Tanning Beds and Your Eyes

How many times have you heard someone say, "Indoor tanning is safer than sunbathing?" Chances are the person who said it was trying to sell you tanning sessions. At the very least, he or she clearly was misinformed.

Actually, independent research has shown that even short-term exposure to ultra-violet light can be incredibly damaging not only to the skin, but to your eyes because radiation levels inside a tanning bed can be 100 times more intense than the sun's radiation levels.

Eyebrows normally shield the eyes from direct sunlight. The human eyelid is too thin to guard the eyes from ultraviolet radiation, so merely closing your eyes is not enough protection. Neither is wearing ordinary sunglasses or putting cotton puffs over your eyes. In fact, using a tanning bed without wearing protective goggles is the equivalent of staring at the sun.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage people to avoid using tanning beds and sun lamps, and have urged banning the sale and use of tanning equipment for non-medical purposes.

Kimberly Friedman, O.D., who operates an optometric practice in Moorestown, New Jersey, says tanning beds are particularly popular this time of year as people prepare for sunny spring vacations, the beginning of prom season and the impending return of short sleeves.

"The irony is that in an effort to look tan, these people might be compromising their vision," says Dr. Friedman, President of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians.