How Will You Avoid Too Much Sun?

Have you figured out How Will You Avoid Too Much Sun? Do you have a plan of action? Have you figured out how to protect yourself and your family from too much sun?

Do you have a clear picture of why you need to make sure you and your family are protected from the sun? As the Ozone continues to disappear, what is your plan for healthy skin? Skin with no sunburn or skin cancer? Let’s think a bit about how small steps will keep us safer. Keep our families from developing skin cancer.

How Safe Are You From The Sun when you have time out in the sun? Have you taken the time to update yourself with ideas for better sun safety?

We all like getting out and enjoying the sun, even in cooler months. There is just something comforting about the warm sun on your skin, and I love the feel of the sun.

If you love the sun too, it is important to have a safe in the sun plan. So, what is your plan of action for keeping your skin safe from overexposure to the sun?

Living a safer life in the sun can make your sun time better and should be what we work towards. Staying safe, and protecting ourselves from skin cancer is important.

As you are enjoying the sun, don’t forget the kind of damage that happens if you spent too much time in the sun’s direct rays.

Sun Safe Practices

To keep yourself safe in the sun try these small changes from what you normally do for fun in the sun.

Prepare before you leave home by putting on your sun blocking hat with a wide brim. This will help protect your face and neck from the sun.
Carefully apply your 30 SPF full spectrum sunscreen where you are not covered by sun blocking clothing.
Grab you sunglasses
Slip on a sun-blocking long sleeve shirt to keep on when you aren’t in the water.
Plan to take breaks from the sun by getting in the shade, or into the house where it is cooler. These breaks do more than give you a quick rest, they protect your skin.

Safety In The Sun For Your Skin

Knowing some safe sun practices can make a big difference in your skin’s ability to stay healthy throughout your life. Teaching your children sun safe practices when they are young will help set them up for healthy skin for their lifetime.

Kids do learn by watching what you do, so your safe sun habits can be their guidelines as well.

Spending time in the sun can make our lives better and more healthy. Not only is out in the sun time good for our mental state, it is good for our bodies, in small amounts. The sun often encourages outdoor activities and moving about, being active is important for our overall health.

In our part of the world, we want to get out in the sun as the weather warms up. It’s safe too, as long as you protect your skin.

Dangers In The Sun

The ultraviolet or UV rays are dangerous rays. We need to consider them our enemies and allow ourselves very limited exposure. By teaching our kids to protect their skin from the dangers of too much sun we can begin to slow the rate of skin cancers.

Our ultraviolet (UV) rays usually come from the sun. We do get them from other sources like tanning beds as well.

Overexposure is the #1 cause of skin cancer. Too much exposure can cause sunburn or eye damage, as well as premature wrinkles. Don’t forget the DNA damage that can occur and also result in skin cancer. Getting too much sun is more dangerous than we have been lead to believe.

By spending part of your outdoor sun time in the shade breaking up longer sun exposure times you can lessen the risk of overexposure. When you wear sun blocking clothing, you are going to protect your skin from too much sun. Add a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 can also help lower your risk for you and your family.

Best Plan Of Action

You should spend time in the shade
It is important to limit your direct exposure to the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when UV rays are strongest.
Remember to cover up. This may be a new habit for you.
When you are out, wear sun blocking clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. Protect as much skin as possible.
It is important to protect your eyes with wrap-around sunglasses that block at least 99% of the UV light.
Always use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, and reapply at least every 2 hours. It is very important that you reapply immediately after swimming or sweating, as the water and sweat weaken the protection formula. Another reason wearing sun blocking clothes is so important.
This warning should be in red to remind you of how important it is for your skin health. No tanning beds or sunlamps. These both can cause serious and long-term skin damage and are proven to contribute to skin cancer.

You Can Stay Safe From The Sun

It really isn’t that hard. As you become aware of the sun’s long term danger to you and your family, changes will be easier to make. You will have to make a few sun safe choices. However, when making choices for protecting your skin, a plan is important. Skin cancer is not a joke and can happen to you. 7 Tips For Safe Sun Fun

Although the sun has done some damage on my skin, and certainly on my kids as well, we are learning and doing a better job of protecting ourselves. We have members in our family who are old enough to see the sun damage. Skin cancer is costing time in the dermatologist office and money to try and undo some of the damage done by being careless in the sun.

We all wish we were not dealing with the effects of sun damage. I do hope you will be wiser yourself. Don’t be careless. You can have healthier skin than we do.

