Star Player’s Doctor Prescribes Sunbed
A New Jersey high school basketball star made nationwide news this week when it was revealed that he is one of 3 million Americans referred to sunbed centers by doctors, and that he has to tan daily to control his rare skin disease.
Josh Borrelli, a senior guard from Shawnee, N.J., has a rare skin condition called Mucha-Habermann, an auto-immune disease that can be controlled with regular UV exposure. Daily sunbed sessions help Borelli control lesions and rashes. His doctors told him to visit a tanning salon as an accessible, affordable way to control the disease.
Three million Americans visit sunbed centers because doctors referred them. Self-treatment of psoriasis, eczema, acne and seasonal depression lead the list of reasons doctors refer clients to sunbed centers. The salons follow their cosmetic protocol to tan the client, and the client realizes any benefit as a side-effect of the cosmetic tan.
Sunbeds were first invented in light-deprived Northern European countries for therapeutic reasons.
