Q: Is tanning occasionally (1-10 times a year) damaging to my skin? I don’t burn and have no family history of skin cancer?
-Bothell, WA
A: Doesn’t matter if you burn or not. The tanning response requires genetic damage to the DNA in your skin cells in order for tanning to happen. Even tanning 10 times a year raises the risk of melanoma by 34%. Tanning also dramatically accelerates the aging process in your skin by completely shutting down collagen production temporarily.