Tanning beds

The sun stimulates your body to produce vitamin D. This helps you absorb calcium to keep teeth and bones healthy. So sunlight is good for you right? Yes, sunlight is good for you in moderate amounts. Tanning beds do not provide moderate amounts. Even if you only go for a few minutes it is damaging to your skin. Just one tanning bed session is 5 times more intense than spending the same time in natural light. This is partly because the bulbs which give off UVB and UVA rays are so close to your body.

Tanning beds give off only about 3 percent UVB rays. The other 97 percent are UVA rays. Both of these are ultraviolet rays that can cause cancer, but they are slightly different. UVA rays penetrate the skin's surface and cause wrinkles, creases, and sagging skin. UVB rays, on the other hand, hit the surface of your skin and cause sunburn and sunspots. This is why you do not burn much in tanning beds, there are few UVB rays. You are getting mostly UVA rays which cause wrinkles (and cancer). 90 percent of all skin cancer and wrinkles are from the sun. Only 10 percent are genetic. This means that a lot of wrinkles can be prevented if we are smart about sun exposure and stay out of tanning beds. It is good for you to get a little sun every day, but tanning beds are not a safe way to go about getting it.

Frostbite

According to the Farmer's Almanac and various weather reports, this winter is supposed to be the coldest winter we have expericenced in many years. The cold can be very dangerous, and it is important to protect yourself from it. Especially protect yourself from frostbite. Frostbite can occur in any temperature below the freezing point. So even if it is 32 degrees outside and you think it's not that cold, you can still get frostbitten.

When your out in the cold for a while, your body sends signals to you arms and legs telling the blood vessells to narrow. Less blood is flowing to your skin so more blood can flow to your major organs. This sustains your internal body temperature since blood is not flowing near the cold surface of your skin. As you are out in the cold, this continues to happen. If your body temperature begins to drop significantly below 98.6 degress, these blood vessels in your skin will permanently constrict. Blood stops flowing to areas of your skin so that cold blood does not return to you vital organs. Ice crystals can actually form outside skin cells, causing them to dehydrate, and consequently die.

Some signs of frostbite are itching, numbness, burning, tingling, and white spots. It is very painful when these areas are warmed up again and bloodflow returns. It may ache for a few days. In cases of more severe frostbite, skin may become yellowish with blisters or swelling. The skin becomes hard and might look black and dead. It is very important to seek medical help if you think you have any frostbite. Skin usually appears healthy at first, it does not turn black and dead for a while. Over time more and more damage can occur. A doctor needs to feel the skin and supervise the rewarming process. Protect youself from the cold. Keep your hands and ears covered. And if you feel extreme coldness or numbness, go inside and warm up.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/frostbite/article_em.htm