take your own timer when in a tanning bed

iluvcats

I have not been to a tanning salon in a while. In the past, we were given warnings about how long we should be in there if we were newbies and pale so as to not burn. We were offered to buy "sunnies" for our eyes. We were shown how to operate the bed and the fan.

Yesterday I went to a nail salon that had a tanning bed and I took my own sunnies or eye protection. The lady could not speak English. I told her I wanted 8 minutes. It was a really nice place, clean and all that. I got into the bed and I looked up and she sat it for 20 minutes. Actually, I took my cell phone in to time it myself. (once a lady let me in for 12 minutes and I literally got cooked.) Yesterday when I paid her as I left, I told her what she did and she denied it. I said that I timed it myself and I could have been burned. I said that there were 10 minutes left on her timer (in the lid part) when I cut it off.

My husband told me not to go back but I have to, I have a vitamin D deficiency. I told him I'll just time it myself.
she never even showed me where the buttons were.

I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon.

catefrances

iluvcats wrote:

...I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon.

well yes... cause tis like lying out in the sun. you are changing your cells. its not safer.

iluvcats

catefrances wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

...I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon.

well yes... cause tis like lying out in the sun. you are changing your cells. its not safer.

I said I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon. Meaning the owner could be sued. she just let me in there, no instructions. And she set the timer for 20 vs. 8.

what if i fell asleep?

catefrances

iluvcats wrote:

catefrances wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

...I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon.

well yes... cause tis like lying out in the sun. you are changing your cells. its not safer.

I said I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon. Meaning the owner could be sued. she just let me in there, no instructions. And she set the timer for 20 vs. 8.

what if i fell asleep?

haha sorry my bad.

if you fell asleep youd burn just like if you fell asleep on the beach. tis not good. this thing about browner being better is so wrong. its so not healthy.

LikeAnOcean

The average white person only needs 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight a day on just their arms, face and legs to make up for the vitamin D. The body can only produce so much vitamin D from the sunlight at any given time.. anything more is just radiation mutating your DNA, causing premature aging and possibly skin cancer down the road.

Tans are just your bodies way of freaking out and overproducing pigment. Sunlight initially kills pigment and the body responds by doing this.. skin cancer wasn't much of a concern when we evolved to have white skin because people didn't live much past 30 back then anyways..

Just sayin'.

iluvcats

LikeAnOcean wrote:

The average white person only needs 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight a day on just their arms, face and legs to make up for the vitamin D.. anything more is just radiation mutating your DNA, causing premature aging and possibly skin cancer down the road.

Tans are just your bodies way of freaking out and overproducing pigment. Sunlight initially kills pigment and the body responds by doing this.. skin cancer wasn't much of a concern when we evolved to have white skin because people didn't live much past 30 back then anyways..

Just sayin'.

believe me, I know all about skin cancer. I go to the dermatologist on my own outside of my "mother may I" HMO. I get biopsies all the time. I have a vit D deficiency and a very knowledgeable nerd that I know told me that the vit d from the sun is best in colorado, sure not MD where I live. Many older woman have told me that stuff they've heard about 10 mins of sun daily w/o sunscreen for their vit d deficiency. It's not accurate. The clouds can affect it and where you are, like the nerd said. I was taking a supplement, but d can build up and be toxic like vitamin a.

iluvcats

LikeAnOcean wrote:

skin cancer wasn't much of a concern when we evolved to have white skin because people didn't live much past 30 back then anyways..

Just sayin'.

well I am already way past 30. I'm going to start going to the stupid lady's without any warnings tanning bed on my way home from work as our days are getting shorter. It feels so good in a tanning bed. I hate being where other people were in case it is not really clean, so I laid on a towel yesterday. Only half of me was exposed.

LikeAnOcean

iluvcats wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

skin cancer wasn't much of a concern when we evolved to have white skin because people didn't live much past 30 back then anyways..

Just sayin'.

well I am already way past 30. I'm going to start going to the stupid lady's without any warnings tanning bed on my way home from work as our days are getting shorter. It feels so good in a tanning bed. I hate being where other people were in case it is not really clean, so I laid on a towel yesterday. Only half of me was exposed.

As long as you don't spend more than 15 minutes a day, I wouldn't worry too much.. its the people who go for 30 minutes a day, plus sit outside all day all summer who will look like prunes. Tans look nice, but in reality, they aren't healthy.

Nothingman54

classic case of people taking advantage of old people

iluvcats

It was dreary weather today so I went back again for my dose of artificial sunshine.
She set the timer for 10 minutes like I asked and everything was fine.

covered in bliss

Are you serious?

