Indoor tanning: Popular even in sunny states

Every year 28 million Americans are visiting nearly 25,000 tanning salons around the nation to achieve bronzed and glowing skin, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Tamye Stanley, a certified aesthetician at Just For You Salon and Spa in Tempe, said there are a lot of reasons people prefer to tan indoors, even with so much sun in Arizona.

"People tend to tan indoors because it is easier to spend only 10 minutes in a (tanning) bed than it is to spend an entire day by the pool," she said.

Ahwatukee Foothills is home to a reported eight tanning salons in the 35.8-square-mile village of nearly 90,000 residents.

Leslie Ratekin, manager at Sunchain Ahwatukee, said their location has about 200 members. Sunchain Tanning Centers has eight different locations in Arizona.

"The holidays are when we see the most traffic in the salon," Ratekin said. "The fall and winter seasons are definitely the peak times for people to tan indoors, because during the summer most people are going on vacation or tanning outside."

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, the indoor tanning craze is growing rapidly and the tanning trade publications have reported it as a $2 billion-a-year industry in the United States.

Nearly 2.3 million Americans visiting tanning salons are teenagers and adolescents, according to the foundation.

Stanley said she tries to warn her clients, especially the youth, to stay protected. She sees signs of sun damage and possible cancer-causing problems on the complexion of her clients everyday.

"People come in for an eyebrow wax and I see that they recently had melanoma removed," she said.

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and can be deadly if it spreads throughout the body and is left untreated, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

"People who live in locations that get more sunlight get more skin cancer," the foundation says.

Ratekin said she is aware of her clients' concerns about skin cancer and Sunchain does everything it can to practice "smart tanning."

"Smart tanning is sensible, moderate, appropriate and responsible tanning, which means we don't allow our clients to burn because that may cause the most damage," she explained.

Ratekin said tanning indoors is a controlled environment and clients are becoming more wary of smart tanning. Instead of tanning 20 minutes a day clients are cutting their tan times shorter to minimize possible damage, but are still achieving their desired color.

Stanley thinks the best way to prevent skin cancer is to limit UV exposure and take proper precautions, like wearing sunscreen everyday.

"If you want to be tan use lotions and bronzers instead of the sun or beds," she said. "Spray tans from the tanning salons are also a great way to achieve color without the UV exposure."

Melissa Matyas is interning this semester for the AFN. She is a senior at Arizona State University.