Protect Your Skin It's The Package You Came Wrapped In

The main rule is: Don't Go To Bed Red!

2003-02-09 07:45:38 -0400

If you go to bed red, you should not have done it. You should have applied more sun screen or applied it more often or have gotten out of the sun sooner.

ABOUT YOUR SKIN AND SUN DAMAGE

The sun is a wonderful gift. It brings us heat, joy, and fine weather. Like many good things in life, it is a wonderful thing if it is not taken in doses that are too large. 

One out of three Canadians will get skin cancer in his/her lifetime. Although sun damage is not the only cause, it is, by far, the main cause. The relationship of sunburn to skin cancer is similar to that of cigarettes to lung cancer. However, a little tanning is not so bad. What is bad is burning. People should not get sunburns any more than they should drive without their seat belt.

HOW DO I PREVENT SUNBURNS?

Use a sun screen. It will not kill you. You survived getting used to tooth paste. If you are outside long enough that you will get a sunburn, put sun screen on the areas which would get burned. On the face, this would be mostly on the cheek bones, on the nose, on the temples, and on the ears. This is where we tend to get most of the skin cancers because this is where we tend to get most of the burns. Don't put sun screens on your eyelids because it tends to burn if it gets in your eyes (Just like soap).

Although a hat is a good sun protective device, it does not stop the extra thirty percent ultra-violet light which gets reflected off snow and water and bounced back up onto your face. Being on the snow or water is like being surrounded by thousands of tiny mirrors reflecting the sun light at you.

We blame a lot of winter sun damage on the wind (wind burn), but ultra-violet light plays a large role. You should screen in the winter as well as in the summer. The most common cause of sunburn after screening is that you did not put it on thickly enough.

HOW DO I BUY A SUN SCREEN?

Firstly, go to your local pharmacist and ask him where he/she keeps the sun screens. He/she will usually show you to an aisle filled with dozens of varieties. All of them have one thing in common. They all have a large number on the front of the bottle. The higher the number, the greater the sun protection. It is generally recommended that you get a sun screen which has a number fifteen or more. If you use a 1 5SPF screen, it is said that you can stay out fifteen times longer before you get the same sunburn you would get if you were not screened. If you try a sun screen and it irritates your skin, try another kind. Eventually, you will find one which suits you. I use number 30. SPF 1 5 blocks 92% of the ultraviolet light and SPF 30 blocks 97% of the ultraviolet light.

WHY SHOULD I BOTHER TO USE A SUN SCREEN WHEN I AM ALREADY OLD AND COOKED?

There are three good reasons:

1.The older you get, the less natural protection you have in your skin from sun damage. You make less melanin as you get older (that is the stuff that naturally tans you and protects you from sun damage).

2.Your ability to repair sun damage in your skin decreases with age. You are more likely to get a skin cancer from a sun burn at age 60 than you would at age 40.

3. As we live in the 2000's, the ozone layer which surrounds the earth and blocks out ultra-violet light B is thinning. More ultra- violet light B (the burning rays causing skin cancer), is getting through and will get through to hit our skin in our lifetime. This is part of a new age when we have to protect ourselves from our damaged environment. It is a new fact of life in the new century.

AGE SPOTS (SUN SPOTS)

People often complain of "age spots" These are patches of various shades of brown which we tend to get on our face as we get older. However, these are not age spots. This is easy to prove. Look at anyone who has a lot of "age spots" on their face and hands. If you look at that same person's skin anywhere on their body which is usually covered by a bathing suit, you will see that the skin is almost one hundred percent lily white with no "age spots". That skin covered by the bathing suit is no older than the skin of the face. (It was born on the same day!) However, it has not been sun damaged. As sun burning ages the skin, brown patches begin to appear.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE SKIN CANCER

The easiest cancer to recognize and treat is skin cancer.

The main thing which makes skin cancer easy to recognize is that it does not stop growing. All of us get all kinds of things growing on our skin as we get older. Those which are not cancers stop growing. If you get a red or pink lumpy growth that keeps growing, be suspicious. If it starts to ooze liquid or bleed (without you scratching it), this is also suspicious.

Almost all of the above red and pink skin cancers are basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers. The cure rate for these cancers is more than ninety-five percent with either surgery or radiation. This is because these cancers do not swim to the other organs such as the brain, lungs or liver. That is how regular cancers, such as breast cancer and bowel cancer, kill people.

Although red and pink skin cancers are not killers, they should be removed. If they are not removed, they will keep growing and growing.

On the other hand, beware of black areas which keep growing. Almost all malignant melanomas are black or have black in them. Like other skin cancers, the main thing which distinguishes them from things which are not cancers is that they keep growing and do not stop. They can be flat or raised. They can have an unusual shape (like Prince Edward Island). Most moles are round or oval. Malignant melanoma is a black cancer which can have a funny shape (not round or oval) and can also bleed (without you scratching it). Beware of black things which keep growing!

SHOULD WE BECOME HERMITS AND STAY OUT OF THE SUN?

Of course not. That would be silly and a waste. Go out and enjoy the sun all you like. Just protect yourself. All you have to do is not get sunburned. When you look in the mirror at night, before going to bed, if you see red there, you should not have done it. You should either have reapplied sun screen, used a sun screen that has a higher SPF, or done something differently to not get sunburned. Treat sunlight like alcohol, take it in small doses.

YOUR CHILD AND THE SUN

In particular, children should not get sun burns. We get eighty percent of our total life ultra-violet light dosage before the age of eighteen. It is very important that we not allow our children to get sunburned and that we teach them the proper use of sun screen and sun protection. We should also teach them that the sun is to be enjoyed, but in moderation. Let them play outside as much as they like, just do not let them burn. Explain to them that sunburns not only cause skin cancer (this does not mean anything to them), but that sun burns cause unattractive facial blemishes later in life. If CANCER does not bother them. UGLY might!

August2001

© Copyright 2003 Jean-Claude Noel. Last update: 2003-04-29; 9:05:09 PM.