Tanning!!!! OUCH
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010Ok, so today I had this teen girl that was tanning and didn’t protect her eyes properly, long of it short, she has a very mild UV induced corneal inflammation (we call it a keratitis) luckily for her, it should be healed within the next few days and no long term damage to the eyes.
Now, let us look at what is going on. A tanning bed is a device with UV lamps in which people lay down flat and have the rays of the sunlamps “cook” the skin to acquire a tan. Tanning beds emit 2 types of Ultra Violet (high energy packing) radiation, UV-A and UV-B rays (read these as skin cancer causing rays too). In general, tanning beds predominantly emit UV-A radiation. However, from what little information I gathered the new “quick tan beds” have emit higher levels of UV-B rays, this speeds up the tanning process.
The human cornea and physiological lens of the eye absorb UV radiation. The amount of sunlight activates the various mechanism of the eyes such as constriction of the pupil and squinting reflex, which minimizes penetration of the sun’s rays into the eye. When a person is exposed to UV radiation under controlled conditions such as a tanning bed, the body reacts in such a way that the defense mechanism of the eyes will be minimal. This can then result in a ultraviolet induced keratitis. Excessive exposure to UV rays is the cause of arc welders blind eye and snow blindness, which are a more extreme form of photokeratitis.
Various researches show that UV radiation levels to the eye is about 100 times greater in a tanning bed than outside in the sun. OUCH! Thus with the newly increased exposure to UV-B from the new systems, there is an increase the risk of developing certain types of skin and eye problems including cataracts. In cataract formation, UV radiation energy is absorbed by the small proteins inside the lens, these proteins get “cooked” and accumulate as pigments and finally may cause the internal opacity we know as a cataract.
Some studies show that the risk of this happening can be reduced to 40% if ocular exposure to UVB is decreased, but then tanning time is increased! What a problem for the industry!
Over exposure can also cause other external eye problems such as pterygium and internal problems such as macula degeneration. Pterygium is tissue growth on the white part of the eye and macula degeneration is damage to the inside of the retina.
Bottom line is, UltraViolet radiation is a well known carcinogen for the skin and has been linked to multiple eye problems. Wearing eye glasses or keeping the eyes closed might not be sufficient to keep some of this damage from happening, but if you do nothing else, you need to protect your eyes! If you tan, DON’T LOOK!
