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Alfred Casale To Your Health

Getting a sunburn may feel like a summertime rite of passage or, perhaps, a temporary annoyance. However, sunburns can cause long-lasting skin damage that is completely preventable.

A person’s risk for melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer, doubles if they have had five or more sunburns in their lifetime. Despite that alarming statistic, the Skin Cancer Foundation found in a recent survey that 42 percent of people polled get sunburned at least once a year!

Although being outside in the sun is a good way to insure that you’re getting the benefit of vitamin D, doing so for too long without protecting your skin leaves you vulnerable to the two types of ultraviolet radiation: UVA and UVB rays.

UVA rays penetrate deep into your skin and contribute heavily to premature aging. Powerful UVB rays mostly affect the surface of your skin and are the primary culprit for sunburn. Not only have these rays been linked to skin cancer and premature aging, but they are also associated with weakening your immune system, causing skin color changes and cataracts, a condition that impairs eyesight.

But, luckily, there are ways you can shield yourself from these damage-causing rays. One way is through applying sunscreen, which protects your skin by absorbing and/or reflecting UVA and UVB rays.

Picking out a sunscreen may be confusing – there are so many types with varying levels of protection, but you may not know what any of them mean.

The first important thing to look for is the lotion’s sun protection factor, or SPF. This is a measure of the sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB rays from damaging your skin. When your skin is unprotected and exposed to UV rays, it takes an average of 20 minutes to start turning red. So, if you use an SPF 15 sunscreen, that means it should prevent your skin from reddening about 15 times longer than if it was unprotected – or five hours.

You may also see sunscreens’ labels that say ‘broad-spectrum.’ That means they can protect your skin from both types of UV rays.

To ensure you reap the full benefits of your sunscreen’s SPF, you need to apply 1-ounce, which is equivalent to the size of a shot glass, about 30 minutes before you’re exposed to the sun – this allows the sunscreen’s ingredients to take full effect.

Reapplying sunscreen is also an important measure to take to avoid burns and skin damage. You should reapply according to the package directions and immediately after swimming, toweling off or sweating significantly.

As helpful as sunscreen is in preventing sunburns, their active ingredients don’t usually completely block out the spectrum of UV rays, so there are some extra measures you can take to thoroughly protect yourself:

  • Watch the clock: control your sun exposure and don’t let yourself get burned
  • Seek out shade, especially when the sun’s rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
  • Wear protective clothing, such as a broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses
  • Completely avoid tanning and UV tanning booths

This Saturday at Kirby Park the American Heart Association will hold its annual “Heart Walk.” This is a great chance to get some exercise and have some family fun while supporting a wonderful cause. Dr. Mark Bernardi and Caroline Graham, both cardiac specialists, are co-chairs of this event and with volunteers from all over the area, have planned an exciting, fun and healthy morning for us all. Please grab your kids, friends and family and come on out to the park. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10 a.m. Let’s hope we’ll need some sunscreen!