Window Sunscreens

This year marks the 10th anniversary of this great solar hoax speeches. In case you missed it: in 1997, everyone seemed to be quoting Kurt Vonnegut's advice to graduate students at MIT that started celebrating, "Wear sunscreen." The problem was - did Vonnegut not write the address or any other date MIT. The only true part of the proposal, then and now? sun damage is real. Skin protection is essential. Wear sunscreen!

This is one of the most common questions I receive. Patients ask me all the time: Do I really need to wear sunscreen? And the answer is "Yes, no matter who you are, where you live or where you work, you really need to wear sunscreen every day." Why am I so determined to get all slathered with skin protection? Well, nobody is in a better position than a dermatologist to see the severe effects of solar radiation on human skin.

Most people know that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause skin cancer, especially among fair-skinned people with light eyes and brown hair. But not only are pale people at risk: multiple sunburns, for any skin color or type, increase the risk of skin cancer. And sunscreen can not really effectively prevent sunburn, if you use it right.

Short of cancer, though, years of sun exposure gradually changing our skin so make us look - Well, old. Yes, sunlight can lead to premature aging of the skin, accelerating the natural process of aging, weakening of collagen and elastic fibers, causing the skin to unfold like a worn mattress. And then - well, you know the rest. Your skin sags. Gravity takes over, the skin can not keep, so low it is.

Sun exposure also dries the skin and reduces its ability to retain moisture. Lines and wrinkles resulting refine the appearance of aging. And the cute, charming freckles that the sun brings to the special morph brown spots and discoloration that beset us as we age.

So how can you use a sunscreen for skin protection we need? First, make sure you get the right product. The worst damage comes from UVA sun. UVA has a wavelength, so it can penetrate more deeply into the skin, causing the aging effects that we associate with sun exposure. We now know that UVA exposure also blocks your skin natural repair mechanisms, so that previous damage and pre-cancers can not be reversed. It is UVA rays that can give you a sunburn on a cloudy day - it moves right through the clouds. And it can pass through the glass windows of your car, so we dermatologists see most skin cancers of the head and neck on the left. Search on the left side of the neck. Do you see brown spots? When you were 13, they have no protection against UVA. Is the radius which, as you age.

So I always urge my patients to ensure they have the right product and use it properly. Firstly, the search for a bottle or tube of sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB (UVB is the one that causes a burning 10:00 to 3:00 p.m.). More tips for using sunscreen effective:

Make sure you get a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30

Apply it generously 15 to 20 minutes before sun exposure

Reapply every one to two hours, especially if you go in the water or sweating a lot

Once you have the solar part down, there is more you can do to protect yourself from the sun:

Limit your exposure to sunlight, especially during the high sun hours 10:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Seek shade whenever possible can

Find clothing for sun protection - it offers effective protection while you are outdoors

Take your sunscreen last year and buying new products
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