Instapundit links to an article about a resurgence of interest in tanning among the young. And it notes correctly that too much sun isn't good for the skin, so say dermatologists.
I write to add my caution to that of the skin specialists. I have a fair Northern European skin with undertones of pink. I grew up in rural SoCal and got sunburned way too many times as a youngster and teen.
Then came along President Kennedy who popularized adult men going about without a hat at roughly the time I became an adult. So most American men not in uniform went hatless for decades.
Needless to say I got too much sun, cumulatively, and have skin damage. Twice yearly visits to a dermatologist have been part of my life for decades. It seems normal to me as my not-young father did the same as I was growing up.
At every visit I have pre-cancerous spots to freeze off, sometimes on the arms but mostly on the forehead, ears and face. In at least 5 instances I have had basal cell carcinomas (cancers) removed surgically, via what is called a Mohs procedure.
A couple more were done with radiation. I don't recommend radiation except as a last resort, which mine was not. So far I've had no skin cancers that were life-threatening, but the risk is real.
Needless to say I now wear a hat whenever outdoors. Breaking the habits of a long lifetime aren't easy but after a year or so hat-wearing began feeling normal. I now feel "wrong" outdoors in daylight without my hat.
Bottom line: Tanning isn't worth the grief later on, in my experience.
