Pasty white Seattle Plastic Surgeon shares her view on tanning bed restrictions.
What’s wrong with this picture???
My daughter is a competative Irish step dancer and if you don’t what that involves, you must rent the documentary “Jig”. The Irish dancing subculture is an interesting mix of athletic, artisitic and beauty competition. I have attended many a competition and have seen that part of the “look”, for some of the girls, includes deeply tanned legs.
Some of the girls have spray on tanned legs but some of them have obviously been spending time in an indoor tanning salon and, as a physician, it drives me nuts.
The incidence of Malignant Melanoma has been going up, up, up in the past couple of decades and it’s rising the fastest in the same group that spends the most time in indoor tanning salons – young women.
Many countries and some states have placed age restrictions on indoor tanning. Brazil has an outright ban on indoor tanning. I’m not one to advocate a nanny state, but I do think that we need to protect children from their own bad choices when the stakes are very, very high. Isn’t that why we don’t sell children cigarettes and alcohol?
What do you think? Should a 12 year old be able to waltz into a tanning salon to spend her allowance on a tanning session? Should I say something to the parents of these tanned girls? Should I spray paint my daughter’s legs?????
Thanks for reading! Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
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