The 7 most important tanning myths in a row

The need to tan is apparently innate. I used to sometimes want to smear myself with olive oil and lie on a bed of aluminum foil to achieve the deepest brown color. Most of the time, that project ended with me peeling the skin off my nose on the way home, making my entrance on the schoolyard like an inverted panda. Due to skin cancer in the family and the fear of wrinkles (the sun is the biggest wrinkle-causer of all), I dutifully apply sunscreen every day and you usually see me with a hat or cap. But my daughters are now also entering the baking-and-browning phase. They find avoiding the sun between 12:00 and 16:00 nonsense, and applying sunscreen is just an obstacle between themselves and getting tanned. To get them and others to apply sunscreen and stay in the shade, I revisited the facts.

1. Yes, you get tanned in the shade

Not as quickly as in full sun, but due to the reflection of sunlight, the UV rays still reach your skin. Negative note: you still need to apply sunscreen when sitting in the shade.

2. If you apply sunscreen, you also get tanned

Of course, a bit slower than unprotected in full sun because the factor blocks some of the rays, but really, you do get tanned even with protection. By applying sunscreen, your skin stays in better condition, you get fewer wrinkles later, and I assume skin cancer isn't at the top of your wish list, right?

3. You can also get tanned behind glass

Not quickly, because the glass blocks a large part of the UV rays, but some still gets through (after all, you can feel the warmth when sitting by the window). So here too, the rule applies: apply sunscreen!

4. A tanned skin still needs protection

‘I don’t need to apply sunscreen anymore because I’m already tanned.’ I hear this sentence so often, and it sounds quite plausible, but I did a little research the site (yes, sorry) and found that while tanned skin does provide some protection, that protection is equivalent to SPF 3. That seems quite negligible.

5. You can also get burned in the water

Water provides limited protection against UV rays, but on the water (and usually you are above water while swimming) the chance of burning can actually increase due to the reflection of UV light on the water.

6. The tanning bed does NOT prepare you well for the sun

We often think: just a few times under the tanning bed and then with a pre-tanned skin, it’s nice to bake. Unfortunately, it’s exactly the opposite: double bad. You have both the damage from the tanning bed and that from the sun. And because you probably didn’t apply sunscreen with an SPF under the tanning bed, it’s even worse.

7. Getting burned is dangerous

Today a little tomato, tomorrow a chocolate. It sounds like burning isn’t serious. Just endure it and apply sunscreen, and tomorrow it will be gone, but you damage your skin and increase the risk of skin cancer each time.

So enjoy, but sun in moderation. And just think: applying sunscreen is quite a pleasant activity.

Source: kanker.be