Being outdoorsy is fun, especially if you love nature and thrilling activities. When you are about to do outdoor activities, do not forget to use sun protectors—in any means! We are not saying this to serve your aesthetic or cosmetics purposes, but this is for the sake of your health!
Many people, especially men, tend to neglect the risk of sun exposure. Sometimes claiming it as being masculine, they prefer not to add a layer of sunscreen on their skin while doing outdoor activities. Some people even say they love to have their skin darker so that they would avoid using any protectors, but it is not the point we try to make here.
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) even emphasizes to protect our skin and be aware of the damages of excessive sun exposure to reduce the risk of skin cancer. Â We need to our epidermis that sun rays can both help and harm us, as they can sometimes be our friend, but appear as a foe to us.
On brighter days, we should admit that sunlight can be a free mood enhancer and provide us with a right amount of sun vitamin as it can enhance the Vitamin D we need. However, long-term and unprotected exposure to ultraviolet light emitted by the sun can also bring some risks such as unhealthy sunburn, heat rash, wrinkles, even skin cancer.
According to a dermatologist, Dr. Carey Bligard from UnityPoint Health-Trinity Regional Medical Center, skin cancer is the worst effect of unprotected long-term sun exposure. It is true that the damages brought by sun exposure are not an overnight process. It may take years to develop skin damages in our skin due to the sun’s ultraviolet light (UV) radiation, and based on the frequency of occurrence; there are three types of skin cancer:
Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
This damage often occurs due to effusive growths or lesions that emerge in the basal cells of our skin. Oftentimes it comes in forms of red or pinkish patches, open sores, shiny scars. The skin becomes shiny and salient, making it very sensitive and easily wounded This type of skin cancer is caused by cumulative, occasional, and strong exposure to the sun.
BCC almost never spreads but it can grow bigger. It can also possess a more serious damage if ignored.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)
This is the second most common type of skin cancer. It can happen to our skin because of uncontrolled development of abnormal cells emerging from squamous cells in our epidermis. In most cases, SCCs are caused by cumulative and long-term UV light exposure.
Malignant Melanoma
This is the most dangerous type of skin cancer, even though the least common one to occur. Dr Bligard said the case of Melanoma keeps on increasing every year especially in women from 18 until 29 years old who are the frequent users of a tanning bed.
Melanoma is very dangerous as it can occur in every area of our skin as long as it pigment-producing cells are present. Not only that, Melanoma is known for its proliferation to other organs such as the liver, brain, and lungs. So, to prevent it to spread across our organs, Melanoma should be treated from the early stage, because it is actually curable if detected earlier.
Yet, luckily, there are many ways to choose from to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun.
Cover up is the easiest and simplest way to do to protect our skin. Bear in mind that the sun’s rays become more intense between 10 am until 4 pm. If you can avoid outdoor scheduling activities, remember to cover up!
Apply sunscreen at least 20 minutes before direct sun exposure. Pay attention to the Sun Protective Factors (SPF) contents. The SPF numbers indicate the estimated time a person who has applied the products can go out in the sun without getting burned. Just simply multiply the number of your SPF with 20 minutes.
For instance, you have a sunscreen product with SPF 30. Since an SPF 30 x 20 minutes equals to 600. Thus, 600 expresses how many minutes you can stay out in the sun without burning. So, why is 20-minute rule used as the measurement? Because 20 minutes is the allowed time for unprotected people to go out in the sun without having a risk of getting burned. After 20 minutes our skin can naturally produce redness.
Avoid sunbathing, or if you still cannot give it up, you should set a slower sunbathing process to give rooms for melanin to form, to provide some protection.