This week was a big week for Kim Kardashian. After announcing that her brand SKKN was (finally) expanding into color cosmetics, she took fans on a tour of her company's offices via TikTok. In the process, she shared an even bigger beauty surprise: in 2024, the 43-year-old owns an actual, real-life tanning bed.

Tanning beds were all the rage in the early 2000s, but they are notoriously unhealthy. In fact, UV tanning beds were classified as a Class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization in 2009. Nevertheless, fans were shocked when Kardashian showed off her very own bed and shared the latest information on why she carries it around.

"I have psoriasis and it really helps when it's bad. But I don't use it very often," the SKIMS founder wrote via X on Friday, March 19.

Phototherapy is often prescribed to treat psoriasis. According to Dr. Hadley King, a board-certified dermatologist, the treatment works by inhibiting both the growth of skin cells and the part of the immune system that is activated in psoriasis. Although the National Psoriasis Society does not endorse the use of indoor tanning beds as a substitute for phototherapy, beds with UVB bulbs are still common equipment in the psoriasis community. Dr. Robert Finney, founder of Soho Skin and Hair Restoration and a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist, told us about the science behind this treatment and the issues involved.

"It is true that UV light from tanning beds can help psoriasis. However, tanning beds also contain harmful wavelengths that cause skin aging as well as, most importantly, skin cancer. When dermatologists recommend light therapy for psoriasis and other skin conditions, we use 'narrowband UV-B.' Basically, research has shown that using light in a very specific band of the UV-B spectrum is effective in treating skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis without inducing the harmful DNA damage that leads to skin cancer," she said. In other words, she is putting a bit of a spin on a bad choice."

Unfortunately, both UVA and UVB can cause skin cancer and photoaging. As Dr. King puts it, this is why there is no such thing as a healthy tan: UVA penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB and is the primary ray of sunburn, while UVB "is the primary cause of sunburn, plays an important role in the development of skin cancer, and contributes to sunburn and photoaging."

The UVB is the primary cause of sunburn and plays a significant role in skin cancer development.

"We generally don't tell people to go to tanning salons. This is because medical phototherapy is more specific and regulated to provide the least amount of effective UV radiation without burning the skin," Dr. King adds. One must always weigh the risks and benefits when deciding on a treatment." Just as medications have potential side effects, phototherapy has potential side effects, primarily premature aging of the skin and increased risk of skin cancer. For psoriasis patients whose skin has a high melanin content and who do not already have significant sun damage, phototherapy is a better option."

Kardashian's first diagnosis was aired on a 2011 episode of With the Kardashians. In the years since, she has been very open about her struggle with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, posting selfies during attacks and even writing an editorial on the subject for her sister Kourtney Kardashian's POOSH Wellness website.

"It has been 13 years since I first experienced a psoriasis flare-up. My journey has been very different from my mother's, but there are many similarities. My mother had psoriasis on her scalp and all over her body, and I remember seeing it all the time and going to tanning salons to try to relieve it," she wrote in her essay.

Despite the reality icon's experience, Rachel Nazarian, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York, urges fans with the condition to stay away from salons.

"Kim Kardashian is setting a dangerous example by suggesting that getting into a tanning bed is the right way to treat psoriasis. Not only does it increase the risk of skin cancer, but it also accelerates skin aging, causing wrinkles, sagging, and uneven coloration, primarily using UVA to irradiate the skin and induce sunburn," the doctor said. 'Medicine has already evolved and accelerated the manipulation of the sun's wavelengths so that they can be safely used to treat skin conditions known to respond to sunlight. As a dermatologist, I recommend phototherapy to my patients who are battling difficult psoriasis because it is absolutely 100% safe. I would never recommend that a patient step into a tanning bed or lie in the sun in an attempt to treat a skin disease, knowing that it will only be in exchange for the development of another potentially life-threatening disease."

Dr. Nazarian, like Kardashian and the rest of us, "of course" loves the TikTok trend, but she suggests "not developing life-threatening skin cancer" in the process:

"I'm a certified dermatologist, so of course celebrities' terrible skin care recommendations online, I have to debunk them."