“Tanning salons are as dangerous as tanning outdoors, and perhaps more so,” says Dr. Robin Carder, chief of the clinical service of pediatric dermatology at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Dr. Carder says tanning beds have been shown to emit both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B light. Dermatologists blame both types of light for skin cancer and for premature skin aging, which can lead to sagging skin, wrinkles, yellowing (sallowness), and brown spots. Tanning beds also can harm your eyes, if protective goggles are not worn.

But a study by Case Western Reserve University found that almost 37 percent of Caucasian teen girls have tanned indoors at least once. Older girls are often repeat customers – 47 percent of 18- and 19-year-old women have visited tanning booths three or more times. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in 2003, found that approximately 11 percent of teen boys have used tanning booths. Indoor tanning rates were higher in the Midwest and South, the study found.

Doctors diagnose more than a million cases of skin cancer each year, the American Cancer Society says. Nearly 10,000 people die from the disease annually – most from melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

“The majority of teens tanning today do not consider tomorrow’s consequences, such as wrinkled (aged) or discolored skin, skin cancer and scarring (due to the need for skin cancer removal),” Dr. Carder says. “They also don’t realize that these skin changes can appear as early as 20 years of age with routine tanning, indoor or out.”

• Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt and wide-brim hat.
• Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen at least SPF (sun protection factor) 15. Apply enough. Cover all exposed skin and reapply often – especially after swimming, exercising or toweling off.
• Shun the sun from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes.