Tanning & Psoriasis: Talk with Your Doctor First

I am a very dark skin person, so when I walked into a tanning salon thirty some odd years ago, I did turn heads. I was 80% covered in psoriasis, so I was up to trying anything new.

I only went for a couple of months and didn’t see any improvement, so I decided to stop going. I probably just needed to give it more time.

Can tanning beds improve psoriasis?

Tanning salons have been around for a long time, but as time went on and people got more into their health, the talk and risk of skin cancer increased, especially for women under 35. Of course, this was the age of people who were visiting salons.

Studies were saying that tanning beds would increase premature aging and all the signs that accompany aging like; wrinkles, dark spots, and discoloration.

Phototherapy is an inexpensive way to treat psoriasis. The ultraviolet light that comes from tanning beds is an effective option for people who want to keep their psoriasis under control.

If I had to do this all over again, it would be under the care of my dermatologist. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

What I didn’t think about back in the day was that I could have overexposed myself. which could have caused cancer down the road.

The advancement of tanning salons over time

Tanning salons have improved over the years, where technology has allowed for advancements in the present-day tanning scene. These newer models have different levels of tanning beds, stand-up capsules and some offer a variety of therapeutic light machines.

These upgraded tanning beds allow for shorter tanning times and feature lower amounts of UVB rays with an increase of UVA rays, unlike the older model tanning beds. This gives a better quality of light therapy and reduces the amount of time needed for visits, this means less exposure.

Probably one of the most beneficial upgrades is the use of the therapeutic light treatments that solely focus on health benefits, not tanning.

The impact of tanning on psoriasis symptoms

Both therapies have therapeutic properties and are used to treat a variety of issues, including psoriasis. Each light therapy process has benefits unique to the specified treatment and can do more than just help psoriasis, it can also help with inflammation and other negative side effects associated with psoriasis.

This might be something I’m willing to try for my psoriatic arthritis. They didn’t offer this back in the day.

Talk with your doctor about tanning first

With all of these new modern services available, some people still stand by the fact that the sun is the best method of getting light therapy.

Either way, anyone with psoriasis who is looking for something new to try or experiment with, could benefit from any of these new advancements found at today’s tanning salons. Just make sure you talk to your doctor about this first. I wish I had.