Categories
Uncategorized

Will Winter Tan Make Seniors More Attractive

Will Winter Tan Make Seniors More Attractive? Or is it too much of a good thing? How far will you go to be “more attractive?”

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

Winter time sun for seniors, the good and the bad. Protect your skin from the sun.

Have you ever asked yourself, ” Will A Winter Tan Make Seniors More Attractive?” We know that sunlight provides health benefits to seniors. However, remembering the potential danger of excessive sun exposure will be important. Being more attractive should not be worth encouraging skin cancer.

With the sun, and any season even wintertime, heat stroke, skin cancer, and sunburns are possible. Protecting yourself from the sun’s direct rays is important. Particularly, for senior citizens who are sensitive to sunlight.

Your wide-brim hats and sunglasses, as well as a broad-spectrum sunscreen of 30+, are essential for senior citizens to get the benefits of sunlight. For Seniors to enjoy the time in the sun, sun blocking clothing will protect you, as well as keep you safe.

As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, the question of, “Will winter tan make seniors more attractive” is important. All ages want to feel better about themselves. The health of your senior skin is very important! This question may not have a real answer.

Health Care Industry is wondering why Senior Citizens are so careless with their skincare and protection.

https://skincancer.net/life-with-skin-cancer/seniors-skin-care

Seniors Ignore Protecting Their Skin From The Sun!

Sun protection behaviors can help prevent sunburn and skin cancer risk, for people of all ages. Less than half of senior adults protect their skin from the sun. Even when they are outside for an hour or more on a warm, sunny day!

This may raise their risk of getting skin cancer. Seniors have usually had a lot of excess sun by the time they reach senior age.

When ignoring skin protection, the damage will accelerate quickly. Sun damage is accumulative. As you have probably already had several sunburns by now, you will become more at risk for skin cancer development. Considering the question of, “Will Winter Tan Make Seniors More Attractive,” may not be a real option.

Don’t become a statistic because you didn’t take time for skincare. With our sun blocking clothing options, you will find yourself able to stay safe with a minimum of sunscreen. I know, I don’t like to apply it either. However, if your sun risks are like mine, really high, there is no choice.

Make your choice be protection, not skin cancer.

Are You In Flordia Or Another Warm State?

Last season, many million people visited Florida, even with COVID. People were coming to have a break from the harsh, cold weather in the north part of the hemisphere.

With the milder winters, Florida has warm days and cool nights. The mild weather encourages outdoor activities. You can easily enjoy boating, golfing, and tennis, as well as more sedentary outdoor interests like leisurely beach walks and picnics. Our warmer states all offer many outdoor activities in the milder months of the year.

Too many people think of sunburns as occurring at the beach, and only during hot weather.

Like many of our most southern states, Florida is a winter playground for outdoor activities. People seem to forget that the sun produces harmful ultraviolet rays all year, regardless of temperature or if there is a cloud cover.

Your risk of sun damage and exposure to UV rays that could lead to cancer is still present, despite milder temperatures. Staying safe from too much sun and the skin cancer it can bring is easier with sun blocking clothing and some sunscreen. Pay attention! UV rays will make you look older.

Some Safe Winter Time Sun Tips

Often Senior Citizens get careless about keeping their skin safe from too much sun. The tips are the same as for any age group. You have not outgrown the need for being careful and safe at the same time.

  • Remember to have your sun hat, and sunglasses on and apply sunscreen before getting out in the sun. Even short time exposure of your unprotected skin to dangerous UV rays could mean great harm. You must remember the danger is there, even if it is wintertime.
  • After 25 or so minutes in the sun, add your loose-fitting long sleeve shirt to keep the sun off your arms and the trunk of your body. A pair of loose-fitting pants will also protect your legs while staying cool.
  • Shade is your best friend if you have been in the sun for 25 minutes. You will need to break up the times in the sun, especially between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM in the winter months.
  • Keeping water handy to sip and keep your hydration levels up is also very important for healthy wintertime tanning. Remember a high percentage of EMS visits for seniors involve dehydration! That is preventable. Drink water!

Skin Cancer Happens Winter or Summer

Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa FL is where you will find cutaneous oncologist Dr. Jonathan Zager who encourages each of us to protect ourselves from developing skin cancer every day, regardless of the weather or the season.

