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May is national skin cancer awareness month and that means we have to gear up to protect ourselves. Damage caused by UV radiation emitted by the Sun causes more than 90% of skin cancer. As a skin cancer surgeon I see many patients from 50 to 90 years old that had a...
May is national skin cancer awareness month and that means we have to gear up to protect ourselves. Damage caused by UV radiation emitted by the Sun causes more than 90% of skin cancer. As a skin cancer surgeon I see many patients from 50 to 90 years old that had a considerable amount of sun damage in their youth playing outdoors. They tell me their parents didn’t know anything about sun damage and they didn’t either. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of dermatologists to educate the public about the dangers of skin cancer mothers are now aware of the dangers the sun poses to their children. Parents try to apply sunscreen on their children at the beach but that is very difficult. They also put it on before they play sports or have extended sun exposure. What most of us don’t know is that we get most of our sun exposure on a daily basis when driving through the car windows, walking from the car to the supermarket or work, or during recess at school. Are the kids protected then? I would bet that the answer is no. So how do we solve this problem? What do we do about it?
As parents we have to remember that the sun is always present and constantly causing damage to the skin and that damage is cumulative. In order to win the battle we have to adopt a sunwise lifestyle. What does this mean? Being sunwise is not just one thing or another but a culmination of things that combined can help protect from long term sun damage. Being sunwise means that you avoid direct sunlight between 10 am and 2pm. The UV radiation is strongest during this time and avoiding being outside is the best approach. Take your walk in the morning before work or during the evening after you get back from work and take the kids with you to get some exercise. Seek shade when outdoors. I tell my patients that if you want to sit on the patio for lunch to enjoy the outdoors, go ahead but pick the table in the shade. You will actually enjoy your lunch more without the sun blazing down on you. If you want to go to the beach make sure you have an umbrella. You should also use sun protective clothing. There are several brands such as Coolibar and UVSkinz that have sun protective clothing. Alternatively you can add Sun Guard to your laundry detergent and it will provide sun protection to your daily garments. If you spend a lot of time in the water then you can try Watermans Sunscreen that tends to stay on.
