do you get discouraged?

[njchica]

I know that every time I see my mother, she tells me that I really need to stop tanning because "there are 12 different types of melanoma". She's always slipping skin cancer brochures in with my mail...

do you have people who try to tell you to stop tanning? how do you handle it?

[Anya1976]

actually the only time i get crap is at holidays... everyone always says "OMG you look so GREAT" then 5 mins later while onto a different conversation they start screaming cancer cancer cancer. i just tell them that burning is a link to most of the problems and since i have started tanning at the salon i have learned that buring is the worst thing u can do to your skin and i NEVER let myself burn anymore

[KIMMYB]

Sometimes I think I have a mental problem because I want to be so tan. My grandmother and mother have both had skin cancer but I can't be pale. I refuse!

[PanAnna]

Jeez Chica, my mother HAD a melanoma excised about 7 years ago. I catch holy heck about it around here although is has gotten better since I have gotten "edumacated" on the real facts. I tell people when they have done research other than listening to the media then I'll listen to their facts. Otherwise, I have done some serious time on the web researching dos and donts, ins and outs of tanning and to leave me alone.

Besides, aren't we all at risk of some form of cancer one way or another...red meat, family history, smoking, etc?

[lilmountaingrrl]

The whole "tanning linked to skin cancer" debate is frustrating. Nowadays, what doesnt kill us immediately will suppossedly lead to cancer in the long run.... water, sunshine, air pollutants, food we eat, etc etc etc. Doctors do not know everything there is to know about cancer and all the things that cause it, so i think that there is a lot of guesstimating and finger pointing being done. I think that for me the benefits of tanning outweigh whatever cons there may be.... Tanning is proven to help elevate the moods of people with depression, and also helps people with eczema (me!). A lot of people dont realize that tanning has it's plus's, because they are just so concerned about some negetive sterotypes they have gotten drilled into their brains.

[Brown Buns]

I dont smoke so when smokers try to give me the cancer guilt trip i want to hit them. =)

[colorgod]

I follow safe tanning practices!

[PanAnna]

I hope most of us do practice safe tanning (and other things as well). The thing is the media propagates misinformation that there is NO safe tanning at all.

[Brown Buns]

I want to agree with SLPNGQT she does look good.

[Anya1976]

Quote:
On 2003-05-16 16:01, PanAnna wrote:
I hope most of us do practice safe tanning (and other things as well). The thing is the media propagates misinformation that there is NO safe tanning at all.

i'd hope that people who don't follow safe tanning come here and learn how to tan safely and without burning

[PanAnna]

Right on Angela. I hope everyone seeks access to all the information here to help them make informed decisions on what is best in their tanning situation.

[njchica]

I think everyone has done a great job of helping the newer members to understand that it is very important to NOT overexpose your skin. We've also harped on and on about eye protection.

It's just so important because no one ever told me those things when I began tanning.... I tanned for years, actually, before learning how important "safe" tanning is...

[teresa]

I preach moderation day in and day out!!!!!

It's not always all about the money (just most of the time ) We want our clients to have the healthiest, best looking tan while taking care of their skin!!!!

[lilmountaingrrl]

The only thing that worries me about tanning and cancer is not what i do now, but what happened as a child. I hear so often that really serious burns are the worst, and increase the chances of skin cancer. When i was a child i would burn so bad i would have huge blisters on my blisters...(unintentional ly- i was always playing outside and didnt know a thing about spf...) I wonder what impact that has on health, when as an adult i try to do "healthy tanning". Am i already screwed?

[scout]

take death for example... so much of our time is spent preventing it... but its inevitable. Thats just an analogy, but when I'm outside compared to the beds... my skin looks so bad and I can burn... then I look like a leper. I get the cancer trip from some friends but none from my family. If my father who has skin cancer (because he's farmer with 50 years of the arizona sun) doesn't give me grief... everone else can kiss it. In fact my father likes the tan!