Do you really think that the only way to deal with that is a tanning bed? OMG.

I don't even know what else to type because I'm so fucking shocked.

iluvcats

covered in bliss wrote:

Are you serious?

Do you really think that the only way to deal with that is a tanning bed? OMG.

I don't even know what else to type because I'm so fucking shocked.

please ignore my reply if you can see it in your email.
I don't have time for this.

PJaddicted

Hey luv! Just be sure to go to a really good salon with top of the line beds! I know where you are coming from and your age. it does help with SAD and also Osteopenia that thin women like yourself are prone to. Hope you are doing well! Going to Philly????

JordyWordy

I imagine your point here is that these people should be more careful, and you're right they should. are there cases on that kind of thing in America? ...from what i know the salons here are run pretty well, im sure there are some bad ones. ( this is from what the gfs & sisters tell me).

It'd be very hard to succesfully sue a tanning salon like that, (a) because its too difficult to prove what causes the cancer/skin damage, and (b) even if you went that far with it, the salons would probably just settle it out of court.
Either way, it doesnt excuse being so blatantly careless about it.

Fair play to you for looking out for yourself

iluvcats

I thought my thread died! No pjaddicted, we're not going to philly. It's too close to my milestone birthday party and one of my favorite musicians will play in our home. Husband gets to pay him, lol...

Since covered in bliss replied to me, I ordered a book on vit d deficiencies....wow, no wonder my mom has one :( You should see the whopper vit d (prescribed) dosage she takes once a week...they sent me the book electronically and I'm getting a hard copy. I take a multi vitamin that has the MDR amount. But obviously that's not enough.

I bought a little light for light therapy from Target, it should be here any day. You are not supposed to stare at it, put it to the side....so I will take it to my windowless office and put it next to me for 30 minutes daily while I work.

I don't intend on suing the tanning salon owner. Just saying we need to be aware of our surroundings, I guess. She's very nice to me and she has learned how to work the timer. I didn't get cooked in her salon, it was another one 10 years ago. Ugh, that owner smoked at her desk while I was in the bed, talk about torture. I'm a reformed smoker and we are the worst.

Heatherj43

I used to own a tanning salon for 10 years. We always set the timers, had goggles in the room, and all the directions and warnings on the walls in the rooms.
There was one incidence that the timer didn't work and the lady was in there too long. It was a very busy day and I didn't notice it either. Thankfully nothing happened to her. Actually, I am shocked she didn't get 3rd degree burns.
I think if one is going to tan, it is smart to time yourself. Most salons have music playing. Most songs last 3 minutes. That is how I time myself if I use a tanning salon now.
I also don't trust the attendant about how long they think I should go in. Many ask the customer how long they want to go in. Others just do whatever they want. Its important that one tans only the minutes they can handle without burning. Everyone is different. We would look at their tans and decide, or look at the record we kept, but many used multiple salons, so our own eyes were best, even then, we had to be sure the tan was real and not some fake stuff, cuz you can get a nasty burn thru that fake tan.
We hadf to take into account the strength of each bed, when the bulbs were last changed, etc.
Tanning indoors is one of those things that YOU need to account for yourself and not trust others. Take a little time and learn about the process and how the beds/stand ups work.

Heatherj43

catefrances wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

...I thought you have to be really careful when you own a tanning salon.

well yes... cause tis like lying out in the sun. you are changing your cells. its not safer.

My salon had a million dollar umbrella insurance. Its hard to get insurance for tanning salons. It can be safer only cuz its better controlled than outdoor tanning.
Oh and about the eye protection, many people avoid using protection cuz they feel they get raccoon eyes from the goggles. In a lifetime people get eye diseases, like cataracts, just from being outdoors living their regular lives cuz they are in the sun just walking or whatever. Using a tanning bed makes this process occur way faster. I would never not use goggles in a tanning bed. And putting cotton balls or stuff like that over your eyes won't help, the rays are so much more condensed and stronger, the rays go through the cotton balls and will go thru your eyelids, if you think closing eyes will help.

Heatherj43

iluvcats wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

The average white person only needs 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight a day on just their arms, face and legs to make up for the vitamin D.. anything more is just radiation mutating your DNA, causing premature aging and possibly skin cancer down the road.

Tans are just your bodies way of freaking out and overproducing pigment. Sunlight initially kills pigment and the body responds by doing this.. skin cancer wasn't much of a concern when we evolved to have white skin because people didn't live much past 30 back then anyways..

