“Don’t think that just because you’re applying sunscreen you’re completely protected,” she says. The rule of thumb is to use a sunscreen with at least 15 SPF, but Dr. Thompson recommends a sunscreen with SPF 50 or higher, which can shield 98% of the harmful UV rays.
If you wear sunscreen when you’re outside and you are sweating, then you’re going to sweat off the sunscreen, so you need to reapply every couple of hours. The same thing with swimming. Don’t go into the water right after you apply sunscreen. Wait until the sunscreen dries, which is roughly about 30 minutes and then go into the water. It’s important to keep reapplying sunscreen every 2 hours to be on the safe side.
The more you protect your skin, the better. Sun exposure that your body absorbs in your teens, 20s and 30s can present itself as cancer later in life. “To me sunburn is sunburn, it doesn’t matter which way it was achieved because if you have sunburned skin that area is now at a higher risk to develop skin cancer,” she emphasizes. “Whether it’s sunburn art, whether you fell asleep outside, you are exposing that skin area to UVA (Ultraviolet A) and UVB (Ultraviolet B) and you have a higher risk for developing skin cancer.”
People that are high risk for melanoma are those that have sunburned a lot, people that have a family history of melanoma, and those that develop irregular moles, which is a clear sign that is something is wrong. “A mole that wasn’t there, recently appeared or is growing needs to be checked, so visit your doctor and get regular skin examinations because you can’t prevent a mole from becoming cancerous, but you can catch it early,” explains Dr. Thompson.
Early detection saves lives; she can’t emphasize enough, as well as the importance of screening and education, because skin cancer is preventable. To learn more, visit www.CancerCenter.com.