Choosing a Sunscreen

Buy a high-quality product with an SPF of 15 or higher; check its ingredients to make sure it offers broad-spectrum protection; and decide whether it works better for everyday incidental use or extended outdoor use. Look for The Skin Cancer Foundation's Seal of Recommendation, which guarantees that a sunscreen product meets the highest standards for safety and effectiveness. Once you choose the right sunscreen, use it the right way. But remember, you should not rely on sunscreen alone to protect your skin against UV rays.

2 common myths about sunscreen use

If it's cold or cloudy outside, you don't need sunscreen.
This is not true. Up to 40 percent of the sun's ultraviolet radiation reaches the earth on a completely cloudy day. This misperception often leads to the most serious sunburns, because people spend all day outdoors with no protection from the sun.

80 percent of your sun exposure comes as a child, so it's too late to do anything now.It appears that this universally promoted idea was based largely on a misinterpretation. A recent multi-center study showed that we get less than 25 percent of our total sun exposure by age 18. In fact, it is men over the age of 40 who spend the most time outdoors, and get the highest annual doses of UV rays. And since adult Americans are living longer and spending more leisure time outdoors, preventing ongoing skin damage will continue to be an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

A snscreen myth

Wearing sunscreen can cause vitamin D deficiency.There is some controversy regarding this issue, but few dermatologists believe (and no studies have shown) that sunscreens cause vitamin D deficiency. Also, vitamin D is available in dietary supplements and foods such as salmon and eggs, as well as enriched milk and orange juice.

How much sunscreen should I use and how often should I put it on?

To ensure that you get the full SPF of a sunscreen, you need to apply 1 oz – about a shot glass full. Studies show that most people apply only half to a quarter of that amount, which means the actual SPF they have on their body is lower than advertised. During a long day at the beach, one person should use around one half to one quarter of an 8 oz. bottle. Sunscreens should be applied 30 minutes before sun exposure to allow the ingredients to fully bind to the skin. Reapplication of sunscreen is just as important as putting it on in the first place, so reapply the same amount every two hours. Sunscreens should be reapplied immediately after swimming, toweling off, or sweating a great deal.

What Type of Sunscreen Should I Use?

The answer depends on how much sun exposure you're anticipating. In all cases we recommend a broad-spectrum sunscreen offering protection against both UVA and UVB rays.
Many after-shave lotions and moisturizers have a sunscreen (usually SPF 15 or greater) already in them, and this is sufficient for everyday activities with a few minutes here and there in the sun. However, if you work outside or spend a lot of time outdoors, you need stronger, water-resistant, beachwear-type sunscreen that holds together on your skin. The "water resistant" and "very water resistant" types are also good for hot days or while playing sports, because they're less likely to drip into your eyes. However, these sunscreens may not be as good for everyday wear. They are stickier, don't go as well with makeup, and need to be reapplied every two hours.
Many of the sunscreens available in the US today combine several different active chemical sunscreen ingredients in order to provide broad-spectrum protection. Usually, at least three active ingredients are called for. These generally include PABA derivatives, salicylates, and/or cinnamates (octylmethoxycinnamate and cinoxate) for UVB absorption; benzophenones (such as oxybenzone and sulisobenzone) for shorter-wavelength UVA protection; and avobenzone (Parsol 1789), ecamsule (Mexoryl), titanium dioxide, or zinc oxide for the remaining UVA spectrum.

Who can use sunscreen?

Anyone over the age of six months should use a sunscreen daily. Even those who work inside are exposed to ultraviolet radiation for brief periods throughout the day. Also, UVA is not blocked by most windows. Children under the age of six months should not be exposed to the sun. Shade and protective clothing are the best ways to protect infants from the sun.

SPF, what's that?

Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen's ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here's how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.
Another way to look at it is in terms of percentages: SPF 15 blocks approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97 percent; and SPF 50 blocks 99 percent. They may seem like negligible differences, but if you are light-sensitive, or have a history of skin cancer, those extra percentages will make a difference. And as you can see, no sunscreen can block all UV rays.
But there are problems with the SPF model: First, no sunscreen, regardless of strength, should be expected to stay effective longer than two hours without reapplication. Second, "reddening" of the skin is a reaction to UVB rays alone and tells you little about what UVA damage you may be getting. Plenty of damage can be done without the red flag of sunburn being raised.
source- Skin Cancer Foundation

a lifestyle that can reduce skin cancer risks

Prolonged exposure to sunlight, besides other factors leads to skin cancer. In 2007 alone, 1,000,000 cases of skin (non-melanoma) cancer have been estimated, with nearly 2000 people being killed by the disease.
Though it is not always possible to change one’s job requirements to go out and travel in the sun, change in your “lifestyle” can be an answer to the deadly disease.
If you are an exercise freak, just add to it a cup of that refreshing coffee – and you are at the least risk of developing skin cancer!
Yes, by building up this healthy but simple habit, you may actually reduce your risk from the painful and killer disease. This combination of exercise and caffeine may help bringing in a revolutionary remedy to the growing skin cancer cases across the world.
Dr. Allan H. Conney of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers said,
With an understanding of these mechanisms we can then take this to the next level, going beyond mice in the lab to human trials. With the stronger levels of UVB radiation evident today and an upward trend in the incidence of skin cancer among Americans, there is a premium on finding novel ways to protect our bodies from sun damage.
And if you are a ‘caffeine-drinking runner’ and the new finding proves true for humans, then you are just the ideal example of the lifestyle that can effectively reduce skin cancer risks.
But again, that does not mean, you can take the liberty of staying unprotected under the sun for hours!

Early sunbed use boosts melanoma risk

People who use tanning beds do not protect themselves from skin damage from subsequent sun exposure, an international research group has concluded. In fact, use of sunbeds before age 35 substantially increases the risk of developing melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer, the investigators found.

"Young adults should be discouraged from using indoor tanning equipment and restricted access to sunbeds by minors should be strongly considered," the Working Group on artificial UV light and skin cancer of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concludes in the March 1 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

The group reviewed all studies done up until March 2006 to investigate the relationship between sunbed use and skin cancer.

Men and women who ever used sunbeds were 15 percent more likely to develop melanoma, the researchers found, based on 19 studies they reviewed. A review of seven studies found that exposure to tanning beds before age 35 boosted melanoma risk by 75 percent.

While three studies of a less-deadly type of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, also found increased risk with sunbed exposure, research did not support a link with basal cell carcinoma, another common type of skin cancer.

Given that sunbed use has become widespread only relatively recently, and that both melanoma and basal cell carcinoma have a long latency period, the current study may not have been able to detect all potential risk, the researchers note.

Nevertheless, they say, current evidence is strong enough to suggest that tanning bed use causes skin cancer, especially if exposure to sunbeds occurs before the age of 35.

"The strength of the existing evidence suggests that policy makers should strongly consider enacting measures such as restricting minors and discouraging young adults from using indoor tanning equipment, in order to protect the general population from additional risk for melanoma and squamous cell skin cancer," the IARC group concludes.