[Laurel]

The way I look at it when my family harps on me about it...I don't drink, I don't smoke and I don't do drugs so I would say this is the less of the evils

[RayP]

right on!! the lasts few months have been an eye opener for me. My mother had a recurrence of breast cancer so she had a mastectomy, now shes going through chemo treatments. We spend so much time preventing anything that could possibly kill us when it is inevitable. We are only supposed to live as long enough for our bodies to pass their DNA to our offspring. This means that what we think of as midlife(40) should really be only as long as we should live. But my mother has such a good perspective and feels that whatever she can do to have fun now (be it smoking medical marijuana, which also leads to cacer JK) because we could die of a heart attack or cancer at the age of 92 or get hit by a bus when we are 21... i guess you just have to watch it.

[MoraBella30]

I have to hear it from my fiancee's sister she works at a dermtologist office ... This year I lied. I told her i Mystic Tan. IM sick of hearing the speech LOL Shhhhh

[Anya1976]

i'm glad i don't get much grief about tanning. i get crap about wrinkles and stuff but i tell people that if i take care of my skin even though i tan i won't look that bad but hey everyone gets old right and i am lookin good now my skin isn't dehydrated or dry or anything i am very good about moisturizer, i put it on EVERY day right after my shower.

[Tpsyduck]

I don't get any grief about tanning, my hubby loves my tan, and I tan in moderation and take care of my skin, so I think I'm doing good!
Also, everyone's gotta have at least one "Vice" right

[tan0h0lic]

my parents from time to time REALLY get on me about tanning so much. but really, what can they do to stop me? i have some friends who are really negative about it, they say stuff to me all the time like "Oh eww ur gonna get skin cancer..oh eww ur gonna get leather skin...lalala" -but the ones who say that are ones who DONT tan..but then agian i get lots of compliments on my tan as well

[Bonnie]

The odd person makes nasty remarks to me at the grocery store or some other places about having a deep tan, but it's more than compensated by the compliments about how nice it looks!

[boobrandt]

Quote:
On 2003-05-18 11:49, Samsara26 wrote:
I have to hear it from my fiancee's sister she works at a dermtologist office ... This year I lied. I told her i Mystic Tan. IM sick of hearing the speech LOL Shhhhh


sounds so familiar............

[wannatan]

My mum and generally there are some people who are very skeptical about tanning, and she always says it's not good for you and it's not healthy etc. but my skin really doesn't look healthy with my natural/unexposed skin colour! And then why is tan promoted as healthy skin? I do get put off by these kinda warnings, but at the same time I do try to tan as safely as possible, and have never let myself burn through indoor-tanning. Afterall, it's safer than outdoor tanning.

Still, I might not be able to tan for a while anyway, but I am reeeealllly broke. So that's enough discouragement for me now!
_________________

"Half of the world is in a state of starvation, the other half are on the Atkins diet."[ This Message was edited by: wannatan on 2004-01-23 19:07 ]

[Mrc4608]

Educate them...there's so much positive research these days. And besides, do the ppl who bash tanning drink, smoke, have unprotected sxx, eat processed foods....I can go on and on and on ... JMO

[tan0h0lic]

Quote:
On 2004-01-23 18:47, bonnie wrote:
The odd person makes nasty remarks to me at the grocery store or some other places about having a deep tan, but it's more than compensated by the compliments about how nice it looks!


you know they are probably just jealous of ur tan, girl!

[BronzeGlowAlicia]

There are only 2 people that nag about skin cancer. My favorite teacher.. and one of my good friends.
My friend tells me she doesn't want to see me have skin cancer. She said she would cry. Hm.. I appreciate the fact she cares about me but it gets really annoying after awhile.
And when I see my old english teacher in the halls.. she always says ..Nice tan Alicia..you know how I feel about that. Last year it was terrible.. shed always nag on me when I walked through the door. I had her as a 7th grade english teacher before she moved up to teach 9th so we were more on a personal level than teacher level. It's niice to know people care but.. like I said before.. it gets annoying.

