Indoor Tanning Beds

Sun Beds & Tan Beds

There are two types of indoor tanning beds, low-pressure tanning beds and high-pressure tanning beds. With both types of tanning beds you can achieve a sexy golden-brown tan, but the way these two indoor tanning beds tan the skin is slightly different. In a nutshell low-pressure tanning beds better mimic natural sunlight, whereas high-pressure tanning beds predominantly emit UVA, with very little UVB radiation.

Before we go any further let me touch on how skin tans. It's actually fairly simple - our skin contains cells called melanocytes which produce melanin when exited by UVB radiation. This melanin then absorbs UVA radiation to keep it from damaging our internal tissue. When the melanin absorbs the UVA in this manner our skin gets tanned. You can think of tanning as the body's own natural defense against UV rays - it's entirely natural.

So getting back to low-pressure tanning beds versus high-pressure tanning beds. The difference is entirely in the UVA to UVB ratio. Low-pressure tanning beds emit a UVA to UVB ratio similar to that of sunlight. So tanning in a low-pressure tanning bed is similar to tanning on the beach, although a tanning bed is a more controlled environment. High-pressure tanning beds, however, emit very little UVB. These indoor tanning beds instead emit just enough UVB to stimulate melanin production and a lot of UVA to oxidize the melanin, this causes tanning.

Generally high-pressure indoor tanning beds can give you a tan faster, however you don't get the benefits of vitamin D production because UVB is needed to produce vitamin D.