For obvious reasons the tanning industry is doing all that they can to promote healthy tanning, including running a full page ad in the NY Times. Clearly they have a monetary interest in saying that tanning is good for people. Are they wrong? With what seems to be an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency, they are obviously onto something and may just be an industry positioned in the right place at the right time. The indoor tanning association has created this web site called sunlightscam.com where they make a pretty good case about how people are being scared away from the sun by the sunscreen and cosmetics industry. They also point out some lucrative ties between those industries and some dermatologists.

So, have dermatologists been wrong for all these years? Of course not! People are out there being stupid and irresponsible, frying themselves in the sun (or in tanning beds), damaging their skin and increasing their risk of skin cancer. On the flip side, we all know people who shun the sun right? Slathering sun screen on before even leaving the house, and avoiding the sun like the plague. Combine this with most of us working indoors and or living in a higher latitude, and you have a great recipe for vitamin D deficiency. In addition, there’s some evidence that healthy sun exposure may actually help your body prevent skin cancer. As with so many health related issues there’s got to be a middle ground.

From what we can tell at our clinic, it sure seems like there is something to the whole idea of responsible tanning. In some of my earlier posts I had mentioned that a few of our patients have only been able to maintain good D levels with a combination of oral vitamin D and limited tanning (twice per week for 10-15 minutes). By the way, good tanning salons do rigorous pre-tanning interviews with their clients to help them determine a non-burning tanning plan. That being said, I’m not suggesting you do this to get a fashionable tan, the goal is good vitamin D levels.

Even though most of us don’t seem able to get adequate UVB hear in the Pacific NW, we can still certainly get a bad sunburn thanks to the sun’s UVA. I’m toying with the idea of my own personal sun plan this summer, perhaps it might be the “middle ground” the experts will eventually meet at:

I do a fair amount of outdoor activities so I do have to be careful since I burn easily. As usual, I’ll slather on the sunscreen before I go outside. I’ll keep wearing my sun hat and look for shade when I can. In combination with this I’ll go tan twice per week for 10 minutes and continue on with my vitamin D supplements. In other words, I just get my quality sun rays from the tanning beds and make sure I’m protected while playing in the real sun.

I’d like to hear from you. What do you think about tanning beds? I know many people who are afraid of them for a variety of reasons. I’m starting to think that the tanning industry is a great friend in this whole vitamin D crisis.