Safe Fun in the Sun (part 2)

First and foremost, sunscreen should be liberally applied to a naked body 20 mins before going out in the sun. This is the second most common mistake people make (I will get to the first in just a minute). The naked part should be obvious, you can't miss spots because of clothing obstructions if you are naked. The next part though you need to pay attention to, it takes 20 mins for your skin to absorb the sunscreen and thus be effective. This means that if you apply the sunscreen once you are in the sun you are exposing your skin to the sun for 20 mins unprotected! For most people this is well past the maximum unprotected exposure time. You are already burning before the sunscreen even starts to work.

Secondly, you need to reapply often. Not just after swimming or sweating, but every 30 to 45 mins you need to reapply. Your body will completely absorb the sunscreen to the point that it is no longer effective and remember it takes 20 mins for the new application of sunscreen to be effective, so repeat,repeat, repeat.

Thirdly, most importantly and the biggest mistake that people make is that after the maximum exposure time you have to come out of the sun for a break. So lets do the math, say for instance you know that you tend to burn after 10 mins in the sun without sunscreen. You grab a bottle of SPF 12 and slap it on (naked of course, 20 mins before going out... Just a little reminder).  An SPF 12 will let you stay in the sun 12 times longer that you could without sunscreen, soooo 12 times 10mins = 120 mins or 2 hours. After that you have to come in, you can't just reapply. This is the mistake so many people make. They misunderstand and think as long as they reapply they are still protected and they are wrong. To make this sink in I am going to use a slightly exaggerated comparision. Most of us have seen a move where a person has to enter a radioactive room. Prior to going into this room they put on protective gear to slow the body's absorption of the radioactive material. Once the alarm goes off they leave the room remove the protective gear and head straight to a medic to begin the recovery process. They DO NOT come out and put on another suit and go back in the room. The body is at maximum absorbtion. The gear can only protect the body for a set amount of time before irrevesible damage is done. This is the same with sunscreen and sun exposure although not as dramatic. Once you have reached an SPF maximum time exposure your body has already absorbed a sufficient amount of UV rays that futher exposure will cause damage. Remember that even sun blocks do not completely block all of the sun's rays, additional applications of sunscreen will reduce the UV absorbtion, but you will still damage your skin if you remain in the sun.

First and foremost, sunscreen should be liberally applied to a naked body 20 mins before going out in the sun. This is the second most common mistake people make (I will get to the first in just a minute). The naked part should be obvious, you can't miss spots because of clothing obstructions if you are naked. The next part though you need to pay attention to, it takes 20 mins for your skin to absorb the sunscreen and thus be effective. This means that if you apply the sunscreen once you are in the sun you are exposing your skin to the sun for 20 mins unprotected! For most people this is well past the maximum unprotected exposure time. You are already burning before the sunscreen even starts to work.

Secondly, you need to reapply often. Not just after swimming or sweating, but every 30 to 45 mins you need to reapply. Your body will completely absorb the sunscreen to the point that it is no longer effective and remember it takes 20 mins for the new application of sunscreen to be effective, so repeat,repeat, repeat.

Thirdly, most importantly and the biggest mistake that people make is that after the maximum exposure time you have to come out of the sun for a break. So lets do the math, say for instance you know that you tend to burn after 10 mins in the sun without sunscreen. You grab a bottle of SPF 12 and slap it on (naked of course, 20 mins before going out... Just a little reminder).  An SPF 12 will let you stay in the sun 12 times longer that you could without sunscreen, soooo 12 times 10mins = 120 mins or 2 hours. After that you have to come in, you can't just reapply. This is the mistake so many people make. They misunderstand and think as long as they reapply they are still protected and they are wrong. To make this sink in I am going to use a slightly exaggerated comparision. Most of us have seen a move where a person has to enter a radioactive room. Prior to going into this room they put on protective gear to slow the body's absorption of the radioactive material. Once the alarm goes off they leave the room remove the protective gear and head straight to a medic to begin the recovery process. They DO NOT come out and put on another suit and go back in the room. The body is at maximum absorbtion. The gear can only protect the body for a set amount of time before irrevesible damage is done. This is the same with sunscreen and sun exposure although not as dramatic. Once you have reached an SPF maximum time exposure your body has already absorbed a sufficient amount of UV rays that futher exposure will cause damage. Remember that even sun blocks do not completely block all of the sun's rays, additional applications of sunscreen will reduce the UV absorbtion, but you will still damage your skin if you remain in the sun.