• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Addicted to tanning: This could be you at age 26... Dead...

Status
Not open for further replies.

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Find out what to do if you screw up and get a sunburn.

I'm sorry, I chortled when I saw this stuck in the article right after a really emotional point in the reading.
 

Dariee

Member
My friends look at me like I'm crazy for putting on sunscreen when we're out in the sun for a while.

No, morons, I'm protecting myself from the sun.
This. So much this.

Furthermore, most have the same 'you're being too overprotected' when it comes to non-smoking because of lung cancer risks. Or preferring organic vegetables over ones having bathed in pesticides etc. That list goes on and on.
 
Even if you aren't a tanning bed person I implore you to watch that video at the end and heed the message. Find a trusted friend, your significant other, a family member, or even just a mirror if you have to. Then strip down and check your body for any skin abnormalities.

A lot of skin stuff is easily handled and treatable if you just take the time every few months to just look and make sure you catch stuff early! A few mins say before or after you get out of the shower to check your body could end up being a life saver!

I was told at an early age to watch some of my moles carefully since I was out in the sun a lot as a child. My mom even had a weird (non-cancerous) growth pop up once. Since then I make sure to check my moles to make sure they haven't changed size or color.
 
Maybe bad tans do but a good tan makes you look healthier and active whereas being pale makes you look like you stay in your house and sickly.

A few generations ago the common thought was pale skin makes you look important and refined, but a tan makes you look like a filthy commoner forced to work outside. The obsession for tans is very recent and completely arbitrary. It needs to be changed too because it absolutely can be harmful.
 
Tans look fucking stupid anyway, on girls at least.

jVWwZ.jpg


Guess who.
 

squidyj

Member
So I went to Vancouver last week and everywhere I went people were calling me Gweilo, the white people saying it hurt the most :l
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Seriously, y'all. Tanning beds are death beds. Whatever vanity they satiate is not worth the risk at all.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Never understood people who go weekly to tan. Actually, I don't understand the appeal of tanning to begin with... you're just killing yourself quicker.

I don't know. My Vitamin D levels were in the toilet. Vitamin D isn't actually a vitamin and it plays a ton of vital roles in the human body (and is naturally gotten from UV light). I'm convinced we've gone the opposite direction on this. Human beings need some sun. Even if you're fair skinned, if you lie out a couple times a week for 20 -30 minutes, you can not only build up a decent tan, but you won't burn. And it's the nasty burns that will get you skin cancer. IMO it goes against human evolution to shun the sun. And we've gone there. I live in Florida and it's shocking to see so many kids walking around looking like vampires.

In fact, now that my Vit D levels are good, the sun no longer feels so good. It used to feel like a full body orgasm to lie in the sun (which I'm fairly certain was the body's way of saying "stay the fuck out here. I need this.")

As always, moderation in everything. If you're not someone who works outside, or a kid who's constantly playing outside, the occasional sun tan is a good thing.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
People with dark skin, up to and including people of African origin do also get sunburn and skin cancer. This notion of "I don't need sunscreen" or "Black don't crack" is actually why a larger proportion of people with dark skin end up with melanoma later on in life than people with lighter skin.
I don't think the evidence supports that statement.

melanoma20incidence20by20race20and2.png


http://www.medinfographics.com/cancer-statistics/melanoma/melanoma-incidence-by-race-and-ethnicity/

African Americans have a 20% decreased survival rate from skin cancer compared to Caucasians, but they're far less likely to get melanoma. In fact, problems associated with vitamin D deficiency are suspected to be a much bigger issue in the African American community.

I think some people tan because it makes them look more toned. Which is why body builders go crazy with the fake tan.
 
I don't know. My Vitamin D levels were in the toilet. Vitamin D isn't actually a vitamin and it plays a ton of vital roles in the human body (and is naturally gotten from UV light). I'm convinced we've gone the opposite direction on this. Human beings need some sun. Even if you're fair skinned, if you lie out a couple times a week for 20 -30 minutes, you can not only build up a decent tan, but you won't burn. And it's the nasty burns that will get you skin cancer. IMO it goes against human evolution to shun the sun. And we've gone there. I live in Florida and it's shocking to see so many kids walking around looking like vampires.

