The History of Indoor Tanning Beds

Indoor tanning beds have experienced such a growth in popularity that tanning beds are even invading the homes of individuals who would like to permanently attain that healthy glow and bronzed look on their skin. Tanning beds work in such a way that the skin is bathed with Ultraviolet rays coming from the tanning lamps to mimic the effect of the sun. Thus, with a short visit to a tanning salon, you can easily acquire either a honeyed glow on your skin or a deeper shade or tan.

It is interesting to note that the history of tanning beds as we know it today started more than a hundred years ago. In 1906, the first indoor tanning lamp which uses UV rays was developed in Germany. Its primary function then was to recreate the effects of natural sunrays on the skin – to help boost the creation of vitamin D on a medical patient who had a low bone density.

Then, in the early 1970's, a similar type of machine which produced artificial UV rays was used to test the benefit of more sunlight exposure to athletes. This was when a healthy, glowing tan was first noticed to appear on the skin of the athletes. This golden brown colour on the skin was a perfect compliment to the beauty industry back then – and that was basically how the indoor tanning industry started. Today, there are horizontal, vertical and high pressure tanning beds which benefit millions of individuals from around the world. Aside from producing the desired tanning effects, tanning beds also perform the original function for which it was intended – which is to boost the vitamin D production of the body, which helps promote bone growth and even prevents the risks of certain cancers.