Using Sunbeds to prevent sunburn

[inmynewera]

More Am I Being Ridiculous than Unreasonable.

I’ve always had fair skin.

When I was in my 20’s / early 30’s, I would thinking nothing of using a sunbed for a base tan before going on holiday or throughout the summer. Not a lot but maybe two or three times a week for a few weeks leading up to something.

Bit older and wiser and stopped using sunbeds for years now. What I’m finding though, is my skin is getting burnt more easily now. The last couple of trips abroad, I’ve religiously applied factor 50 every hour or so and burnt badly very quickly. This weekend with it being sunny, I sat outside with myself completely covered (where I was sat, there was no shade and I had a jacket with me), apart from a small part of my chest / neck was visible . I applied factor 50 and I’d say within 20-30 mins that small patch was burning.

So it’s not that I want to have an amazing tan, I would honestly just like to be able to sit in sunshine safely!

Do you think it’s ok to have a few sessions in a sunbed (stand up booths not lay down beds) to get the base tan and see if it helps my skin to not burn?

Or any other suggestions as sometimes it is just hot and sunny. My forearms felt like they were burning just from driving today!

I definitely feel like it’s getting worse too.

I have fair skin, work outdoors all day and wear sunscreen, I never come home burned. It's been 26 degrees here the last two days, I've been outside for five hours a day and I'm absolutely fine. There's not really any excuse to suffer from sunburn these days.

You don't want skin cancer. I recently had a couple of growths removed (not cancer related) and it's not pleasant.

Good one!

I also agree with @TatteredAndTorn that there's a big difference between burning and just feeling really hot. I take medication that means I can't regulate my temperature very well (and I sweat a lot) and it's horrible, but it's not the same as sunburn.

Just a thought OP - is your ineffective factor 50 a bit old? Is it last year’s bottle that’s been left in the sun/in a hot car a fair few times? The UV blocking ingredients can decay over time or if the sun cream gets too hot.

Absolutely not.

I've lived in hot countries for 10 years and got burnt once in that time. It was when I was caught on a beach and we ran out of suncream and I gave it to my child rather than use it myself. I pranced around in my swimsuit for a few hours with practically no cream on but for some silly reason thought I was on. Aside from that I've never got burned again and never got a tan. I've had a decade of summer temperatures exceeding 35 degrees. I wear SPF on my face and beck but just cover up the rest and stay in the shade. I honestly don't know how someone can burn after applying factor 50 every hour, and I'm literally the palest person I know!

Your skin can become more prone to sun damage with age. As you age your skin becomes thinner, looses elasticity and becomes more vulnerable. It can also change as your hormone levels fluctuate so things like pregnancy and menopause can have a big impact. I’d just accept that you now burn more easily and make a conscious effort to cover up

Not a scientist but from my own experience, you probably got burnt because a) 30 mins in direct sun is still a lot b) your sunscreen got rubbed off by your clothes c) clothes can act like a funnel concentrating the light.

This is when I get burnt it’s places like at the top of my armpit where my straps are

Big hats and umbrellas are the best really.

I see it as 'getting a head start on skin cancer'.

Cover up, OP. Before you're covering up extensive scarring.

I'd also say for sunscreen the best thing to do is put it all over your body and let it dry before getting dressed. It's so easy otherwise to miss random bits. Make sure it's new sunscreen (as it loses its' effectiveness after a while) and that you put it on half an hour before going out.

I was at work outside all morning today. Applied a full coating at 8am and another at 11am. Home at 1pm and I'm not sunburnt in the slightest. I sweat a lot (work with animals) and still nothing. I just use cheap Tesco Factor 30.

I'm about as pale as possible - the kind of pale where it isn't possible for me to tan, only burn. Even I wouldn't burn after an hour with Factor 50 so something sounds off there. Is it definitely good, new suncream? Applied well enough, far enough in advance? If you really struggle that much looking into UV protective clothing, parasols etc would be an idea. Absolutely not the sunbed thing.

