A Tan Is Not A Sign of Healthy Skin
What we do know is that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light is the major environmental contributor to melanoma. Approximately 7.8 million adult women and 1.9 million adult men in the United States tan indoors.
Indoor tanning has been shown to increase the risk of melanoma by up to 75%. It is a myth that using an indoor tanning device a safe way to tan. Given that these devices emit stronger ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels than the sun (up to three times as strong as the midday summer sun), they can damage your skin even faster than a tan from the sun. There is no such thing as "safe tanning." And melanoma is not "just skin cancer." Every hour, one person dies of melanoma.
If you could prevent one person from developing melanoma would you?
What is Beauty, Anyway?
Too often we compare ourselves to others, especially those we deem “beautiful.” We want young women to know that they aren’t lacking anything. Don't buy into the media hype that you need to have bronze-colored skin every summer and that self-tanner is a must. Beautiful skin comes in every shade. No one skin tone is less beautiful than another. That’s a fact. The sun is not your friend. The tanning bed is not your friend. There is nothing healthy about a tan. You are irreversibly altering the DNA of the cells in your dermis when you get a hit of that UVA. Don’t risk death just to artificially change your skin color.
This year, an estimated 207,390 people will be diagnosed with melanoma—the most dangerous type of skin cancer—and 7,180 will die of the disease. Melanoma is a disease that affects people of every age, gender and ethnicity. But there is good news: It is also highly preventable.
You only get one skin. Keep it safe. Cherish it. Protect it.
Join our movement #naturalskinrocks
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Show Us How You Rock Your Natural Skin
Become an agent of change and help us prevent another person from becoming a melanoma statistic. Here's how:
- Take a pic of your naturally beautiful self.
- Upload your pic here and take the pledge to protect your skin. Tell us how your rock your natural skin.
- For our melanoma survivors and warriors, share your melanoma story and best advice.
- Help us spread awareness on Facebook by using our #NaturalSkinRocks frame on your Facebook profile.
- Spread the word by sharing this page throughout your social media channels and use the #NaturalSkinRocks hashtag'
Are you with us?
indoor tanning facts
Melanoma is the second most common cancer in females age 15-29.
Nearly 70 percent of tanning salon patrons are Caucasian girls and young women.
Indoor tanning offers no protection against DNA damage to skin cells, which can occur without any visible signs of skin damage.
In fact, most changes commonly attributed to aging—including wrinkles, leathery skin and brown spots—are associated with UV exposure.
Researchers estimate that indoor tanning may cause upwards of 400,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. each year.
Using indoor tanning beds before age 35 can increase your risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 59 percent; the risk increases with each use.
Women younger than 30 are six times more likely to develop melanoma if they tan indoors.
Even one indoor tanning session can increase users’ risk of developing melanoma by 20 percent, squamous cell carcinoma by 67 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 29 percent.
We believe that healthy skin is the best skin tone.
We believe in embracing your own true coloring and protecting your body,
instead of exposing it to harmful UV rays or chemicals.
And that goes for all skin tones.
Forget about tanning. Tanning leads to premature aging, wrinkles and skin cancer.
Protect your skin with sunscreen every day.
You are beautiful just the way you are.
You only get one skin. Keep it safe. Cherish it. Protect it.
So tell us, how do you rock the skin you’re in?
MELANOMA SURVIVORS | In Their Own Words
Patrick Guddal
I think everyone’s battle with melanoma urges them to educate others....
....and teach awareness
....and teach prevention
....and be a sun safety fanatic
....and advocate for research funding
....and advocate for education funding...
Like a lot of people, I was blindsided with my Stage 3 diagnosis, and I’m from a large family of medicine. My reaction was total shock.
Why me?
Why wasn’t I aware of this?
What can I do to prevent others from going through what I did?
I think we all ask ourselves those questions, and we all become advocates to a degree.
I’m on fire, and I’m not stopping, until everyone knows, or there’s a cure, or both.
Sara Volk
I am an RN who also worked as an MA at a dermatologist's office. I also have stage 3 melanoma. Sun exposure is the number 1 risk factor for all skin cancers, not genetics.
Erin M Ball
After many MANY counseling sessions with friends over their unfortunate tanning practices (and showing them my scars), they all tell me the same thing: "I look thinner/prettier/better when I tan, I just couldn't be pale!" It's all about vanity for most people, it's the mentality that it will never happen to them.
Sue Goss Allshouse
I talked with the 4th graders about sun safety before they left on spring break! I think they were surprised to hear I have had melanoma twice.
Sumer Aspiazu
I teach high school. It’s prom season...guess what that means? Tanning beds. Then I share the story of my 25+ year addiction to tanning, show them my 4 inch scar on my arm from stage I melanoma, plus over 20 more scars from pre-malignant removals & then share with them the horror my family went through when we lost my dad at 55 to melanoma & the awful death he suffered. If it changes one kid's mind to get a spray tan instead, I’ve done my job. Keep up the good work!!