 20 minutes). When you tan too long, you risk getting skin damage, which is detrimental not only to your health but to your tan.

The rules you should follow to protect yourself and your skin are simple, common sense principles. Don’t endanger your health by ignoring the very real dangers of over tanning. Do the smart thing and don’t forget to apply tanning bed lotions.