Senseable Sun Habits

While you should use sunscreen every day, it’s even more important during the summer, when the days are longer, the sun is stronger, and it’s easier to spend more time outdoors. When choosing a sunscreen, read the label before you buy it.

Remember that no sunscreen protects you completely. Sunscreen helps but wears off and becomes a weaker barrier between your skin and the sun. You need your sun blocking clothing as well. A wide brimmed hat and your sunglasses are important to the safety of your skin. Don’t forget them.

FDA Requirements

US Food and Drug Administration regulations require the labels on sunscreens to follow certain guidelines:

You should choose a sunscreen with “broad-spectrum” protection. These sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB rays. All sunscreen products protect against UVB rays, the main cause of sunburn. But UVA rays also contribute to skin cancer and premature ageing. Only products that protect from all UV rays can be labelled “broad spectrum.”
Products that aren’t broad spectrum must carry a warning that they only protect against sunburn, not skin cancer or skin ageing.
Choose a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30. The SPF number is the level of protection the sunscreen provides against UVB rays.
Higher SPF numbers do mean more protection, but the higher you go, the smaller the difference becomes. For example, SPF 15 sunscreens filter out about 93% of UVB rays, while SPF 30 filters out about 97%. SPF 50 blocks about 98%, and SPF 100 about 99%.
No sunscreen protects you completely. The FDA requires any sunscreen with an SPF below 15 to carry a warning that it only protects against sunburn, not skin cancer or skin ageing.
“Water resistant” does not mean “waterproof.” No sunscreens are waterproof or “sweat-proof,” and manufacturers are not allowed to claim that they are. If a product’s front label says it is water resistant, it must specify whether it lasts for 40 minutes or 80 minutes while swimming or sweating.
For best results, reapply sunscreen at least every 2 hours and even more often if you are swimming or sweating. Sunscreen usually rubs off when you towel yourself dry, so you will need to put more on.
Check the expiration date before using sunscreen. Most sunscreens are good for at least 2 to 3 years. Sunscreens that have been exposed to heat for long periods, or if they were stored in your car all summer, for example, may not work as well.

How to protect your skin

The American Cancer Society recommends that you use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30.

It is very important to read the label on sunscreen to know that is it both broad-spectrum and water-resistant. Remember, by reading the label you will know how often to re-apply the sunscreen and how water-resistant it is. Some need to be re-applied as often as every 40 minutes, and after swimming or sweating.

In addition:

Cover up: When you are out in the sun, wear clothing and a wide-brimmed hat to protect as much skin as possible. Protect your eyes with sunglasses that block at least 99% of UV light.
Seek shade: Limit your direct exposEvenure to the sun, especially between 10 AM and 4 PM when the UV rays are strongest.
Avoid tanning beds and sunlamps: Both can cause serious long-term skin damage and contribute to skin cancer.
Stay Hydrated: Make sure you are prepared for time in the sun with enough water to keep your body on track with a healthy amount of fluids. As the autoimmune system is so important in dealing with skin health while in the sun you will need fluids to avoid sunburn as well.

Have A Safe Sun Time

Your sun protection efforts need to become a habit. When you live where there is a lot of sun, you are apt to get a sunburn on Valentine’s Day or July 4th. Our sunny climate can sneak up on you. Make protecting your skin a habit that is automatic.

Make sure you cover up with sun blocking clothing, the easiest way to protect your skin and stay safe. My cotton farmer Dad never did have skin cancer despite a lifetime in the sun. He always wore a shirt that protected his skin. Of course, he wore his wide brim hat, and gloves.

He did live during a time of a healthier Ozone layer. But, in years past, people wore more clothes. Our fashion habits change, and we must exercise more caution.

Make sure you have a working plan for healthier skin for you and your family. Help everyone in your family develop healthy skin habits.

Sami’s Take A Way

Avoiding too much fun will take a bit of awareness, but it can be done. As the summer progresses, sometimes it may be wiser to just wait and have fun in the late afternoon sun. It is easier to protect your skin as the sun gets lower in the sky. Having something to do for fun in the hotter times of the day when the sun is directly over us would be a good idea. Getting in the shade makes it easier to take care of your family.

For you guys with kids who are super active, this will be more difficult. You may need to resort to upping the sun protection game with a better sun hat, sunglasses, a sun blocking shirt and good sunscreen. We are individual and need individual answers.

With some planning, and considering some indoor activities, you will surprise yourself with some interesting things to do in the shade, indoors and in a shaded park. Thinking about how you spend your sun time is important.

Help your family grow good sun safe habits.