Timeline of a Tan

When you hop into a tanning bed, here's how skin damage happens

by Meghan RabbittPublished: Jan 3, 2013

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WITHIN SECONDS:

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Your body is bombarded with hefty doses of ultraviolet A (UVA) light—roughly 12 times more when indoor tanning than the amount you'd get from the sun.

WITHIN A FEW MINUTES:

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Those long-wave UVA rays begin to penetrate your skin. Over time, they break down the collagen and elastin in the upper layers, causing permanent damage. The potential result? Wrinkles, saggy skin, and sun spots as early as your twenties. The UVA light can penetrate to the deepest levels of your skin and start damaging the cells that make up your DNA. Within seconds, your immune system senses there's been an attack and sends a signal to a gene called POMC to start pumping melanocytes to your skin's surface-1,000 to 2,000 to each square millimeter of skin. Think of melanocytes as little brown umbrellas that help protect your DNA from any additional damage. Because those melanocytes are brown, your skin starts to tan.

IN OTHER WORDS:

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A tan is a sign that your DNA is damaged. Your tan is like a full-body scab.

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AT THE SAME TIME:

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The POMC gene prompts endorphins to start pumping through your body—so about five minutes into your indoor tanning session you start to feel great. Like, runner's-high great.

THIS CAUSES REDNESS, BURNING, AND MAYBE EVEN STINGING.

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Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays have likely fried the upper layers of your skin.

WITHIN HOURS AND THE DAYS FOLLOWING:

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Your cells start turning over and replicating, and the new ones take over for the old damaged cells in your DNA. But when those cells replicate, little mistakes happen.

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THOSE MISTAKES LEAD TO CELL MUTATIONS.

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When mutations happen in the squamous cells, it can lead to squamous cell carcinoma; if they're in the basal cells, you could be in for a basal cell carcinoma diagnosis. And if the mutations happen in the melanocytes? MELANOMA.