UV protection
February 8, 2023
One form of protection from UV rays is sunscreen. Everyone needs it. At all ages, anyone can be exposed to skin cancer, no matter their gender or skin tone. Even babies over the age of six months should start using sunscreen every day. Not only does it prevent skin cancer, but also early skin aging.
“Sunscreen acts like a filter and absorbs some of the UV light before it reaches the skin,” Chouake said.
It creates a layer of protection between the skin and the sun, and it either absorbs or reflects the sunlight depending on the type of sunscreen.
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) in sunscreen is a measure of how much more protection a product has against the amount of UVB radiation that causes redness on unprotected skin, according to Chouake. It is recommended to use SPF 30 or higher and to reapply every two hours because higher numbers in SPF indicate more protection.
There are two different types of sunscreen: physical and chemical. According to Zade, physical blockers have compounds of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, and they create an actual barrier or shield between the skin and the sun.
Chemical sunscreens contain ingredients such as avobenzone, octinoxate, and oxybenzone, and instead of reflecting the rays as physical sunscreens do, it absorbs them.
It is very important to wear either sunscreen every single day, not just when going to the beach. Due to the weather associated with the beach, people connect sunscreen with only extremely sunny conditions. However, the sun reaches beyond that.
“The sun still affects people. Even if it looks dark outside, you should still use your sunscreen because the UVA and UVB radiation still gets through the clouds,” Zade said. “You might think, ‘Oh, it’s cloudy and I’m not getting any sunlight’, but you are still getting the radiation. Make it part of your routine when you wake up to wear your sunscreen.”
Physical protection is really the best form of protection because there is actually a physical barrier between the skin and the sun. — Jason Chouake
These harsh UV rays can cause a variety of skin illnesses, including skin cancer, which is the most common type of cancer in the United States.
Honoure Stark, someone who has had skin cancer for over 10 years, describes her struggles.
“The hardest thing I have to face is that it constantly interrupts my day and things I plan in the future,” Stark said. “I have to treat my skin cancer as part of my lifestyle.”
As part of her everyday life, treatments and checkups are frequent.
“There is a cream I use for daily treatment, and it goes right into my immune system,” Stark said. “It basically attacks the skin cancer cells.”
In addition to the minimum protection people need from the sun, she has to be even more careful by adding extra protection.
For example, clothing is another form of protection other than using sunscreen. Long sleeve shirts, pants, or anything that covers the skin and blocks the sun. Generally, darker colors provide better protection than lighter color clothing. This means that some absorb more UV rays than others, which prevents the likelihood of the rays reaching your skin.
“Physical protection is really the best form of protection because there is actually a physical barrier between the skin and the sun,” Chouake said.
Fortunately, there is clothing that is specifically designed for sun protection against the sun.
“There is sun protective clothing, which is called Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) clothing. You should be wearing sunscreen on non-exposed skin, but you could also wear things that cover your skin,” Zade said.
UPF clothing ranges from long sleeve shirts to pants and even accessories.
“I wear UV products like an armband,” Stark said. “When you are driving, your left arm gets exposed to a lot of the sun.”