This Memorial Day weekend was particularly difficult for me.
You see, my 23 year old son has joined the Air Force. He left for basic
training on Tuesday, right after Memorial Day. He made the decision in the fall
and went in for his physical with MEPS in late November 2012. He passed with
flying colors with one exception, severe acne. I had no idea that the Air Force
would disqualify someone over acne, but apparently that is possible. They told
him that everything checked out, but if his skin didn’t clear up before it was
time to ship off to basic training, they would disqualify him. He left for a
quick trip out of town at the end of November and thought things over about
what he should do. He has tried things in the past like Proactiv, and other
similar acne systems with little success. He could go to a Dermatologist to treat it,
but the methods they use would include antibiotics that would alter his body
chemistry and stay in his system for months which would show up in a UA and
that would disqualify him immediately.
In December he
approached me and said he wanted to give tanning a try. He had been looking up
alternative solutions online and there were many testimonials about success
through tanning. We headed to Tan the
Moon and spoke with the manager Katherine and she got him set up with a special.
She walked him through the process and discussed what his goals were. She
recommended a schedule for him based on his skin type and he started tanning
regularly. By February his skin was the
clearest I’ve seen it in years. When I
asked him about it he said he felt it was helping, but he also started using
Tea Tree Oil soap and went back to a Vegan diet so he felt the combination of
all three of those things were contributing. Hey, whatever works, I was
impressed with how it all started coming together for him.
He was scheduled to ship out May 7th and at the
end of April had a bit of a set back because he had a few areas that were
starting to break out again. He had stopped tanning as regularly, but was still
using the special soap. They decided to push back his ship out date by 3 weeks
to give him time to get it cleared up again. He started back with his regular
tanning schedule and on May 23rd it was clear enough to pass MEPS
and he was given the green light to ship out 5 days later.
Had I known that he could have cleared up his problem skin
so easily, I would have had him tan years ago. I would have had him go in his
high school years. That is why it bothers me so much that there are so many states
trying to pass laws banning anyone under 18 from tanning. It doesn’t make sense
to me now that I know what good can come from tanning.
