Concern For Kim Kardashian, 43, As She Reveals Tanning Bed In Her Office— The Dangers of Sunbeds & UV Exposure

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In an effort to promote her new collection of cosmetics, lip liners offered in 15 different nude colors, Kim was seen on camera walking through her SKIMS office showing all the things she “of course” has.

The video begins with the reality TV star saying, “I’m Kim Kardashian, of course I have all my magazine covers covering my walls. I’m Kim Kardashian, of course I have my mannequin with my custom measurements in my glam room.”

Kim is seen walking around her spacey office area wearing a fuzzy neutral-colored robe with her flawless hair, makeup and skin.

After revealing she has a model of her brain and her plane in her office, Kim was then seen laying inside a sun bed with protective eye covers on her head, saying, “I’m Kim Kardashian, of course I have a tanning bed.”

Moments later, Kim quickly makes her way to a red light therapy bed just steps away from her tanning bed, adding, “And a red light bed in my office!”

@kimkardashian

♬ original sound – Kim Kardashian

Kim sharing she has a tanning bed in her office prompted concerned fans to speak out, with one commenting, “I should show her all my giant purple scars from skin cancer removal surgeries due to tanning bed use.”

Another TikTok user wrote, “Her promoting this is so messed up.”

While a third person commented, “Her promoting this [sunbeds] is so messed up.”

In response to someone commenting that Kim uses the tanning bad “for her psoriasis,” another TikTok user insisted, “Tanning beds are UVA lights. Narrowband UVB is needed for psoriasis. Zero doctors would ok this, she’s just using it as an excuse.”

Critics also took to “X,” formerly known as Twitter, to slam the Kardashian’s tanning bed, saying, “Kim k bragging about her tanning bed isn’t the flex she thinks it is.”

Meanwhile, according to the New York Post, Dr. Scott Walter, a dermatologist, warned his followers of the dangers of tanning beds following Kim Kardashian’s “of course” video.

RELATED: Why Kim Kardashian’s Full Body Cancer Scan Is a Bad Idea– According To The Experts, Don’t Replace Your Regular Screenings

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Dr. Walter wrote in a TikTok post, “Kim, no disrespect, but why do you have a tanning bed when your sister has had a history of melanoma herself?”

Despite the concerns for the billionaire, Kim ultimately took to her X page on Friday to say she doesn’t use the tanning bed much.

Alongside a post from Allure urging her not to “normalize tanning beds,” Kim wrote, “I have psoriasis and it really helps when it’s bad. But I don’t use it too often.”

I have psoriasis and it really helps when it’s bad. But I don’t use it too often https://t.co/QuIvUgcZcZ

— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) January 19, 2024

Kim’s fans are likely aware of her psoriasis journey, which began when she was 25. Psoriasis is a chronic condition that causes red, itchy patches to develop on the skin, and symptoms associated with the disease can be uncomfortable or even embarrassing for people living with it.

Despite living with psoriasis, and dealing with occasional flare-ups, Kim appears to have the skin chronic condition under control and is managing her symptoms well.

The Dangers of Sunbeds and UV Exposure

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, tanning beds can be addictive, make skin age more quickly, and serious injury. Therefore, avoiding tanning beds, booths or sun lamps is perhaps the easiest way to reduce your risk of developing skin cancer.

RELATED: Khloe Kardashian Says ‘I’m Good!! I Swear!!’ After Recovering From Surgery To Remove A Tumor From Her Face: Here’s What You Need To Know About Her Type Of Cancer.

In case you need real evidence on why these practices are so bad, consider the following stats from the American Academy of Dermatology and the Skin Cancer Foundation:

RELATED: Half of Teen Tanning Salon Customers Go With Their Moms – Part of Massive Increase in Skin Cancer

• Indoor tanning can increase the risk of developing a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma by 58%.
• Indoor tanning can increase the risk of developing a type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma by 24%.
• Using tanning beds before age 20 can increase your chances of developing melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, by 47%.
• Just one indoor tanning session before age 35 increases the risk of developing life-threatening melanoma by 75%.
• Women younger than 30 are six times more likely to get melanoma if they tan indoors.
• The risk of developing melanoma increases with each sunbed use.
• Research shows that even people who do not burn after indoor tanning or sun exposure are at an increased risk of melanoma if they tan indoors.
• Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk for more than one melanoma diagnosis in a person’s lifetime.

Examining Your Skin for Melanoma: Remember ABCDE

Overall, know that skin cancer experts warn against any amount of sunbed use.

Dr. Anna Pavlick, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, says the UV-blasting beds increase your chances of melanoma “exponentially.”

Tanning Salons Pose a Big Risk for Skin Cancer

“We know there is a direct correlation with [melanoma] patients who go to indoor tanning salons,” Dr. Pavlick told SurvivorNet.

She explained that the exposure to harmful UVA/UVB rays “is about 6 inches from your body” when you hop into a sunbed as opposed to being thousands of miles away when you’re sitting on a beach.

“So you have to think of the intensity that you’re exposing your skin to when you go to a tanning salon,” Dr. Pavlick said.

Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Skin From Skin Cancer

That being said, you shouldn’t lather on the oil and sit outside with zero sun protection either. The sun is not your friend when it comes to skin cancer risk, and dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman recommends you do the following things to protect yourself from skin cancer

• Try to avoid the sun during the peak hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. This advice doesn’t mean you should never go outdoors in the middle of the day, but it does mean you should protect your skin when you do.
• Wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses to protect the top of your head, the tops of your ears and the sensitive area around the eye.
• Wear at least SPF 30 sunscreen daily (all year long).
• Reapply your sunscreen every two hours or after swimming or excessive sweating.
• Get yearly skin checks with a professional since it’s difficult to evaluate all of the body ourselves.

