Protect Yourself from the Sun

Sun Sense: What You Must Know
     There’s a lot of information to take in when it comes to the details of protecting your skin in the sun. Everything from UV rays to understanding why no amount of sun tanning is safe plus skin care considerations play a role in determining the essentials of sun protection. Below are the most critical points everyone needs to be familiar with if their goal is to avoid sun damage. By avoiding sun damage, you’re not only preserving your skin’s health but also its appearance. Practicing good sun sense will result in fewer wrinkles, discolorations, and will help your skin resist developing the most insidious type of sun damage: skin cancer.
•There is no such thing as a safe tan, whether it is from the sun or a tanning booth. Even if you tan slowly without burning (what many people refer to as “developing a base tan”), the damage is hazardous to the health and long-term appearance of your skin.
•UVB radiation is the sun's burning ray and has an immediate, harmful impact on skin. Damage from UVB rays takes place within the very first minute (yes, 60 seconds) of walking outside.
•UVA rays are the sun's silent killers. You don't feel them but they are the primary cause of skin cancer, wrinkles, and a weakened immune system. (UVA rays penetrate through clear glass windows that do not have a UV coating.)
•Even on a cloudy or hazy day, the sun's rays are present and impacting the skin.
•Sitting in the shade or wearing a hat only protects against a portion of the sun's rays. Plus, other surrounding surfaces such as water, cement, and grass reflect the rays from the ground to your skin giving you a double whammy of exposure.
•Altitude is a sun enhancer: for every 1,000-foot increase in altitude, the sun's potency increases by 4%. Don’t forget the sunscreen when you’re skiing!
•According to the FDA, a product's SPF (sunscreen protection factor) number tells you how long you can stay in the sun before getting burned. If you can normally stay in the sun 15 minutes before you start turning pink, an SPF 15 product will let you stay in the sun for approximately 3 1/2 hours without burning. If you begin turning pink after 10 minutes, an SPF 15 will let you stay in the sun approximately 2 1/2 hours. The formula is 10 (minutes) x 15(SPF) = 150 (minutes), or 2 1/2 hours. If you're swimming or perspiring, you must wear a water-resistant sunscreen which provides 40 (labeled as “water-resistant”) to 80 (labeled as “very water resistant”) minutes of protection before you need to reapply it to maintain a sufficient level of protection.
•SPF is crucial, but it is only a measurement regarding sunburn (UVB) rays. It is dangerous for your skin to not have UVA protection and many sunscreens do not have ingredients that can provide true full-spectrum (both UVA and UVB) coverage. There are no numbers to tell you about protection from UVA radiation. For that protection you have to check the active ingredient list to see if either zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, avobenzone (which may also be listed as Parsol 1789 or butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane), Mexoryl SX, or Tinosorb (Tinosorb is only available in products sold outside the U.S.). If one of those isn't part of the active ingredient list (it doesn't count if it is just part of the regular or "other" ingredients) you are not applying adequate UVA protection and that is dangerous for your skin.
•Oxybenzone (also called benzophenone-3) is a UVA-absorbing sunscreen ingredient that sounds similar to avobenzone, but is not the same. There are several sunscreen ingredients approved for use in the United States for sunburn protection. While benzophenones and oxybenzone do provide some UVA protection, they are not as effective as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, avobenzone, Mexoryl SX, or Tinosorb.
•For those of you who want more specifics about the issue of UVA vs. UVB protection: According to the Skin Therapy Letter published by the Division of Dermatology at the University of British Columbia (vol. 2, no. 5, 1997), "UVA [range is] 315-400 nanometers." According to the FDA, the UVB range is from 280 to 315. The range of protection for the following sunscreen ingredients is listed as "Padimate O, 290-315 nanometers; Benzophenones, 250-350 nanometers; Octyl methoxycinnamate (Octinoxate), 290-320 nanometers; Avobenzone, 320-400 nanometers; Oxybenzone 270 to 350 nanometers; Titanium dioxide, 290-700 nanometers; and Zinc oxide, 290-700 nanometers."
•Crunching the numbers: an SPF 2 blocks about 50% of UVB rays; an SPF 10 filters out about 85% of UVB rays; an SPF 15 stops about 95%; and an SPF 30 stops about 97%. An SPF that's higher than 30 does not provide any more UV protection, it just offers more time that you can stay in the sun without burning. Even if you choose to wear a higher SPF product, you still need to reapply after swimming or perspiring to ensure continued protection.
•Even if the SPF number on your sunscreen's label is an SPF 50, it still has limitations and can let approximately 3% of UV rays penetrate your skin, which explains why you still might get some color after prolonged exposure to the sun despite slathering sunscreen on your skin.
•As a general rule it is best to apply sunscreen at least 15 to 20 minutes before sun exposure. This gives the sunscreen time to absorb and to spread over and into the uppermost layers of skin.
•You must apply sunscreen liberally. A study published in the Archives of Dermatology (October 2002, pages m1319-1325) said "Sunscreen users are only applying 50 percent of the recommended amount, so they are only receiving 50 percent of the SPF protection." Because of this issue concerning liberal application, expensive sunscreens can be dangerous to your skin's health. After all, how likely are you to liberally apply a sunscreen from Lancome that costs $48 or, even more absurdly, a sunscreen from La Prairie that costs $170 for 1 ounce? Liberal, even application is critical to a sunscreen’s protective ability (Source: Lancet, August 2007, pages 528-537).
•If you are using AHA, BHA, Retin-A, Renova, Differin, or any topical pharmaceutical retinoid, it can make your skin more vulnerable to sun damage due to the surface exfoliation and changes (removing the top layer of sun-damaged skin) caused by using these products. This information does not impact those who are already diligent about using sunscreen, but if you are not being diligent, your skin is even more at risk for sun damage and sunburn, even with minimal sun exposure.
•If you are using more than one product that contains sunscreen, the two sunscreens do not add up to one SPF number. In other words, an SPF 8 and an SPF 15 do not add up to an SPF 23. Though you would get an increased SPF value for protection, there is no way of knowing what that increased protection would be. If you want to count on getting an SPF 30's worth of protection, then that is the number you should look for in one product.
•Getting sunburned is bad enough, but what you may not know is that sunburn continues to develop for 12 to 24 hours after the initial burn takes place! Treat a sunburn the way you would treat any other burn. Do not cover it with thick salves (thick moisturizers are the worst). These will trap the heat and cause more damage. Get the skin in contact with cool (not cold or icy) water or pure aloe vera immediately (do not put ice directly on the skin—that's too much cold and can cause a different kind of burn). Then keep applying the cool water or pure aloe vera on and off for several hours. You may also want to take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, such as aspirin, to reduce pain and swelling. If you are unsure what to take, consult your physician.

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