Other than a potentially higher risk of melanoma, has anybody actually tried regular tanning booths?
Planet fitness has a tanning booth and gym membership for $20 per month. Rather than paying the expensive dermatologist fees and UVB booth fee, has anybody tried regular booths?
I'm planning on trying this route during the winter to keep my results moving from summer. I'll update and let the group know if it works.
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Skin has its own brain cells . It thinks just a little bit but it does .
Even though Vitiligo is not the disease of skin - its a disease of the whole organism but it only shows on skin .
My Viti is 98% cured but just recently had the most stressful day in my life and i knew that new spot will appear after that , and it appeared as expected on my face . Cause that much stress ate up all the tyrosine in my system . But no biggie , i started my course of Tyrosine and i will be alright pretty soon .
Go tanning , dont be afraid . It might trigger the skin to go back to normal . And if not then you will die sooner or later anyways so whats the difference :)
Dont stress .
You are right about dying. But the difference is dying with or without suffering...
I believe we have to do "more than our best" to live a healthy life in all aspects.
Back to vitiligo, in my opinion, if it's "untriggered", a single stress event should not lead to a new patch. Unless it's a real severe event (what seems to be the case) AND also one or more manageable causes are present, like physical traumas, oxidative stress and systematic non-severe stress (emotional of psychological types).
In order to achieve the untriggered status (or non-active status) and be shielded against the manageable causes, a real Functional Treatment is highly recommended, since we (vitiligo sufferers) have the genetic predisposition to detach or kill melanocytes. It seems that they are not strongly linked to the epidermis basal membrane.
More details about functional treatment can be found at: www.vitiligomap.com/protocol.html. Also see an attached paper (by Alain Taieb) about melanocyte adhesion.
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Study of CCN3 (NOV) and DDR1 in normal melanocytes and vitiligo ski...
They do have UVB as a small percentage. I also read that UVA light is better for hands and feet since the rays penetrate deeper where the melanocytes tend to be deeper inside the skin in these areas.
Chris, UVB is not necessarily good. UVB-BB (290-320 nm), for instance, can cause cancer in systematic exposure. As well as UVA (320-400 nm).
UVB-NB (311-313 nm), which is a slice of UVB-BB, is the one that is safe.
Think twice before trying...
Check it out: http://www.skincancer.org/news/tanning/tanning-beds-who-issues-offi...
More...
Indoor Tanning Policies
Indoor tanning is restricted in some areas, especially for minors.
United States
California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon,* Texas, Vermont, Washington,* and some cities and counties have banned indoor tanning by minors younger than 18 years. For the latest information, see the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Tanning Restrictions for Minors: A State-by-State Comparison and AIM at Melanoma’s 2014 Indoor Tanning Legislation.
*The state laws in Oregon and Washington contain an exemption which allows people younger than age 18 to tan with a doctor’s prescription.
CDC research shows that states with indoor tanning laws that include age restrictions had lower rates of indoor tanning among minors.
International
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/indoor_tanning.htm
I've read all of this, but the numbers of melanoma are still relatively smalll. 40,000 cases in the US this year; 9,000 deaths. It still takes nearly 20 years for melanoma to show itself. I don;t think the research on UVB narrow band is very accurate because it did a 10 year study. Where is the 15 year follow up?
The benefit of tanning cheaply, something lots and lots of people do at a $20/mo gym seem to outweigh some lofty far out chance that was poorly studied.
Anyway, if I take the risk with my body (which I plan to continue doing), I'm curious if anybody else has seen results. Psoriasis patients have been flat out told by the dermatologists to go to planet fitness. Read their blogs.
Chris,
I still have one 18w (2 bulbs) UVB-NB hand held for you for free (donation).
I'm still arguing with my insurance company to get a UVB home unit. 4 months no progress.
Again, I would rather someone in need get it. My Vitiligo is not nearly that bad anymore. Just smaller patches on wrists/fingers/feet. I do have small dotting still to fully re-pigment on knees and elbows, but it should only be 2-3 months of UVB.
My progress was very fast last summer, I'd rather keep my tan going and use the tanning beds in the meantime.
Thanks though.
They are not UVB-NB. You will definitely get some bad wave length for vitiligo skin.