Alternatives to the Beds

If achieving a golden glow is important to you, consider safer alternatives to indoor or outdoor tanning.

“Spray tans and sunless tanning lotions are safe,” Dr. Lynn A. Cornelius said. “One should take precautions not to inhale the product when getting a spray tan. Skin allergic reactions are rare.”

Although spray tans are a much safer alternative to tanning beds and “even have a very mild sunscreen effect,” Dr. Craig Elmets, professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, says not much is known about the side effects. In addition, know that having a spray tan should never replace sunscreen use.

“Not a lot is known about the side effects, but there is very limited absorption and they have been available for decades without any reports of serious side effects, which is reassuring,” he said.

Self-tanning pills are another option for people seeking a tan, but they are not FDA-approved or endorsed by dermatologists. Dr. Elmets says they have also been associated with allergic reactions and systemic side effects.

Understand Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the skin.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States,” with nearly five million people treated for it every year.

There are three main types of skin cancer, ranging from the most mild to the most dangerous form:

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC)

This is a highly treatable form of skin cancer. The basal cells are small, round cells in the lowest part of the epidermis, which is the skin’s outer layer. Cancer can begin in these cells, whose job is to create new cells as old ones die.

Approximately 3 million Americans a year are treated for BCC, including President Joe Biden. Biden, who spent a lot of time in the sun during his youth, has had BCC removed twice from his body.

BCC is often a slow-growing form of cancer, usually diagnosed under a microscope after the suspicious lesion or lump has been removed from the body. SurvivorNet explains that removal can happen in many ways, from surgery to freezing to laser removal.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)

This forms in the squamous cells of the body. According to the National Cancer Institute, these cells are found on “the surface of the skin, the lining of the hollow organs of the body, and the lining of the respiratory and digestive tracts,” in other words, in various parts of your body.

Like BCC, it is usually treatable, but “it can be aggressive” says the Mayo Clinic.

Melanoma

This is the most dangerous skin cancer. Essentially, this is a cancer of the melanocytes, the skin cells that produce melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color.

Dr. Cecilia Larocca, a dermatologist in the Centers of Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, previously told SurvivorNet, “Melanoma gets lumped in together as a skin cancer. But it is quite different compared to squamous cell or basal cell.”

Many people are diagnosed with melanoma when they notice a new mole or a previous mole that has changed in appearance.

Only a biopsy can tell if the mole is cancerous or not. Dr. Larocca says, “On average, for about every 12 biopsies that they do, one of them turns out to be melanoma.”

READ MORE: Am I at High Risk for Melanoma?

Melanoma has the potential to be deadly if it moves beyond the skin and invades other organs. However, Dr. Anna Pavlick, an oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, explained to SurvivorNet that people with stage 1 melanoma have a 90% chance of being cured and people with stage 2 have a 75-80% chance of being cured from surgical excision alone.

People with stage 3 have a 50% chance of being cured with only surgical excision, but there are also many other treatments that are available beyond surgery.

“It’s a very different world now than it was even five years ago,” she says of the medicine that can impact survival rates.

Who is at risk for skin cancer? Anyone who is exposed to sunlight, according to experts. That’s pretty much everybody.

It’s true, according to the CDC, “The most preventable cause of skin cancer is overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, either from the sun or from artificial sources like tanning beds.”

However, it is also true that some people are at more risk for several reasons. Dr. Lewin explains those risk factors as having:

• More than 50 moles
• A propensity to burn; for example, “if you’re a blonde or a redhead,” he says, this might be the case
• A history of melanoma in yourself or your family
• Sun exposure history, to natural sunlight or tanning bed

What Increases Your Risk for Melanoma?

Risk factors are things that make you more likely to get cancer. In the case of melanoma, both your genes and things you’re exposed to in your environment can increase your risk, like:

• Being fair-skinned
• Having blond hair and blue eyes
• Having a family history of skin cancer
• Having many moles all over your body
• Being diagnosed with melanoma in the past
• Frequenting indoor tanning salons

Should you worry about melanoma? Oncologist Dr. Anna Pavlick tells SurvivorNet which factors could increase your risk for this cancer.

Having these factors doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely get melanoma. In fact, odds are that you won’t. But they do slightly increase your odds.

And while you can’t control the color of your skin or eyes, or the genes you’ve inherited, you can avoid sunbathing and indoor tanning salons. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and indoor tanning beds are the leading causes of this cancer.

Also, if you have any of these risks, it’s even more important that you see your dermatologist for regular skin checks, as well as do your own skin checks to look for any new or changing spots.

As for the symptoms of this type of skin cancer, the most important thing to look out for when it comes to finding melanoma is a new spot on your skin, or a spot that is changing in size, shape, or color, SurvivorNet’s medical experts say. The spot will likely also look different from all of the other spots on your skin (doctors call this the “ugly duckling sign”).

When you check your skin, use the acronym ABCDE as your guide:

• Asymmetrical moles: If you drew a line straight down the center of the mole, would the sides match?
• Borders: Is the mole irregular or jagged?
• Colors: Are there multiple distinct colors in the mole?
• Diameter: Is the mole larger than 6 millimeters (mm), about the size of a pencil head eraser?
• Evolution: Has the mole’s color, shape, or size changed over time?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, our experts say it’s time to see your dermatologist for a skin check.

Other red flags to watch for are:

• A sore that doesn’t heal
• Color that spreads from the border of a spot to the skin around it
• Redness or swelling that goes beyond the area of a mole
• Itchiness, tenderness, or pain
• A change in the way the surface of a mole looks
• Scaliness, oozing, or blood

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.