Does a 'Base Tan' Protect You From Sunburn?

ENTIRELY agree with Esmerelda! The question did not read, "Does a 'Base Tan' Protect You From Sun Damage?" If it did then perhaps the response of "fiction" would be correct. If I inadvertently expose myself at the beginning of the summer to 4+ hours of direct sun, I get a somewhat painful sunburn. My skin slowly peels away over the next week or so. If, however, I have more slowly built up a tan, I may expose myself in the same manner with impunity.

I do not know where these dermatologists get their information from. As doctors, I would expect that they have hard science behind what they say. By the strictest interpretation, any exposure to UV radiation causes some amount ??? however minute ??? of skin damage. Then again, the natural production of vitamin D in the body is created by these same UV rays. I am not proposing that tanning (or sun burning) is the solution to vitamin D deficiencies. I do, however, contest findings from studies like the one done at BU that recommend no sun exposure. This is hogwash and not supported by the main body of physicians in the United States (or elsewhere). We have a small population (relatively speaking) of dermatologists and the Skin Cancer Foundation who are running around like Chicken Little announcing that the sky is falling. As with most things, we need to start making knowledgeable decisions about our actions and our lifestyles and live balanced lives. We have individuals from many different quadrants preaching to us about all the things that we???re doing wrong. Maybe we are doing some things wrong, and maybe it is a time for change from some fronts, but we also need to reflect on the balance of things and realize that almost anything that is being preached to us today is coming from someone who is nearly fanatical about what they are preaching. Preaching common sense seems to be out of fashion and so no one stands up to. What we are left with, among other things, is dermatologists who tell us to stay out of the sun because we will die from the exposure. Hogwash! I???m sick of being preached to by fanatics who have no sense of balance.

ENTIRELY agree with Esmerelda! The question did not read, "Does a 'Base Tan' Protect You From Sun Damage?" If it did then perhaps the response of "fiction" would be correct. If I inadvertently expose myself at the beginning of the summer to 4+ hours of direct sun, I get a somewhat painful sunburn. My skin slowly peels away over the next week or so. If, however, I have more slowly built up a tan, I may expose myself in the same manner with impunity.

I do not know where these dermatologists get their information from. As doctors, I would expect that they have hard science behind what they say. By the strictest interpretation, any exposure to UV radiation causes some amount ??? however minute ??? of skin damage. Then again, the natural production of vitamin D in the body is created by these same UV rays. I am not proposing that tanning (or sun burning) is the solution to vitamin D deficiencies. I do, however, contest findings from studies like the one done at BU that recommend no sun exposure. This is hogwash and not supported by the main body of physicians in the United States (or elsewhere). We have a small population (relatively speaking) of dermatologists and the Skin Cancer Foundation who are running around like Chicken Little announcing that the sky is falling. As with most things, we need to start making knowledgeable decisions about our actions and our lifestyles and live balanced lives. We have individuals from many different quadrants preaching to us about all the things that we???re doing wrong. Maybe we are doing some things wrong, and maybe it is a time for change from some fronts, but we also need to reflect on the balance of things and realize that almost anything that is being preached to us today is coming from someone who is nearly fanatical about what they are preaching. Preaching common sense seems to be out of fashion and so no one stands up to. What we are left with, among other things, is dermatologists who tell us to stay out of the sun because we will die from the exposure. Hogwash! I???m sick of being preached to by fanatics who have no sense of balance.

Good catch esmerelda! This is just more propaganda from the anti sun tan crowd.probably financed by the makers of highly toxic and dangerous sun block chemicals! Just wait for them to invent some nonsense about "second hand sunburns" and then you will have laws against tanning just like against smoking.

Please read the question in the headline: "Does a 'Base Tan' Protect You from a Sunburn?"

Now read the first phrase of the third sentence of the explanation: "Although having a base tan might help prevent sunburns..."

Why, then, does the "Answer" read: Fiction?

This hurts my brain. By preventing sunburns, a base tan is necessarily protecting you from them. As discussed, a base tan does not protect you from sun DAMAGE; indeed, it causes it. Please either revise the question or the answer.