Why you should never go Tanning Without Goggles

One of the ways that we maintain a beautiful skin tone throughout the year is by using a tanning bed to get that bronze on. The goggle you wear in tanning beds although ugly are very necessary because tanning without goggles can damage your eyes.

However,

not all of us follow instructions because you don’t want to get tan circles or raccoon eyes from wearing tanning goggles. This, in the end, leads to damaged eyes that sometimes are beyond repair.

Effects of UVB and UVA lights on your Eyes

The importance of wearing protective eyewear can’t be stressed enough. Your eyelids are very thin to be able to protect your eyes from the penetration of UV light. Overexposure to UVB can damage your cornea, while overexposure to UVA will damage your retina.

UVB has such a short wavelength that it is quickly that it’s completely absorbed by your cornea that they cause cornea burns. When your eyes are overexposed to UVB, your eye tissues will swell, soreness, redness, and a feeling like you have a lot of sand in your eyes. UVA has a longer wavelength that penetrates your cornea to reach your retina where it does a lot of damage.

Effects of Tanning Without Goggles

Tanning without wearing the proper eye protection can lead to many side effects. Exposing your eyes to the harmful UV rays from the tanning bed can cause both short-term and long-term damage to your eyes. Some of the short-term effects that you will experience include itchiness, blurred vision, and inflammation like conjunctivitis which can later spiral to the degeneration of your eye muscles.

These kinds of eye problems can later cause permanent damage to eyes which can form cataracts, cause blindness, or even cancer. You will not notice the real damage from the UV light in the tanning beds until the effects are irreversible because it’s a slow process that takes time. When your eyes get sunburned it either affects your eyes, photokeratitis or affects your conjunctiva, photoconjuctivitis. These two conditions cause short-term damage to your eyes leading to swollen eyelids, pain, decreased vision, etc. and is very painful.

Tanning without protecting your eyes increases the risk of your eyes developing cataracts which is common among old people. You will start getting blurred vision and can sometimes lead to blindness, though it’s operable it can cause impaired vision.

Prolonged exposure of your eyes to UV rays can also lead to pterygium which is a growth in your conjunctiva which can also cause impair your vision. The most severe effect of exposing your eyes to UV rays without protecting them is cancer of the eyes.

Basic tips on How to Use Tanning Goggles

Getting a good pair of tanning goggles is the first step towards having a safe and successful tanning session without damaging your eyes in the process. Now you need to know how to use these tanning goggles so that you don’t get raccoon eyes.

One of the easiest ways to avoid raccoon eyes is to keep repositioning your tanning goggles slightly after every few minutes. This will help the area around your eyes to tan consistently.
Make sure that the bottom part of your goggles is positioned properly at the bottom of your eyelids all the time.
At the beginning ensure that the corner of your right lens aligns with the corner of your right eye.
After a few minutes, move the goggles so that the corner of your left lens aligns with the corner of your left eye. Keep alternating the position of your goggles after every few minutes during your tanning session.

Safe Practices to Help you Avoid Damaging your Eyes in Tanning Beds

Use goggles that provide maximum UV protection

The tanning goggles you wear should not only have a perfect fit but should also provide maximum protection from the UV rays so that you don’t end up damaging your eyes. You need to check if they’re FDA approved.

Wear tanning bed goggles

The best way of protecting your eyes when using a tanning bed is to wear tanning bed goggles that are a perfect fit. They’re available in different shapes and sizes while some have sleek and unique designs that will suit your style. Some have straps while others don’t. They should provide maximum protection and be comfortable to wear.

Click here to check out our list of best tanning goggles.

Go to tanning salons that are recognized

When you decide to get a sunless tan, choose a tanning salon that adheres to the safety and protection standards. Tanning beds and tanning goggles are shared items that need to be kept sterilized at all times to avoid bacterial and viral infections. The salon should maintain high hygiene standards at all times especially in ensuring the tanning bed and goggles are always cleaned and sanitized after use.

Carry your goggles

You can never be sure if the tanning goggles in the tanning salons are properly sanitized before and after they have been used. To make it easier and to ensure you maintain good hygienic standards, carry your goggles to the saloon.

Have disposable eye protection

If you don’t carry your tanning goggles to your tanning session, you can go for the safer option and use the disposable eye protection. They will provide adequate protection for your eyes when you’re in the tanning bed and you don’t have to worry about getting an infection from sharing goggles.

Use healthy and quality tanning beds

Always try and ensure that you use the best high-quality tanning bed when you go for your tanning session. Low-quality tanning beds have a high risk of overexposing you to UV rays which will damage your skin and eyes. If you use an unhealthy tanning bed it doesn’t matter if you use tanning goggles.

Factors to Consider when Choosing the Best Tanning Goggles

It might seem pretty easy to choose goggles to protect your eyes, but there are a few things you should consider when you decide to go shopping for tanning goggles.

Size and shape

Getting bigger tanning goggles might be more comfortable with a better fit, but this might result in bigger tan lines. If you’re also concerned about getting tan lines on the bridge of your nose, check the width of the goggles across the bridge of your nose. You can use a concealer to hide the tan lines.

Overall comfort

With everything that you buy, comfort is a very important point to consider. Look for tanning goggles that are made with a material that can easily conform to the shape of your face. Also, ensure that any straps that go around your head fit properly and they aren’t too loose or too tight.

Durability

Even though you won’t be carrying your tanning goggles on your hiking trip, it doesn’t mean that they won’t bounce around in your bag together with other tanning products as you move around. Your tanning goggles should be able to last without having to worry about a lens popping out or them breaking just when you need them.

Color

Tanning goggles come in a variety of colors you can choose from. If you think it’s cool wearing neon green goggles, remember that this color glows in the tanning bed which might be a bit annoying.

Price

Don’t go for a cheap pair of tanning goggles if you don’t want to find out the hard way why cheap isn’t always the best. If you don’t like buying cheap clothes or shoes or even cars, why opt to buy cheap tanning goggles that are supposed to protect your eyes? Your eyes are very important organs in your body that need maximum protection.

Can you wear regular sunglasses in a tanning bed?

You can’t wear regular sunglasses during your tanning session and you shouldn’t, you need tanning goggles that are specifically designed for that purpose. Tanning beds can produce very high amounts of UV light which can give your skin that beautiful bronze tan, but it can also cause damage to your skin as well as your eyes. Long-term exposure of your eyes to UV rays can cause cataracts, choroidal melanoma, and macular degeneration of your eyes. That is why you need to protect your eyes with special eyewear when using a tanning bed. If you tan without wearing the proper eyewear, your eyes will slowly but surely get permanently damaged in the long run.

You might think that if you simply close your eyes during your tanning session or wear your normal sunglasses it will block the UV rays from hurting your eyes. However, doing all these or even placing cotton pads over your eyelids can’t protect your eyes from the intensity of the UV radiation that the tanning beds produce. Your eyes are delicate and precious and once you damage them it becomes very hard or impossible to reverse what has been done.

Side note: Dont forget to use best nipple covers for tanning before going for tanning bed.

Conclusion

Tanning goggles are very important when using a tanning bed if you don’t want to cause serious damage to your eyes. You might not see the damage on your eyes in a day, but later you will notice the effects and at times it might be too late. So, protect your eyes before you regret it later in life.