In fact, now that my Vit D levels are good, the sun no longer feels so good. It used to feel like a full body orgasm to lie in the sun (which I'm fairly certain was the body's way of saying "stay the fuck out here. I need this.")

As always, moderation in everything. If you're not someone who works outside, or a kid who's constantly playing outside, the occasional sun tan is a good thing.

"Only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun"

We're so sun starved here that we're not sensible about it.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
I never really understood tanning. Some people look good with tans, but it's not like anyone is ugly if they don't have one.

I think fair skin is totally fine as long as it's not deathly pale. And very, very few people are deathly pale, even if they spend all their time indoors.
 

alekth

Member
I like being pale. Also my parents made me tan at the beach when I was a kid in order to hopefully stop being sick so often, which only resulted in moles (luckily not malign) and nosebleeds (which finally convinced them to stop doing this shit).
 
I like being pale. Also my parents made me tan at the beach when I was a kid in order to hopefully stop being sick so often, which only resulted in moles (luckily not malign) and nosebleeds (which finally convinced them to stop doing this shit).

I used to pick my nose at the beach too.
Seriously though. Vitamin D. Look into it.
 

Ryaaan14

Banned
Being tan (without overdoing it) makes people look way hotter.

Well worth dying earlier than you would being ugly and pale.
 

Sadsic

Member
My only experience with this is seeing a clip for the Jersey Shore where an orange guy goes, "I wana do the max. Twice."

I don't understand the fake tanning fad. I think it looks ugly, but now I'm kinda glad that it's also weeding people out.

damn dude thats cold
 

Dariee

Member
Isn't walking in the sun for 20 min. a day enough, basically?

Sure, you need Vitamin D through UV, but 'needing to tan or else..' seems like a same extreme as never leaving your room at all.
 

alekth

Member
I used to pick my nose at the beach too.
Seriously though. Vitamin D. Look into it.

Adequate sunlight is one thing, a grill is another. I'm not talking a beach in Northern Germany, it can get over 40C here in summer in cities, and although a beach is a bit cooler, one gets the extra reflection from the water there.
 
I don't think the evidence supports that statement.

melanoma20incidence20by20race20and2.png


http://www.medinfographics.com/cancer-statistics/melanoma/melanoma-incidence-by-race-and-ethnicity/

African Americans have a 20% decreased survival rate from skin cancer compared to Caucasians, but they're far less likely to get melanoma. In fact, problems associated with vitamin D deficiency are suspected to be a much bigger issue in the African American community.

I think some people tan because it makes them look more toned. Which is why body builders go crazy with the fake tan.
Interesting, I have a link regarding and another study on my PC. I'll try to remember and post it when I can.

Also interesting about this buff business. Might be why people think that black people develop muscle faster and denser. I wonder if there's any truth to it at all.
 

3phemeral

Member
I just moved to Michigan not to long ago and I couldn't believe how prevalent tanning salons were. Practically every other radio commercial is an all-you-can tan advertisement, and there's even a "Tan all you can for 9.99 a month" salon a 5-minute walk from my apartment.
 
When I was in my late teens, I went to the tanning salon to clear up some blemishes. I would go maybe three times a month and it eventually worked. I don't tan now though and haven't for a while.
 

someday

Banned
I could see where blacks with melanoma probably have lower survival rates due to us not protecting ourselves from the sun. Also not getting moles checked out since it seems like a "white person's" concern. I'm not saying this is true but just a thought.

I live in Seattle and am really vitamin D deficient. My doctor told me that 10 minutes in the sun is enough though, not 20 or 30. I also use sunscreen when I ride and run just in case.
 
I find it funny when people tell me I'm "pale" as if there's something wrong with that. My skin is naturally fair and I'm fine with that. I like it, actually.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
meh. she could have got just as fucked by regular sunlight. Everyone has known for years that tanning beds are the equivalent of lying in the sun for that many hours. Not sure how this is shocking or interesting.
 

