Sun Safety
Sun Safety Facts
Sun safety is never out of season. The arrival of summer means an increase in outdoor activities, which means an increase in sunburns. The danger of too much sun is not limited to the summer months however and we should remember to be wary of the sun’s rays year round.
The need for sun safety has become increasingly clear over the past 30 years, as studies have proven that exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer. Harmful rays from the sun, sunlamps, and tanning beds may also cause eye problems, weaken your immune system, and give you unsightly skin spots, wrinkles, or dehydrated skin. Sun damage to the body is caused by invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Tanning is also a sign of the skin reacting to potentially damaging UV radiation by producing additional pigmentation that provides it with some, but not enough, protection against sunburn.
No matter what our skin color, we are all potentially susceptible to sunburn and the other detrimental effects of exposure to UV radiation.
Although we all need to take precautions to protect our skin, you need to be especially careful in the sun if:
• You have pale skin
• You have blond, red, or light brown hair
• You have been treated for skin cancer
• You have a family member who has had skin cancer
Sun Safety Overview
Overexposure to the sun can result in skin cancer and some important facts and statistics to remember are:
• You can sunburn even on a cloudy day.
• On average, children get three times more exposure than adults.
• Concrete, sand, water, and snow reflect 85% to 90% of the sun’s UV rays.
• Depletion of Earth’s ozone continues to increase your exposure to UV rays.
• In some parts of the world, melanoma is increasing at rates faster than any other cancer.
• More than one million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States.
• Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, kills one person every hour.
• One, blistering sunburn can double a child’s lifetime risk of developing skin cancer.
• Eighty percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is acquired before age 18.
Many of us love the warm sun. The sun’s rays make us feel good, and in the short term, make us look good. This love affair is not healthy however as exposure to the sun is the number one cause of skin cancer. Sun exposure causes many of the skin changes that we think of as a normal part of aging. Over time, the sun’s UV light damages the fibers in your skin called elastin and when the fibers break down, your skin begins to sag and stretch. The sun also causes your skin to bruise more easily and take longer to heal. While sun damage to the skin may not be apparent when you are young, it will definitely show later in your life.
Exposure to the sun changes your skin and causes:
• Pre-cancerous (actinic keratosis) and cancerous (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma) skin lesions
• Benign tumors
• Fine and coarse wrinkles
• Freckles
• Discolored areas of the skin, called mottled pigmentation
• A yellow discoloration of the skin
• The dilation of small blood vessels under the skin
Sometimes your skin can repair itself but nothing can completely undo your sun damage. This should not stop you from caring for your skin however as it is never too late to begin protecting yourself from the sun.
The sun’s rays are ionizing radiation, no different than the radiation of an atomic blast or a cobalt 60 therapy found in cancer treatment centers. The sun is also responsible for reducing immune responses and causes many long-lasting aging effects such as lines, wrinkles, collagen loss, brown spots, loss of elasticity, freckles, and broken spider veins.
Because of the ultraviolet radiation it emits, the sun is inherently dangerous to human skin. The American Academy of Dermatology stipulates that there is no safe way to tan, as tanning is your skin’s natural response to damage from the sun. Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency proclaims that everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity, is subject to the potential adverse effects of overexposure to the sun. That is why everyone needs to protect his or her skin from the sun every day.
The good news is if you are self-conscious about how the sun has changed your appearance, this lack of confidence can affect many areas of your life. Call Winter Park Dermatology today where Dr. Tabas will help restore your confidence with a variety of cosmetic procedures designed to make you look and feel better about yourself.