“We know sun exposure without protection like sun blocking clothing and sunscreen can lead to skin cancer.  Sunscreen not only should be worn in Florida in the winter months but it can and should also be worn up north, during the winter months. People can get sunburn skiing!  One should never leave the house without sunscreen on if you’re planning on being outside during the day. Sunshine out or not, wear your sunscreen and help prevent skin cancer,” said Zager.

UPF Clothing Protects from suns rays and sunburn

Suggestions From Skin Care Professionals

Here are some suggestions that Zager shared. For you to be able to enjoy the outdoors year-round, as well as protect your skin at the same time.

  • Consider wearing Sun Blocking Clothing to protect your skin from the sun. A wide brim hat, 3 inches or more and sunglasses are the very basics to have. A loose-fitting long sleeve shirt will protect your upper body which is where most people receive a great deal of sun.
  • Choose a broad spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that has a sun protection factor of 30 or higher. Apply liberly where you are not covered by clothing, especially your face and nose, ears, and hands. As long as you keep the shirt, hat, and sunglasses on you should be fairly safe.
  • Reapply your sunscreen at least every two hours and immediately after swimming or sweating.
  • Protect vulnerable and sensitive areas of your body, such as the face, ears, and hands. Consider applying sunscreen with zinc oxide for extra protection.
  • When wearing sun protective clothing such as a wide-brimmed hat, long-sleeve shirt, long pants, rash guard, and or other clothing items with UV-protection ratings. Whenever jackets and other protective clothing are removed due to warming temperatures, be sure to apply sunscreen to any exposed areas.

Some Extra Suggestions To Improve Your Skin Protection

  • As always, eliminate tanning beds.
  • A bit of advice on sun blocking clothing and sunscreen. Sunscreen can stain your clothing, so apply with this in mind. The improvement in sun blocking clothing will enable you to protect your skin without sunscreen under your shirt or long pants. You will of course need to apply it to your face and hands.
  • If your hat has a brim that slopes down, it will protect your face better, however, there are reflections. Water, cement, buildings, and windows are all reflecters for the sun’s rays. So are shiny finishes on boats and cars. Your own white or light colored sun blocking shirt.

With a little planning and precaution, you can safely enjoy the outdoors while protecting your skin.

“We literally can prevent an overwhelming majority of skin cancers with proper sun awareness and protection using sunscreen and protective clothing,” said Zager.

Lifestyle Habits: Will Winter Tan Make Seniors More Attractive

Even as senior citizens, sun protection behaviors can help prevent sunburn and lower your skin cancer risk.

Less than half of Senior Citizens protect their skin from the sun when outside for an hour or more on a warm, sunny day. Yes, as you would assume this does raise your risk of developing skin cancer.

If you are a senior who wants a winter tan using safe guidelines for skin exposure is how you can keep your skin safe. Sunning in the morning before 11 AM, or after 3 PM in the wintertime.

Benifets Of Time In The Sun For Senior Citizens

Spending some time out in the sunshine could help Senior Citizens to reduce their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

When you are out in the sun, the natural sunlight stimulates vitamin D production in the skin. Seniors are more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency. This happens due to the natural aging process as well as lifestyle changes.

The question of will a winter tan make a senior more attractive? That is always subjective. Often if we think we look better, we are more fun to be around. So this can go either way. Regardless, being careless and getting too much sun can make you look old quickly. Caution in tanning is best.

Why WinterTanning Is Still A Bad Idea For Seniors

Even with the needed sun exposure, tanning is not recommended for anyone. Especially seniors. As mentioned earlier in this article, sun damage is accumulative. By senior citizen age, life, in general, has usually caused enough overexposure.

In our local population, many will continue to enjoy time in the sun through the winter months. To add to the risks for these seniors, they were teenagers in the ’50s and ’60s and loving the sun on their skin.

They like the look of a “healthy tan.”

Sadly, so many of these senior citizens have not changed their mindset. Living their lives in what we now know is dangerous territory. They have not accepted the newer information about the need to protect ourselves from the sun.

Many seniors have not monitored their enjoyment of the sunny days to a reasonable time that their bodies can handle. A few minutes can help senior citizens get the benefits they need from the sun. This is where they don’t want to change those lifestyles.