BSTF

this post rates 1/10
I don't think the evidence supports that statement.

http://www.medinfographics.com/cancer-statistics/melanoma/melanoma-incidence-by-race-and-ethnicity/

African Americans have a 20% decreased survival rate from skin cancer compared to Caucasians, but they're far less likely to get melanoma. In fact, problems associated with vitamin D deficiency are suspected to be a much bigger issue in the African American community.

I think some people tan because it makes them look more toned. Which is why body builders go crazy with the fake tan.

I don't think it's true, just that it's a faster growing population and is caught later due to that kind of mindset. As a kid I was always out in the sun and never got a serious sunburn, just minor burns on my nose and ears so I basically never wore sunscreen unless I was at the beach all day.

Last summer someone noticed I had this weird perfectly circular pitch black round mole that I ended up getting checked out. Thankfully it wasn't cancer, just abnormal cells, but it was a wakeup call to me.

There's really no reason for dark skinned people to not wear sunscreen or skip looking for early warning signs.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
meh. she could have got just as fucked by regular sunlight. Everyone has known for years that tanning beds are the equivalent of lying in the sun for that many hours. Not sure how this is shocking or interesting.
They're actually quite a bit worse, because they emit mostly UVA rays, which penetrate deeply and damage the DNA in melanocyte cells. This can lead to melanoma.
 
Come to Australia! We have our own ozone layer hole to promote extra UV for all of you!

Seriously though - standing in the sun with SPF4? Tanning beds from a young age? That's just ridiculous - you can't even get an SPF that low here, and we have constant ad campaigns telling us to stay the hell out of the sun.

I work in an office, don't get out in the sun that much, and at age 33 had already had two skin cancers removed. Several people I work with have had the same.

Australia - if the venomous creatures don't get you, the radiation from the sun will.
 

LOCK

Member
You're right. Who am I kidding? Being brown is fucking AWESOME.
High five dark skinned brother!
I don't think the evidence supports that statement.

melanoma20incidence20by20race20and2.png


http://www.medinfographics.com/cancer-statistics/melanoma/melanoma-incidence-by-race-and-ethnicity/

African Americans have a 20% decreased survival rate from skin cancer compared to Caucasians, but they're far less likely to get melanoma. In fact, problems associated with vitamin D deficiency are suspected to be a much bigger issue in the African American community.

I think some people tan because it makes them look more toned. Which is why body builders go crazy with the fake tan.
Never knew it was more common in males than females. Kind of makes sense, since males are more prone to work outside?
 
High five dark skinned brother!

Never knew it was more common in males than females. Kind of makes sense, since males are more prone to work outside?

Men in general are more likely to contract cancer, although I'm not exactly sure how it breaks down among types that affect both genders.
 

GloveSlap

Member
I am crazy white. I try to avoid too much sun because I get freckles on my face from it, and I don't want the premature aging and cancer risk. If I do go out for a long time I use the maximum sunscreen I can find, usually around SPF 90 or so.

On the positive side, my skin really hasn't aged at all in the past 10 years. I would like a light tan though, if only so I don't have to hear any more Twilight jokes. I have used the gradual tanning lotion but it is a chore, especially if you want to cover more than just your face and neck. I am tempted to try the tanning salon spray tan where they air brush your whole body. Has anyone tried it? I just want a light tan, nothing crazy.
 
Interesting, I have a link regarding and another study on my PC. I'll try to remember and post it when I can.

Also interesting about this buff business. Might be why people think that black people develop muscle faster and denser. I wonder if there's any truth to it at all.

I couldn't find the right link, but the following article agrees with my previous statement. But I get what you were saying. It's just that people with darker skin have that mindset of "It can't happen to me", so it turns up in larger quantities within as they get older. I do believe though that having dark skin does give a somewhat strong advantage. Atleast regarding survial in nature itself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom