To women who have been tanning in sun beds for years: What kind of damage have you noticed or not noticed yet?

Question

Do you regret all the years of damage you did to your skin? Do you have wrinkles or at worst, any form of growths or cancer?

Answer 1

i`ve been tanning almost daily for more than 15 years now...actually (probably due to a combo of genetics & rigorous skin care), i`m always told i look around 15 years younger than i am...i have very few wrinkles & have had no skin lesions or cancerous growths

Answer 2

I only tanned for about three months when I was 15 or 16 and I ended up with a kidney infection. The doctor theorized it may be from tanning because I was nude and the UV rays were harmful to that area. Around the same time I went to school with a girl who perpetually tanned and was always missing school due to severe kidney infections. I don't know if there is a link between the two, but I obviously quit tanning and haven't had problems since.

Answer 3

Sweetie, I have a friend with her own tanning bed. I used it six or seven years ago, then took a good look at her and quit! In the years since, her skin looks like leather, and to do ordinary blood work in her arm is a hassel because the skin is so tough! All of this on a woman in her early 50's. She is still going at it and it makes her look SO much older than her age! But she continues to use it at least 3 times a week. Who knows what's down the road for her....

Answer 4

I have very pale skin, freckles, light golden-brown hair, and green eyes. One summer, living in New Mexico, I decided to get a good tan for once. I was 24 years old, had already had several sunburns, but no good tan.
Just one summer of baking for an hour a day, every day, made changes I could see.
1] changes in texture/smoothness
2] squint lines [ crow's feet ]
3] highlighted freckles, and new dark spots on forehead, cheek, shin, and thigh.
I have worn sunscreen ever since. My dad had several skin cancers removed, and never tried to tan, but got a 'farmer's tan' from mowing the lawn, working outside, etc.
I am now 51 and just starting lines in the forehead, marionette lines, and a little bit of jowls.

Answer 5

That's sick. I was thinking about tanning beds earlier when thinking about how a coworker had tried to get me to quit being so pale. The sun has made me a little less pale, but I'll never be the sort to have a dark, dark tan. Anyway. I digressed. I was thinking about how she is very dark now, and how if God meant for me to be darker, I'd not have been born so darned white. I hate the stench of suntan lotions anyways, LOL.