The “tanorexics” Essay Example for Free

The tanorexics raiseTheyre desperate for a sun fix. They spend hours incarcerated in advanced coffins. Cayte Williams meets the tanorexicsYoure lying in a big plastic cocoon. Weird blue light beats down at you through hi-tech glass and in that respects a strange humming noise. Youre naked and sweating profusely. Have you been abducted by aliens for experimental tests? No, youre lying on a sunbed and if youre doing it more than once a week then you could be seriously addicted. The Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) recently released a fact sheet outlining the hard effects of indoor whipping. There is extreme concern for tanorexics, says Christine Suggars, a spokesperson for the ICRF. Especially hoi polloi who grant a dangerous desire for a permanent tan and use sunbeds more than once a week. So who argon these walking raisins, and why do they need a regular sunbed fix?ofttimes tanorexics prefer to buy a sunbed rather than visit a suntanning salon. And lets face it, anyon e whos prep ard to fork out 1,600 on the initial machinery must have one hell of a habit. I bought a sunbed 10 years ago, recalls Jane Horwood, a 37-year- disused interior designer. I used it once a week at first, but this gradually became once a night. I used to go on it religiously after work and hated it when I couldnt go underneath. Its like smoking. even up though I knew I shouldnt be under there, I couldnt stop myself, she confesses. I valued to look healthy and was really upset that when I got pregnant my doctor told me I couldnt go on the sunbed. Its an obsitting with self image and self esteem, like anorexia.If youre browneder, you think youre going to have a nicer lifestyle, be more attractive. If I hadnt got pregnant I would neer have stopped. Over use of sunbeds can lead to all kinds of nasty side-effects. Apart from premature unclothe ageing, people who use sunbeds for more than 20 sessions of 30 minutes per year run the risk of underdeveloped scratch fragility, says Doctor Julia Newton Bishop, consultant dermatologist at St James University Hospital in Leeds. The pelt becomes very thin with a transparent texture and it bruises and blisters easily. Normally I would only expect to elate this problem in the elderly but I have seen some young patients suffering fromthis who over-use tanning equipment.An average 30 minutes on a sunbed gives you the same dose of UVA rays as a daytime at the beach, says Christine Suggars. UVB rays have been linked to skin cancer for many years, but its only straightaway that the concern is growing over the effects of UVA rays. UVB rays affect the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, and also the melanocyte cells, to produce brown pigment, she explains. UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply, damaging the elastin (which keeps the skin supple) and collagen (which maintains the skins thickness) in the skins middle layer, causing sagging skin and wrinkles. This is not good news for the suntanning industry The T anning crap opened its first branch in the UK in 1992 and now has over 150 branches around the country. The association advocates controlled tanning and specialised programmes can cost up to 399 a year.People arent happy just to knock down into a booth anymore, explains marketing co-ordinator Rachel ODonnell. They want us to tell them what to do. Customers are warned about the dangers of over-tanning and are given a consultation before their first sunbed session. They can only ever have a session every second day and fair-skinned people are allowed six minutes a session which might go on to 10 minutes eventually. Customers are more fussy about what they get, says ODonnell. The Tanning Shops black vertical tanning booths look unnervingly like upright coffins, but tanorexics will not be put off. I go two to three times a week, says 27-year-old accountant, Victoria Williams. It makes me receive healthier, just like when you come back from holiday. Victoria started using sunbeds to clear up a skin complaint, but now shes hooked.I did worry about addiction, she says, so I didnt go on the sunbed for a month, but I started to get miserable when I got pasty. I wanted that heat and lovingness on my body. Is she worried about the latest sunbed scare? You have BSE, listeria, salmonella, she says defiantly I think there is some scare every week and its over-hyped. I would only stop using sunbeds if they were banned. A favourite haunt of the shameless tanorexic is Electric Beach in Londons Covent Garden. Here models and media people pop in for a top-up on a regular basis. On Saturday, the last celebs seen crossing its portats were Luke and savourless Goss, formerly of Bros. Who says tanning isnt trendy? We are looking to cater for those people wholive a London life, says managing director Philip Hodgeson. People go in and they come out tanned. We use bulbs as contrasted to tubes with a potassium filter, which filters out 99.9 per cent of the UVB rays.While women open ly admit to tanning addiction, men are much more secretive. Last year Paddy Ashdown suffered great embarrassment when a beautician let slip that hed checked in for a session on a sunbed. It seemed his humiliated outdoor tan was of the indoor variety and the Lib Dem office put the habit down to his doctors advice for soothing a minor skin complaint. John Stevens (not his real name), a 28 year old lawyer, identifies with Paddys blushes over his ruddy complexion. When youre tanned you look healthy, fit and well travelled, he says, and in business its good, because it makes you look wealthier, like you can afford regular holidays. But theres this unspoken idea that a real man should get his tan doing something rugged and adventurous. I would never want my mates to know that I use a sunbed. And, of course, theres Essex Man with his undying tandoori tan. Theres one who comes in every night, says Shauney Taylor of Tanning Trends in Barking. Hes in his 30s, hes working out, and wants the tan to go with it. You know what men are like, she muses. They want to be Peter Andre.