Tanning beds and birth control: are they okay to mix?

[sarahbeara2010]

I've heard that using a tanning bed while taking birth control can cause your skin to become discolored rather than nicely tanned. I'm not entirely sure that I believe it, though, because I have ALSO always heard that not wearing goggles while in a tanning bed can cause damage to your eyes...and yet, I have lots of friends who tan all the time without ever using goggles and have suffered no adverse effects. Still...I would rather be safe than sorry, so I use goggles every time I tan, and I want to make sure that if I start taking birth control pills and continue tanning that I'm not going to wind up looking weird. I'm not sure if this is just one of those things that just depends on the person, but just in case it does, I'll just go ahead and say that my skin usually reacts very well to tanning, beds. I've gotten burned a few times, but it's never been all that bad, and it went from a burn to a tan within just a few days. Also, I am always careful to make sure that my skin is clean and moisturized before and after I tan. So, girls who take birth control pills and use tanning beds...what are your experiences?

[Izzy2102]

Skin thing, never heard of it. Not wearing googles ruining you eyes is true though. From what I know tanning beds use UV rays which are damaging to your skin and eyes. People use sunglasses and sunscreen to protect themselves from it, but in real life it's not that much of an issue. In tanning bed however you kind of exposure you wouldn't natrually get, even if you were hanging out in a desert for a whole day. You don't need googles though, closing your eyes will also do the job

Your friends didn't notice it because it takes time.It won't make you blind right away. tanning beds are like sugar or cigarettes, they kill you slowly

[whattothink]

I honestly don't know. I personally don't believe in tanning beds. They have been linked to far too much skin cancer for my taste. Plus seeing as a tan is actually skin damage I prefer to not wrinkly meself prematurely. The only time I think they are OK is I had a friend with really bad psoriasis and apparently since she couldn't afford the light therapy her dr told her that a tanning bed was very similar and it did help her skin quite a bit.

[mulberry]

If I racked by brain to find a link, I would say birth control pills can cause hypertension and tanning bed (and hence burning) will also cause hypertension simply from the stress on your skin. You'll probably have an even tan but have high blood pressure for a while after.

But just as a plug here - DONT get in a tanning bed, since it's introduction, the rates of skin cancer have spiked by thousands.

[Anonymous]

My girlfriend's been on birth control for over a decade. It's never affected her ability to tan.

[Anonymous]

Thats not true at all.