| If you are a big fan of using public tanning booths for | | | | paid for dearly with their lives. UV light (UVA and |
| the purpose of diminishing your stretch marks, read | | | | UVB, it doesn't matter which) actually penetrates the |
| on. The FDA warns that some tanning salons are not | | | | small blood vessels beneath the skin tissue. This in |
| following FDA regulation regarding the safe use of | | | | turn causes the veins to lose their general strength, |
| UV light. | | | | eventually leading to vessel damage and internal |
| In a recent case in Manhattan, random tanning salon | | | | hemorrhage |
| was visited by an FDA investigator who came | | | | Discoloration and vessel damage can occur in many |
| incognito, and began to ask cursory questions | | | | parts of the body. This may even lead to the |
| regarding how the salon operates. The salon failed at | | | | formation of travelling blood clots. Travelling blood |
| question number 1: should customers wear goggles | | | | clots in turn, can cause stroke in individuals of any |
| always? | | | | age. |
| The clerk of the tanning salon said no, and was still | | | | Now let's talk about stretch marks themselves. |
| adamant about saying yes even when the FDA | | | | Tanning in the first place does not treat stretch |
| investigator identified who exactly he was and | | | | marks. It simply darkens the areas where the stretch |
| explained that it was already SOP or standard | | | | marks are present, thereby masking the true |
| operating procedure to require goggles whenever UV | | | | appearance of the skin. When this happens, an illusion |
| light was involved. | | | | is created, but unfortunately the stretch marks are |
| The FDA ordered a seizure of the tanning equipment | | | | still there. |
| in that particular salon, and sent out a warning to all | | | | In some case, tanning might be effective in erasing |
| the other tanning salons that might have been doing | | | | these stretch marks temporarily, but when the tan |
| it all wrong these past few years. | | | | disappears, there is no telling how the stretch marks |
| Real dangers | | | | would look. Either they remain darkly discolored, or |
| The FDA stated that inappropriate use of UV light in | | | | they go back to their original appearance. In some |
| tanning booths might be the cause of so many skin | | | | lucky instances, they pale and acquire a silvery white |
| maladies and might even lead to death. Premature | | | | appearance. |
| skin aging and skin cancer are on opposite poles of | | | | Older stretch marks are harder to hide using the |
| the deadly spectrum- imagine what lies in between. | | | | tanning solution- which should prompt anyone who |
| And we are not only talking about skin damage here. | | | | would like to use the power of UV radiation to hide a |
| When UV light hits the surface of the human skin, it | | | | portion of their body's skin. |
| penetrates much more deeply than any ordinary | | | | In any case, all precautions should be taken to make |
| person would have imagined. | | | | sure that the tanning will not do more harm than |
| You see, there is a misconception that UV light only | | | | good. The formula in skin care should always be |
| damages the outer layer of the skin. This is a very | | | | balanced, and the benefits should always outweigh |
| dangerous misconception. Many people have already | | | | the ill effects. |