According to my point of view, using a sun bed is a very lazy way of achieving dark-coloured skin. This is because, before sun beds were invented, people would go to the beach or go under a roofless area and sun bath for hours, over a long period of time. However, if you use the sun bed to achieve a tan, it will only take a few hours and perhaps only a few times and you will have the same effect. This may sound good, but users may become addicted and use it over and over again. In other words, the skin will become more and more damaged. Also, users may regret that they spent a lot of money on that machine but they were only needed a few times.
Another disadvantage of the sun bed is addiction and when addiction comes into concern, drugs and cigarettes can be used to compare with the use of sun beds as they all have one single feature in common: addiction.
Drugs and cigarettes have an age limit being set on them simply because they are highly dangerous. And just like the sun bed, an overdose can cause major problems both physically and financially. Consider a man who desperately wants a tan but does not want to spend time under the sun. Therefore, he chose to use the sun bed at one of the clinics nearby. Of course, just by using it once or twice won’t make your skin go any darker. In other words, he would have to go under those UVB and UVA rays multiple times to get what he wants. This will probably cost him an extremely large amount of money, even though he could have done it for free if he is willing to spend time under the sun. Plus, he may already have a layer of damaged skin which can be easily bruised and blistered from the previous uses. In actual fact, this may already have been the case for the “walking raisins” who are interviewed in the article. And as the skin is the largest organ in the human body, it is very difficult or even impossible to have a transplant.
On the other hand, sun bed users may also benefit from it. Firstly, as the people you interviewed have said in “Sun Vampires”, having a tan can show that you can afford regular holidays whilst being able to earn a living, which means it can show how wealthy you are. Secondly, this will give you an advantage in your career. This is because; even though in reality you are not wealthy, some people may believe you are and treat you with more respect. Many people say that it makes them feel healthier, well travelled and have more self confidence. Thirdly, as we can see more and more people are willing to change their physical appearance, we can see that there is a trend in the world today that people are not satisfied with what they have naturally.
Overall, the sun bed may improve your self-respect, status, which may help you in your career and improve your current living standards. However, there is no scientific proof to back this up. In my opinion, the sun bed may bring benefits to the user, but before you realize what good things your have gained from using the sun bed, you may suffer from the damages it has done to your body first. The UVA and UVB rays can lead to skin cancer and premature skin ageing. Also, the sun bed can cost a lot, causing financial as well as physical problems.
Yours sincerely,
Reader
