The days of slathering on baby oil and baking in the sun for hours on a tinfoil towel may be long gone, but a taking in a few rays still has its place—especially if you have fibromyalgia. According to a study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, ultra violet (UV) light may help ease pain in patients with fibromyalgia.

Researchers in Wake Forest’s departments of dermatology, rheumatology, and public health services exposed 19 fibromyalgia patients light treatments via tanning beds three times a week for six weeks. Some beds supplied UV light while others had non-UV rays. Patients were asked to report their levels of pain, as well as their moods.

The fibro patients who had soaked up the real UV showed a modest improvement in pain, well-being and relaxation, compared to the non-UV group.  The results back up previous studies that showed UV light treatments improved arthritis and back pain, though the results now need to be confirmed with a larger study population, according to study author Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Dermatology Research at Wake Forest Baptist. “We decided to look at fibromyalgia patients because there is such a big need for treatment,” Feldman says. “We knew from [previous studies] that the UV light was doing something for participants beyond the obvious.”

Feldman adds that it can’t just be the warmth—and the consequent increase in blood flow and muscle relaxation—that relieves the pain. If so, the non-UV users would have experienced the same benefits.

While researchers continue to explore what it is that makes UV a pain reliever, experts say people in pain should consider the risks of too many trips to the Tan-o-lot. In July, the World Health Organization named the UV radiation from tanning beds one of the most dangerous forms of cancer-causing radiation.