Just sayin'.

believe me, I know all about skin cancer. I go to the dermatologist on my own outside of my "mother may I" HMO. I get biopsies all the time. I have a vit D deficiency and a very knowledgeable nerd that I know told me that the vit d from the sun is best in colorado, sure not MD where I live. Many older woman have told me that stuff they've heard about 10 mins of sun daily w/o sunscreen for their vit d deficiency. It's not accurate. The clouds can affect it and where you are, like the nerd said. I was taking a supplement, but d can build up and be toxic like vitamin a.

A cloudy day can be worse than a sunny day cuz the stronger rays (B rays) only come thru the clouds and one falsely thinks they are protected just cuz its cloudy. I've seen some nasty burns from people who were out when it was cloudy. Alos, reading about how the rays and your skin's reaction helped me to understand how it all happens.
Personally, I don't tan. I do get sun, but just enough to keep me healthy. I need some sun for my psoriasis, depression, vitamins, etc.

iluvcats

my dyed brown hair has gotten lighter from 2 sessions totaling 20 minutes already.

thanks heather, i've seen nasty burns on my husband too from working outside in the clouds and not wearing sun screen. but on some cloudy days, i checked the UV level on weather.com at they were really low like a 1.
i've heard that too about not eye wearing protection. i kept my eye protection from when i used to belong to a tanning salon. this new place does not have my name or any record of me. maybe they can't ask about meds any more (privacy act stuff) like in the past. they used to ask us if we took photosensitive drugs and they gave a list. did you know that advil can make you photosensitive? oh this new place is a nail salon.

i once saw a judge judy episode where the tanning salon owner had to pay a client's ER bill from her burn.
the customer/client wasn't familiar with the strength and did not get tips on the length of time for a newbie from the attendant at the front desk. the owner paid her hospital bill and a day of lost wages due to her burn.

Heatherj43

iluvcats wrote:

my dyed brown hair has gotten lighter from 2 sessions totaling 20 minutes already.

thanks heather, i've seen nasty burns on my husband too from working outside in the clouds and not wearing sun screen. but on some cloudy days, i checked the UV level on weather.com at they were really low like a 1.
i've heard that too about not eye wearing protection. i kept my eye protection from when i used to belong to a tanning salon. this new place does not have my name or any record of me. maybe they can't ask about meds any more (privacy act stuff) like in the past. they used to ask us if we took photosensitive drugs and they gave a list. did you know that advil can make you photosensitive? oh this new place is a nail salon.

i once saw a judge judy episode where the tanning salon owner had to pay a client's ER bill from her burn.
the customer/client wasn't familiar with the strength and did not get tips on the length of time for a newbie from the attendant at the front desk. the owner paid her hospital bill and a day of lost wages due to her burn.

I saw that one on Judge Judy. The salon didn't offer eye protection FREE! That was a huge part of the issue. Salons NEED to provide them FREE! And yes, we had on the walls a list of meds that will cause the rays more likely to burn you. We initially asked everyone, but customers come everyday...the main thing would be to tell them about the list and tell them they need to check it whenever they are new meds.
I also have seen the weather say the UV level was low on some cloudy days, I don't know if it was because if the time of year or what. I know that in the summer cloudy days are very deceitful.

iluvcats

Heatherj43 wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

my dyed brown hair has gotten lighter from 2 sessions totaling 20 minutes already.

thanks heather, i've seen nasty burns on my husband too from working outside in the clouds and not wearing sun screen. but on some cloudy days, i checked the UV level on weather.com at they were really low like a 1.
i've heard that too about not eye wearing protection. i kept my eye protection from when i used to belong to a tanning salon. this new place does not have my name or any record of me. maybe they can't ask about meds any more (privacy act stuff) like in the past. they used to ask us if we took photosensitive drugs and they gave a list. did you know that advil can make you photosensitive? oh this new place is a nail salon.

i once saw a judge judy episode where the tanning salon owner had to pay a client's ER bill from her burn.
the customer/client wasn't familiar with the strength and did not get tips on the length of time for a newbie from the attendant at the front desk. the owner paid her hospital bill and a day of lost wages due to her burn.

