Just because the weather doesn’t call for sunbathing doesn’t mean you should resort to using tanning beds.
Last week’s unseasonably warm weather — that gave way to last weekend’s cold temperatures and threat of snow — marks the end of the summer days that just didn’t want to leave. Not that I was complaining, of course.
But now, there’s definitely no chance for rooftop sunbathing for few a months, and many are bemoaning the loss of their summer tans.
Just because the weather doesn’t call for sunbathing doesn’t mean you should resort to using tanning beds.
I get it; it’s tempting to try to maintain the summer glow, but there are so many risks associated with tanning that there is no way the benefits outweigh them.
Besides getting skin cancer and melanoma, which is a gamble you take every time you get a bad sunburn, tanning beds have many other hidden risks. According to the FDA, if you use tanning beds, you are 75 percent more likely to develop melanoma before you turn 35.
If there is one thing that college students don’t need, it’s getting their immune systems suppressed. But damage caused by UV-B rays can suppress your immune system and result in being far more susceptible to diseases.
Additionally, UV rays can cause itchy and uncomfortable rashes, an allergic reaction that some may not know they have until being in a concentrated setting. UV rays can irreparably damage ocular nerves and forever harm the eyes, a risk further heightened when tanners don’t wear goggles in hopes of a more even tan.
While I understand some people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) need to tan to not be so depressed, if you are tanning just for the looks, please reconsider. Skin cancer is often deadly — one in eight people who are diagnosed with melanoma will die from it, according to NCI estimates. And, honestly, is the risk of death worth looking good in an Instagram?
Meg Omecene is a junior studying strategic communication and the public relations director for The Post. Email her at mo403411@ohio.edu.
