I asked Dr. Whitney Hovenic whether a base tan actually protects you, and her answer was clear: a base tan gives you roughly an SPF of two to four, which is nothing. And the tan itself is a sign of cumulative sun damage. The moment your skin cells react, they start making more melanin, and that’s your skin telling you it’s under attack. We think about our heart and our lungs, but our skin is our largest organ, and it’s alive.
A sunburn with pain and blisters is the extreme everyone understands, but the everyday exposure adds up too, and cumulative sun exposure leads to squamous cell carcinoma. If you’re chasing that base tan in a tanning bed, it’s even worse. As Dr. Hovenic put it, there’s a reason they’re shaped like coffins.
Did you grow up believing in the base tan?
Get the full conversation with Dr. Whitney Hovenic in the latest episode of The Skin Real wherever you get your podcasts. #tanmaxxing #skincancerprevention #skincancerawareness #skincancer #tanningbed
A sunburn with pain and blisters is the extreme everyone understands, but the everyday exposure adds up too, and cumulative sun exposure leads to squamous cell carcinoma. If you’re chasing that base tan in a tanning bed, it’s even worse. As Dr. Hovenic put it, there’s a reason they’re shaped like coffins.
Did you grow up believing in the base tan?
Get the full conversation with Dr. Whitney Hovenic in the latest episode of The Skin Real wherever you get your podcasts. #tanmaxxing #skincancerprevention #skincancerawareness #skincancer #tanningbed