I saw that one on Judge Judy. The salon didn't offer eye protection FREE! That was a huge part of the issue. Salons NEED to provide them FREE! And yes, we had on the walls a list of meds that will cause the rays more likely to burn you. We initially asked everyone, but customers come everyday...the main thing would be to tell them about the list and tell them they need to check it whenever they are new meds.
I also have seen the weather say the UV level was low on some cloudy days, I don't know if it was because if the time of year or what. I know that in the summer cloudy days are very deceitful.

oh when I joined a tanning salon a few years ago, they did offer free eye wear. i have eye doctors in my family and they warned me about sharing the eye protection. i used to take the goggles in the bathroom and scald them before i got into the tanning bed before i bought my own. oh you know what, i don't think it was judge judy that i saw....it was judge wopner maybe?

iluvcats

I bought this book this weekend
http://drsorenson.blogspot.com/2009/01/ ... -will.html

I can't understand why I did not have enough vitamin d in june when I was tested. I eat tuna and yogurt, breads and cereals which have vitamin d. Pjaddicted mentioned osteopenia. I don't have any signs of osteoporois, I had a scan already. My mom has it terribly. (have you seen what a bone (on film) with osteoporosis looks like? swiss cheese.)

covered in bliss

Sorry for swearing the other day.

IMO, Dr. Sorenson is kind of kooky. He said "melanoma is more common in those who stay out of the sunlight."
What kind of doctor would make a statement like that? It's absolutely false.

How low were your levels? Was everything else ok? You know that Vitamin D isn't really a vitamin, right? It's more of a hormone, not a nutrient. A lot of other things affect those readings. You could be low because you have a thyroid or intestinal problem.

The "professionals" can't even agree on how much Vit D we need every day... some people might need more or less than others. Although tanning beds do raise levels quite a bit in the first few weeks, things taper off.

If I remember correctly, you are very fair and old like me. Is the benefit worth the risks? Is there no other way to raise your levels? A way that isn't as extreme as lying down in a coffin with 30 bulbs frying you with DNA-altering waves? It just can't be healthy! It's like saying cigaretts calm your nerves so you won't have a heart attack.

iluvcats

covered in bliss wrote:

Sorry for swearing the other day.

IMO, Dr. Sorenson is kind of kooky. He said "melanoma is more common in those who stay out of the sunlight."
What kind of doctor would make a statement like that? It's absolutely false.

How low were your levels? Was everything else ok? You know that Vitamin D isn't really a vitamin, right? It's more of a hormone, not a nutrient. A lot of other things affect those readings. You could be low because you have a thyroid or intestinal problem.

The "professionals" can't even agree on how much Vit D we need every day... some people might need more or less than others. Although tanning beds do raise levels quite a bit in the first few weeks, things taper off.

If I remember correctly, you are very fair and old like me. Is the benefit worth the risks? Is there no other way to raise your levels? A way that isn't as extreme as lying down in a coffin with 30 bulbs frying you with DNA-altering waves? It just can't be healthy! It's like saying cigaretts calm your nerves so you won't have a heart attack.

It's ok! my level was 32, the norm = 20 to 100, but my doctor said their test levels need to be re evaluated, possibly changed. He considered 32 too low and he originally ordered the test due to my chronic pain. I did some research and I think NIH said it should be 50 - 80. I didn't have any other tests, they were done in the past when I had a physical. So I had been to the beach but wore sunscreen and the level was 32 in June or July. It must be great in February, right? Everyone is talking about how great an essential vit d is. I remember when it was vitamin c. Now we should not get more than 60 mg daily.

Right, I am older than dirt (ask Nothingman54.) Yes, my skin is naturally fair (ghost white in other words) but I have naturally brown hair and brownish/green eyes. My father has brown hair and brown eyes and he has had a ton of skin cancer, not melanoma though. He worked outside in the 1960's. My mom had brown hair and blue eyes and she has had pre cancerous things taken off of her face. She stayed indoors all her life.

Melanoma does run in families I just read. We don't have it.

A guy I was friends with in the eighties (natural blonde/blue eyes) that never went out in the sun died at the age of 43 of brain cancer -- it was melanoma. I think you can get it if you don't go out in the sun. My friend once told me that she had a skin cancer checkup at the dermatologist and they looked in personal spots for melanoma. Spots that don't see the beach or light of day, if you catch my drift.

iluvcats

due to family problems (my mom was sick), I had to quit going to the tanning salon.

I need light badly and it's been raining. I returned to the tanning salon yesterday and she attempted to set the timer for me. I got in there and looked up and it was on 20 minutes. She still does not know how to set the timer. I got out after 11 minutes, I asked for 8.

It felt great though. I love skin cancer salons!

Kilgore_Trout

i gotta say... it is one of the most relaxing things... did it a few times when my sister was first getting into it... im a fiend for neon and cheap flashy aesthetics though... horrible irish skin that burns like a mofo so i never really saw the real benefits... just like listening to music, laying down, and feeling warm

definitely be careful tho! i would never go back after hearing its as bad for you (cancer) as smoking