[Sunderella]

I just tell them it's less risky to tan than to have an occasional summer outing and get burnt badly..like tons of people do at ball games the pool....the lake...usually leave me alone after that...or I ask them what their favorite cancer causing vice is

[divabutterfly]

I get nagging from my 10 am aerobics class students, many of them are older ladies, they show me their dark spots on the skin, tell me I'll look the same if I keep on tanning,LOL. They are so cute, they like me, so they're trying to protect me, I also know one of them that really looks good for her age has a very fair skin, so she said that she always avoided tanning, that's why her skin preserved so well! That's the major issue for me, more than skin cancer, cause I see those old ladies with their wrinkled damaged skin, looking older than their age, then I see others looking younger...Oh well... I guess I'll have to go fake soon.

[Sunderella]

But you have to look at the skin care products we have now compared to what they had....their's were old products like Ponds cold cream nasty greasy stuff......skin care has come a long way since they were our ages

[SassyKat]

My mom is always on my case, but I refuse to be pale. I hate it. If it is my destiny to get cancer then there is nothing I can do to stop it anyway.

[Emoore]

I wonder why it's so acceptable to never exercise and eat crap your whole life, but not acceptable to tan. The risk for heart disease is much higher than the risk for skin cancer. Usually the people who harp on me about tanning are sendentary and eat fatty/greasy foods all the time. I exercise five days a week and eat really healthy. I bring up heart disease and that usually shuts them up.

[CariFairy]

I am a nurse who works for a dermotolist and he says that most people he sees with cancer tan indoors but don't use sunscreen outdoors....SO IF you tan indoors protect yourself outdoors.

[bholuta]

The way I see it, it's your body, and as long as you're smart about tanning it'll be fine. They point to all of these people who've gotten skin cancer, and they tanned....but they never tell us about their tanning habits...

[Kissedbythesun]

I try to tell people that as long as you do it correctly, your chances of cancer are no greater then being outside in the sun. I know that no light is the best way to go or sunless tanning but for me it's not an option. I did just have two moles removed that were precancer cells. One was so close to a melanoma I had get cut twice just to make sure, so I am trying to let those areas heal before I begin tanning full speed.

[upsessedwittans]

For some people though it is hard to practice complete "safe tanning". I have moderately fair skin and when I first start going I always end up getting burnt either on my belly or chest. Eventually though it is ok... I think that everything we do causes you to get cancer, or at least thats what they tell us anymore... I have even heard eatting OREOS can cause you to get cancer. That is freakin crazy if ya ask me!!

[cupcake65]

you know..the only person close to me that ever gave me negativity was my exhusband..who by the way played beach volleyball 5 days a week and basked in the sun..i got my tan in the healthiest way possible and i always wear sunscreen when im outside..i dont tan to get as dark as i can..just good moderate color..

[pixiewytch]

I'll be honest. Tanning is such a taboo these days, especially with my friends and family that I don't even talk about it. It is like my dirty little secret that I have to be ashamed of because if I even mention it, everyone thinks I'm ludicrous. Everyone says, "oh, but you have such beautiful pale skin". Well, I was teased most of my life for that pale skin and now that I'm older with a child, I've gained a little weight. I firmly believe that tan fat looks better than white fat. Granted, I know that my obsession with tanning is completely superficial and vain, but we all have our weaknesses.

Like others have said, you can get cancer in so many ways, especially if your genes are predisposed. You dont even have to engage in cancer causing behavior to get it...so there you go.

[smee81]

my sister works for a derm and i hear it from her and my mom. blah blah... i tan cuz i don't like being super white it just looks better on me i think. i also get a big confidence boost when i have good color i know having a tan face hides my breakouts better

[njchica]

there are lots of people who wind up with melanoma in areas that are NEVER exposed to UV light!

[upsessedwittans]

Yep, I think if you wanna tan, then tan...there is to much that causes problems now (or so they say) i'm sure everything we are doing right now..prolly 50 % of it will cause cancer in 10 years so why quit doing things that you wanna do now..I think you should live your life for today, not tommorow...