Planning a day at the beach or having a spontaneous water fight with your significant other is surely entertaining. But lacking the proper protection, your sun-kissed look might turn into sunburn, and nobody wants that.
Sunscreen should be indispensable from your daily routine during hot summer days, even if swimming at the beach isn’t in the day’s agenda. Yes, it might be cumbersome to constantly think about whether you have lathered on sunscreen lotion, but it’s either that or a possible scary visit to the doctor.
Proper sunscreen has the ability of protecting your skin from damage and premature aging at the same time, and experts teach us which are the best to use. Justine Hextall, consultant dermatologist, explains that the high majority of conventional sunblocks with UVA and UVB filters are not enough.
Blocking UVA and UVB covers only 7 percent of the sun’s damaging rays; the real enemy is infrared-A, which amounts to 30 percent of the sun rays, has the most harmful effects. Infrared-A is responsible from loss of elastin and collagen in the skin – the main cause of sagging – to broken veins and dark spots.
Dr. Hextall highlighted that using Infrared-A protection helps you block four times more of the sun’s harmful rays. At the same time, if you notice more permanent changes in the way your skin looks or feels, Dr. Alamaani encourages you to seek medical advice. Your GP should be able to help you, or refer you to a dermatologist.
Individuals who have family history of melanomas or lots of moles on their body should definitely consult a specialist before basking in the sun. Some might require a mole mapping, a procedure that analyzes each mole on the entire body, making sure they are benign.
Skin cancer is divided in two large categories: malignant and non-malignant melanoma. About 90 percent of the non-melanoma skin cancers are caused by exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Joanne Upton, advanced skin-cancer nurse at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside, said early diagnose is essential with this type of skin cancer, because then it can be cured.
It is not the same with malignant melanoma skin cancers, which are known for their fast growth and increased fatality – a mere six week period is enough. One of the preventive ways is to be vigilant, because malignant melanoma is able to spread to other parts of the body.
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