Overexposure to the sun’s UV rays can damage skin. This damage can show immediately, as in a sunburn or rash, or appear years later as premature wrinkling, sun spots, and skin cancer.
Sun safety is important year round. From a summer picnic, a day at the beach, a hike in the fall, or a wintry day on the ski slopes... the sun’s rays can damage your skin. If you work outside, you should be extra vigilant about sun protection.
Follow the guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for sun protection safety. Reduce damage and preserve your skin!
Seven Steps To Safer Sunning
Stay in the shade. Avoid the sun from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This is when sun-rays are strongest. Don’t be fooled by cloudy skies. Harmful rays pass right through clouds.
Use sunscreen products on your skin. Products with sunscreens have an "SPF" number on the label. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. Choose a product with an SPF number of 15 or more. The Best Sunscreen is one whose label says: "broad spectrum," meaning it protects against the two types of harmful rays.
Tips for Using Sunscreen Products:
Apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going outside.
Rub evenly into all exposed skin. Be sure to include eyelids, lips, nose, ears, neck, hands, and feet. If your hair is thin, apply to the top of the head.
Avoid contact with your eyes. It stings!
Reapply as needed, following product instructions.
Do not use a sunscreen on babies under 6 months old.
Apply sunscreen as directed above to children older than 6 months.
Wear a hat. A hat with a wide brim helps shade the neck, ears, eyes, and head.
Wear sunglasses. Choose sunglasses that block 100 percent of the sun’s rays. They should be clearly labeled as blocking with a label saying the glasses such. Avoid sunglasses that carry no sun protection label.
Cover up. Wear loose, lightweight, long-sleeved shirts and long pants or long skirts when in the sun. Dedicated sun protective clothes, designed for those who are particularly sensitive to the sun, are another option.
Avoid artificial tanning methods. This includes sunlamps and tanning beds, as well as tanning pills and tanning makeup. Tanning pills have a color additive that turns your skin orange after you take them. The FDA has OK’d this color additive for coloring foods but not for tanning the skin. The large amount of color additive in tanning pills may be harmful.
Tanning makeup is put on the skin to make it look tan. The color can be washed off with soap and water. Self Tanning Lotions last up to a week after application. These products are not sunscreen lotions and will NOT protect your skin from the sun.
Check your skin regularly for signs of skin cancer. Look for changes in the size, shape, color or feel of birthmarks, moles and spots. If you find any changes or find sores that are not healing, see your doctor.
Look at the back of your neck and scalp with the help of a hand mirror.
Look at your body--front, back and sides--in the mirror.
Bend your elbows and look at the undersides of your arms.
Look at the backs of your legs and feet.
Check parts that are hard to see--like your back--with a hand mirror.
That's it! Sun protection safety is simple. Keep your skin healthy and beautiful by following the 7 sun care tips above.
References:
United States Food and Drug Administration United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
