Protect your skin from damaging sun


While you are out­side enjoy­ing the weather this spring and sum­mer, don’t take the health of your skin for granted. Increased expo­sure to ultra­vi­o­let radi­a­tion from the sun increases your risk of skin can­cer and pre­ma­ture aging of the skin.

Expo­sure is a dan­ger for every­one, but peo­ple with fair skin, light eyes, red or blond hair, and a his­tory of burn­ing are espe­cially sus­cep­ti­ble. Peo­ple who are tak­ing cer­tain sun-sensitive med­ica­tions such as antibi­otics, birth con­trol pills or some cos­met­ics should also be wary.

We don’t expect peo­ple to live in a cave. In fact, some sun expo­sure is nec­es­sary to main­tain health­ful lev­els of Vit­a­min D. Mod­er­a­tion is the rule, but if you start to burn you know you’ve over­done it. We want you to make pro­tec­tion a pri­or­ity, espe­cially if you are going to be out in the sun all day boat­ing or swim­ming. Reflec­tive sur­faces such as water increase the risk of dam­age to your skin and eyes.

Ultra­vi­o­let radi­a­tion is espe­cially intense at this time of year because the sun is at a more direct angle to the Earth. Peak sun hours occur between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when UV rays have the short­est dis­tance to travel through the atmos­phere. Even under cloudy skies, the sun can dam­age your skin.

Skin is the body’s largest organ. It pro­tects mus­cle, bone and other organs; reg­u­lates body tem­per­a­ture; and enables you to feel sen­sa­tions such as hot and cold, hard and soft, and pain and comfort.

Sun expo­sure dam­ages the skin’s DNA (genetic mate­r­ial) and depresses your immune sys­tem. Its effect on the skin is sim­i­lar to the effect of smok­ing on the lungs.

Indoor tan­ning and child­hood burn­ing are believed to be respon­si­ble for an alarm­ing rise in melanoma cases, espe­cially among young adults. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin can­cer. Since 1970, the melanoma rates have increased eight-fold among women and four-fold among men, accord­ing to a recently pub­lished study by The Mayo Clinic. There is no such thing as a safe tan­ning bed.

Basal cell and squa­mous cell car­ci­no­mas make up the vast major­ity of skin can­cers and are highly cur­able when treated early. Melanoma is respon­si­ble for 75 per­cent of all skin can­cer deaths because it is the type of skin can­cer most likely to spread to other organs.

Most skin can­cers can be treated with sur­gi­cal exci­sion or freez­ing. Treat­ment for malig­nant melanoma depends on what stage it has reached. Advances in med­ica­tions and sur­gi­cal tech­niques have greatly improved our treat­ment options, but pre­ven­tion and early detec­tion are the keys to com­bat­ing skin cancer.

The most com­mon sign of skin can­cer is a new mole or skin lesion, or a change in an exist­ing mole. When look­ing for a melanoma, think of the ABCD rule: asym­me­try (irreg­u­lar shape), bor­der (ragged or blurry edges), color (moles with mul­ti­ple col­ors) and diam­e­ter (greater than a pen­cil eraser).

Here are some tips we rec­om­mend to limit damage:

• Plan your out­door activ­i­ties in the morn­ing or evening to avoid the sun’s strongest rays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Wear pro­tec­tive cloth­ing, includ­ing a wide-brimmed hat and sun­glasses that adver­tise 100 per­cent UVA and UVB protection.

• Use a sun­screen labeled “broad spec­trum” and with a SPF fac­tor of 15 or greater; lib­er­ally reap­ply every 40 minutes.

• If you have risk fac­tors such as a lot of moles or a fam­ily his­tory, seek a base­line eval­u­a­tion from a der­ma­tol­o­gist who can deter­mine if you need reg­u­lar screen­ings. Exam­ine your skin monthly and con­tact your physi­cian if you find a new or chang­ing mole, bleed­ing mole, lesion, scaly patch or sore.

Dr. Tim­o­thy Moore is an oncol­o­gist and an active mem­ber of the Grady Memo­r­ial Hos­pi­tal med­ical staff.

Posted by Grady Memorial Hospital on May 9 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.