Is There A Cure For White Spots From Tanning?

What causes the white spots on your skin when you tan? Especially when you use a tanning bed? These are good questions, and there are four main reasons that a person will develop white spots, and these are: Skin pigmentation; medications, skin fungus and pressure points.

Skin Pigmentation
Some people will develop white spots when they have overexposure to UV rays, either from being in the direct sunlight, or from using a tanning bed. More people are affected by using a tanning bed than are affected by exposure to direct sunlight.

The white spots typically will show up after prolonged exposure to UV rays, they are not noticeable at lower levels of exposure. Some people are not able to produce skin pigmentation for genetic reasons or because of trauma (such as an old injury or burn). These areas are not normally noticeable until the surrounding skin becomes darker due to sun tanning.

Medications
Some medications will react with your skin to make you either extremely sensitive to sun exposure, resulting in rapid sun burning. Other medications will block the sun from converting the skin to a darker color, resulting in white spots. If this happens, you may need to consult your doctor for modification to your medication.

Skin Fungus
There are several skin fungi that can cause white spots to show up. Typically, these fungi stay in the scalp, but can migrate to your back and shoulders. The fungus can also be caused by excessive sweat.

You can get a medicinal cream from a dermatologist or use Selsun Blue shampoo. Try the shampoo first, it is cheaper, but it will not always clear up the fungus.

Pressure Points
This is why more people have white spots from tanning beds than have them caused by exposure to sunlight. When you are outside, the sun affects only the skin that it directly shines on. In a tanning bed, the UV rays are bombarding your body from all angles. Because of pressure points, caused by lying on the tanning bed, the body will absorb the UV rays at different rates.

Most people will lie in a tanning bed in one position. If you are in the same position for more than a few minutes, the pressure points will not absorb the rays as evenly as the rest of your body, resulting in white spots. You can avoid this by rotating your position every few minutes.

Conclusion
For most people, the white spots caused by tanning are cosmetic only. However, you should have a doctor take a look at them to be sure they are not some form of skin cancer or other disease.

If the white spots are noticeable, you may try using a sunning tanning solution to match your other skin coloration.