Maslinska didn’t use any protective lotions, believing that it would cover her skin and prevent her from getting the perfect tan. After tanning she also applied self –tanning aerosol to make her skin look even browner.
Petite Maslinska with natural pale skin and blonde hair now says she had been addicted to tanning -- “tanorexic” as she put it. It’s been two years since she overcame it.
“It all started when I was 17 and had to wear silver braces,” she said. “My teeth looked yellowish and I noticed they were whiter when I was tanned. Tanning boosted my self-esteem. Now I realize that it was an addiction.”
During the last year of her tanning habit, Maslinska spent $300 for the unlimited monthly tanning pass that gave her unrestricted access to the best tanning beds in the city.
"I knew all kinds of tanning beds and lamps,” she said. “I was an expert.”
Maslinska made friends with people working in the tanning salons as well as customers who visited the places as often as she did. But all this changed when, at age 21, she started to see wrinkles on her body.
"The wrinkles, not the fear of getting the skin cancer, helped me quit tanning,” said Maslinska, who now goes to the tanning salon just once a month.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, on the average day in the United States, more than 1 million costumers, mostly girls and women, visit tanning salons. The number of skin cancer cases is rising every year. Researchers connect this increase to the ultra-violet radiation from the sun and tanning beds. The academy says that 1.3 million new skin cancer cases are likely to be discovered this year in the U.S.
Dr. Marcia C. Deitz, a dermatologist at Coney Island Hospital, said that tanning in the salons is more dangerous than natural tanning.
“The dermatologic medical community does not recommend tanning in the tanning salons,” she said. “They are trying to get the word to the public that tanning salons are harmful to people’s skin and should not be used at all.”
Regular summer tanning is also risky.
"Just going out in the sun to get a tan is not recommended, either,” Deitz said, adding that while going out during the summer, everybody should use sun block. “There are different SPFs (Sun Protection Factors) of the sunscreens. People should use the higher number [of SPF] if they have fair skin, but they don’t have to use quite a high number if they have a darker skin complexion," she said
UV rays cause extensive damage to the skin, ultimately causing skin cancer, aging and wrinkling , Deitz said. “The more ultraviolet damage is done, the more chance of having those effects,” she said, adding that a tanning bed has a high concentration of harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Zofia Plaskota, who has owned a tanning salon for seven years, said that tanning in the salon is absolutely safe if it’s done right. Plaskota didn’t want to reveal the tanning salon’s name because she said the information she was sharing was confidential.
“You have to do it step by step, from sessions of four minutes,” she said. “The healthy norm is getting six days pause between tanning. It’s also important to put the protective balm and plastic glasses that we provide in the salon.”
Plaskota said she realizes that some of her clients are addicted to tanning.
“We have girls who get tanned five days a week, some request double sessions,” she said. “This kind of tanning is dangerous.”
Plaskota and Maslinska said that people come up with different excuses when they don’t want to admit they are addicted.
“One of my friends claimed that she tans because she needs vitamin D,” said Maslinska.
Dr. Deitz said that this pretext is a myth. “Just walking outside in regular clothing gives enough vitamin D,” she said.
She debunked another myth, too – that going to tanning salons in the winter helps with overcoming winter depression.
“You are not seeing the sun if you go to a tanning salon,” she said. “It’s not the same. Tanning salons do not help with seasonal depression.”