This!
I have an extremely pale child with sensitive skin, being brought up in a hot, very high UV country. We buy expensive mineral 50+ suncream for her and slather her in it at the start of every day. She's outside every day, runs around like a mad thing sweating with her school friends without it being reapplied and she's never once been burnt there. She ends the summer the tiniest amount more beige (I can't even say brown!) than she started, that's all.
The suncreams seem expensive (around £17 for 100ml) but we generally only need 3 a year, so for the sake of 50 quid per year to keep her safe it's definitely worth it.
OP you need to invest more seriously in your sun protection.

@inmynewera I'd try a different brand of sun-cream.

The whole base tan thing is a complete myth. When you're skin turns brown, it's going into survival mode to protect it from UV ionising radiation. The cells are producing melanin that are better at absorbing the UV rays, to try and protect the rest of your body!

Sunbeds should be illegal.

I think the classic picture of sun damage is the trucker that drove for 28 years with his window down. You can quite clearly see the damage it has done to his skin.

Ultimately, if you have skin that easily burns, then you just need to stay out of the sun. Get a big sun hat or a sun parasol to make sure you have shade when you're out and about.

There is no such thing as a safe tan. And sun beds are very dangerous- they’re completely banned in some countries and restricted in others. I cannot believe people are still legally allowed to use them here.

I burn very easily. Even in April in the UK if the sun is strong enough. I have accepted this and I sit in the shade. If I am spending time in the sun, I will use Factor 50, cover my arms and legs and wear a hat. But I just avoid being in the sun for any prolonged period. I am still able to pick up a light colour from when I’m out walking the dog etc.

My Dad died of melanoma and it’s a fucking hideous disease. It’s devastating when the melanoma travels through the bloodstream to the brain and the person you know and love is suddenly not there anymore. It broke my heart and I do everything in my power to avoid it cause I don’t want my kids to have to lose me like that.

I use sun beds about 3 times a week, 3-4 weeks before my holiday each year. Never exceeding 6 minutes a time.

I get a light tan doing this and then off I pop to Florida for a month and I don’t burn at all.

If I do not use the sun beds to get a base tan, then I burn using factor 30. My burn doesn’t peel, it usually turns to a tan the following day, or in really bad cases I’m red for a couple of days and then it turns brown, but I’d rather not burn if I can help it.

So, the base tan thing is not a myth for me and does help.

I recently had to have a freckle looking dot removed in hospital as was "suspicious". Not worth it, believe me. They take a big margin off, and it leaves a scar, not pretty. Tanning is for fools.

Fake tan and then use as high protection factor - if I showed you photos of my brother taken after he had huge sections of his scalp removed due to skin cancer after using sun beds you’d see how daft it is

But a tan is damaged skin... never understood wanting to get a tan if it means hurting your body. I'm fair skinned and cover up.

If you want a tan use fake tan and cover up in the sun.

Not everyone can fake tan. It irritates my skin and leaves a rash. Goes patchy over the rash and then looks awful. Not to mention it stinks. I can smell a fake tan a mile away.

And that was Sienna tan from the Salon, but I’ve also tried Fake Bake; St Tropez; Bondi Sands (the worst) and someone told me the cheap one from Home Bargains was the best and that was awful.

Some people like to be in the sunshine, and if they do surely it’s up to them. Like a pp said, alcohol, obesity and smoking all increase the risk of cancer so…

It’s possible to both be outside in the sunshine and minimising the risk of cancer by using high spf though - I use factor 30 and go down to 25 over a week away and end up with a subtle tan.

You have sun damage and need to buy better sunscreen and use more of it.

Check the expiry date on your sunscreen if it hasn't worked. Also remember to reapply after 4 hours

A sunbed to prevent burning is like smoking to prevent lung cancer.

Literally how my friend got malignant melanoma and died when she was 28. She’d been doing the ‘base tan’ sunned thing since she was a teen. Please don’t.

I find this a slightly strange argument. Yes, sun beds, alcohol, smoking and obesity are all bad for health, which is why I avoid all of them. (I do drink alcohol but very infrequently and in low amounts).