Healthy Tan

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  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    I work outside the whole summer; but apart from avoiding sunburn, another reason I always use factor 30 sunblock is I'd rather not end up with skin resembling that of a rhino.

    🙂

  • Just to be clear, tanning is still damage to DNA and therefore still up's your chances of skin cancer.

    If you burn or not, you should still be wearing a good quality / broad spectrum sun lotion for prolonged exposure.

    Tanning your skin is your bodies way of trying not to incur further DNA damage, but damage has already been done. SPF 15 just means you can go 15 mins longer in the sun before you go red than you normally would without the stuff.

    UVA will penetrate glass too. Hence driving gloves or factor 50 for aussie taxi drivers. UVB will reflect so double doses - hence mountain climbers wearing sun screen up their nostrils.

    Plus lets not even start with the skin damage, wrinkling and ageing.

    Vit. D can be topped up quite quickly. Face and arms for 15 mins / day is enough.

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭
    W0nderW0man wrote (see)

    Tanning your skin is your bodies way of trying not to incur further DNA damage, but damage has already been done. SPF 15 just means you can go 15 mins longer in the sun before you go red than you normally would without the stuff.

    15 times longer not 15 minutes longer.

    Although as I am Scottish you were probably right enough in my case.

     

  • so is skin cancer ripe in african countries............

    and if you have dark celtic skin are you not better covered than fair european skin........

    and I remmeber a programme that had some sun lotions that had been in shops more than a few years where the chemicals broke down and caused more burbning that if they hadn't been used.........

     

    and while the sun might make your skin go wrinkled and ageing.........the major factor in this is surely genetics and there ain't much you can do about it...the same as stretch marks whilst pregnant

     

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    A sun tan is a chemical reaction in your skin to protect against uv rays. Essentially its natural sunbock. The body releases a chemical called melanin. The naturally darker a person is the higher their threshold against the uv rays and therefore burning and so skin cancer is more prevalent in pale types. That's why after 1000's of years of evolution people in africa are very dark and people in scandanavia are very light.

    As seren nos says, sunblocks come with a use by date which is easily ignored, however the date is set for the good reason above.

    On that note- i have been struggling as a pasty celt in the sun and dont like standard suncream when i sweat. Has anyone used this product?

    Banana Boat Sport Sun Protection Lotion SPF 30 120ml

    I have just ordered a couple of bottles as seems to have had good reviews.

  • Skotty: SPF is a very complicated measure based on UV radiation levels. A common misconception is that it is a multiple of time - it is no way near this. The best guess to gauge the effectiveness is to add the minutes.

    Seren: dark skin is thicker and so penetration of UV rays is harder not to mention the chemistry of melanin which I won't go into. They also cover up more in the sun and if they do get skin cancer it is more likely to be fatal. As long as you buy sun lotions from a shop that doesn't keep them on the back shelf gathering dust, they are not going to cause problems.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-sun, I worship the sun, I'm the first to get out the pimms and sit on my tiny patio when it comes out, but I don't think the UK is educated enough in understanding that UV is radiation and we should be protecting our skin if we don't want the consequences. It is a human carcenogin. Going out in this weather for prolonged time without sun protection - you might as well puff away on fags.
    As Baz Luhman would say, "wear sunscrean"!
    PS I'll emphasise again, I'm referring to long-term sun exposure. Not your walk to the bus stop for 10 mins after work. More like your 15-mile LSR on Sunday.

    About 90 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
    Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
    Over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.
    About 86 percent of melanomas can be attributed to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. A person’s risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns at any age.
    Melanoma is one of only three cancers with an increasing mortality rate for men, along with liver cancer and esophageal cancer.

    Strongly suggest a read of the charity info if you are not sure: http://www.skincancer.org/

    Sorry to rant - hit a nerve! My mum is having a chunk of her arm lopped off next week and had exactly the same attitude as some of the people here.
    She never burnt as far as she could remember, just tanned nicely. She didn't lie about in the sun waiting to fry, she just did the usual walking more, picnic with friends, sit in the pub garden, that sort of thing. A couple of small moles started looking bruised so she thought she'd knocked them, two weeks later they get checked and byebye tricep.

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭
    W0nderW0man wrote (see)

    Skotty: SPF is a very complicated measure based on UV radiation levels. A common misconception is that it is a multiple of time - it is no way near this. The best guess to gauge the effectiveness is to add the minutes.

    the multiplication factor might not be completely accurate but no way is it simply the number of minutes.

  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    I dont think suncream application is as simple as that. If i apply factor 15 at 10am and lets assume i can stay in the sun for 30 mins without getting burnt, it is extremely unlikely i would expect to lie there for 7.5hrs without reapplying and walk away not burnt.

    There are a number of factors that contribute to how much longer you can stay in the sun. To start with if i apply at 11am on the basis i can do say 30 mins, i would need to reassess that calculation at midday, the temperature and uv output is likely to be higher at midday. Also most people do not spread suncream thickly enough, therefore diminishing its spf, and finally the credentials of the individual are relevant. Someone with a meditaranean olive complexion will get more time out of coverage than a pasty celt like me! 

  •  

    The minutes thing is just a guideline used by some charities and manufacturers when people are trying to calc the timing for re-applying. Probably party to steer people away from thinking factor 15 will cover them for the day.

    UVA and UVB ratios also move in the day which affects the protection factor too.

    Most people know what they should be using, they just don't use it!

  •  

    P.S.
    DT19 - I keep reading 'pasty' as in baked pastry ('pa-st-ee'). Then getting hungry thinking a pasty celt must be a tasty turn on the cornish type... then remind myself they you are referfing to your skin... image
    Stomach grumbling now.

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭
    W0nderW0man wrote (see)

     

    The minutes thing is just a guideline used by some charities and manufacturers when people are trying to calc the timing for re-applying. Probably party to steer people away from thinking factor 15 will cover them for the day.

    yes, i am sure manufacturers like to tell people they have to reapply every 15 minutes.

    (while at the same time claiming their suncream is longer lasting and waterproof)

     

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    You can only try to educate some people WW.

    When individuals meet any advice regarding their health with the retort, "Well you've got to die of something", you've got your hands full.

    And these same people still expect their advice to be taken seriously.

    🙂

  • but by just concentrating on the sun no other contributers to skin cancer is given out........so how can you get skin cancer in those places that never ever see the skin if its only the sun that is the cause.....

    I would like to see more research into what factors...........I know a lot of drugs taken can make you more susecetable to the suns rays.....yet this isn't often discussed,........you are more likely to burn and are they somehow crreating a chemical cockup that could lead to skincancer.....

    or is it the chemicals we put on our skins.like moisturiser that makes it more likely to suffer..........as it cocks up the bodies own defence system.......

  • I think there's a lot to be said for pasty white skin.

  • In my opinion, the best means of protection from the negative effects of the sun's rays, this tool is made by own hands. In its production, you can take into account the individual characteristics of your skin and choose the best ingredients
  • I have run topless and occasionally bottomless too over the years but perhaps I'm just lucky to have avoided skin problems in my 72 years.
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