Safe Fun in the Sun
It's that time of year again and with the heat we have been experiencing lately I thought it would be a good idea for a little refresher on safe Sun Care and exposure. I have a substantial amount of material to cover so I thought I would break it down into 3 separate articles so that you are not completely overwhelmed. For this first article I will discuss the benefits and hazards of the sun and what SPF means. the next 2 articles will discuss proper use of sunscreens followed by what to look for in a good sunscreen and what to avoid.
A small amount of exposure to the sun is beneficial for overall health. It helps to prevent seasonal affective disorder, fights some forms of cancer, reduces the symptoms of psoriasis and most importantly allows for the synthesis of vitamin D. The vitamin D that is created from sun exposure is more readily utilized by the body than vitamin D taken as a supplement and you cannot overdose on vitamin D with too much sun. Research suggests that in the summer months 10 mins per day of unprotected exposure is sufficient to obtain the necessary vitamin D our bodies require, in the winter months we require longer exposure due to the decreased intensity of the sun's rays coupled with the fact that most often less of our skin is exposed to the air.
As the saying goes... too much of a good thing... I think you know where I am going. After 10 mins of unprotected exposure (for some even less, this is a very generalized amount of time. Everyone's make up is a bit different, we all come with our own built in sun protection that varies greatly from person to person) the sun begins to cause us more harm than good. Once a certain amount of UV rays have penetrated the skin we begin to burn, as a response, our body produces melanin as a protective measure. The melanin produces what we know as a tan and dissipates a percentage of the sun's rays so that they are not absorbed by the body. Prolonged exposed however will break down collegen and elastin causing wrinkles and mutations at the cellular level that eventually lead to cancer. Your body has the ability to heal from this exposure, if you don't overexposure on a regular basis and allow sufficient healing time between exposure. This is why it is so important to coverup or remove yourself from the sun after a short period of time.
So this brings us to covering up...obviously I recommend clothing as opposed to sunscreens, ESP for little ones, there are great new swimsuits out now that are wonderful for protecting that delicate new skin from the sun. Let's be honest though there are times we are going to be out in the sun in minimal clothing so we need to address sunscreen protocol.
If you are going to be using a topical product to cover up you need to first understand what SPF actually means. SPF stands for SUN PROTECTION FACTOR, thus it is a measurement of the amount of time sun exposure can be increased prior to burning taking place. An SPF is determined in a controlled laboratory using human test subjects and tanning beds. Basically, a random person lays on a tanning bed and is completely covered except for an isolated spot which is exposed to the UV light. The time is recorded at which point the person starts to burn. This is the control. A topical product is then applied and the time is recorded once again. The difference in time is measured and an SPF is assigned. As an example we will say that a test subject took 10 mins to burn unprotected. Once a particular topical product was applied the time to precislely the same degree of UV saturation was 120 minutes or 2 hours. This is 12 times the amount of time from the initial control test and as such this particular product would be assigned an SPF of 12. What is important to note here is that the increase in an SPF does not give better immediate protection from the sun it prolongs the time you can safely spend in the sun. This is the concern with the new products being released with SPFs higher than 30 as it creates confusion for the consumer. We will address this in the third article on the differences in sunscreens.
Check back for the next article on proper application of sunscreen.