Instead of 25 or so minutes in the morning or late afternoon sun to help their bodies be more healthy, many are wanting to be out for hours. Like most other life habits, these moderations can make a huge difference for seniors.

Hands that are getting too much sun

Too Much Sun Leads To DNA Damage

Dr Barbara Gilchrist, who is a dermatologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital shares:

“A tan is a response to DNA damage.” This damage leads to the development of skin cancer and also accelerates skin aging (90% of skin aging is due to the sun’s rays). Although many of us can tan well for years, eventually our skin quality will change leaving us with leathery skin texture, age spots, and of course, early wrinkling.

The Skin Cancer Foundation (SCF) states that between 40% and 50% of Americans who live to be age 65 will have had at least one instance of skin cancer. 

The foundation continues, “Caucasian men over age 65 have had a 5.1% annual increase in melanoma (the most deadly form of skin cancer).

This is the highest increase of any gender or age group. Senior men, pay attention.

It has also been reported that 1/2 of all skin-related deaths occur in senior citizens who are 65 or older. Skin cancers result from genetic mutations over years. As seniors, you have had the most sun exposure as well as the most damage from ultraviolet (UV) light. 

Natural Ageing Takes It’s Toll

As seniors age, your skin undergoes changes that weaken your defenses against skin disease in general. Will winter tan make seniors more attractive is a natural question coming at a time when your skin needs protecting, not tanning.

As you age, you have reduced immune systems. Your skin has a poorer healing capacity. Seniors slowly develop thinner skin. Then there is the damage from smoking to pollution.

So why should any of us continue to put our health in harm’s way? Remember your skin is important as your body’s first line of defense against disease and infection.

Take Better Care Of Your Skin Health Tips

Make a pact today to help your skin by adding 3 very important steps to your program of prevention. This program includes the following items:

1. No tanning of any kind. Time your sun exposure to shorter periods to allow your body to make the vitamin D it needs to keep you and your heart healthy. Your body can produce enough of this important vitamin in about 25 minutes, 4 or so times a week. You can stay healthy without DNA damage. Pay attention to how long you are in the sun.

2.  Use the available layers of sun protection. Stay out of the sun from 11:00 AM. until 3 PM in the winter months. Wear sun blocking clothing. This includes wide brim hats and UV-filtered sunglasses.  Apply at least an SPF 30 (broad-spectrum protection) sunscreen lotion or higher to exposed skin. (Your face, and the back of your hands if you have covered your body in sun blocking clothing.) Reapply often. If not wearing sun blocking clothing, apply sunscreen to all exposed skin.

3. Educate yourself about how to inspect your body for suspicious skin growths and seek an immediate dermatologist’s inspection, if necessary, for early life-saving treatment. Taking care of your skin is not that difficult. You may need to change some bad habits. But, you can do it.

A Reminder Of What Is Good About Sunlight For Seniors?

Exposure to sunlight has been shown to have important benefits that are particularly important for seniors.

Most of these benefits are linked to vitamin D. Human beings are only able to produce Vitamin D naturally through exposure to the sun. This is very important for our cardiovascular health.

This vitamin is also known for helping build stronger bones. Exposure to the sun can help seniors who are having trouble with their circadian rhythm being in sync to allow proper waking and sleeping cycles.

Sunlight is also associated with helping treat depression in senior citizens. So a little sun is a real boost. Remember to watch the time, and don’t overdo it. 20 minutes in the summer is the maximum, with 25 to 30 in the winter. Avoid the 11 AM to 3 PM time slot for getting out during the winter. Mornings are best.

Winter Sun Strategies For Senior Citizens

For defence against sun damage in the winter, your first line of defence is clothing. Covering up is easier in the winter as it’s cold!

However, your face, head and neck tend to be exposed all the time. And, as result, this is where most skin cancers occur.

Start your new lifestyle better habit by remembering your wide-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses before heading out. A hat keeps you warm while keeping UV rays from damaging your face and scalp. Sunglasses protect your eyes while also fighting snow glare. These are the most important places to start in building your sun blocking wardrobe.

Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 or higher daily to all exposed skin. This includes the often-missed spots like the tops of your ears, around the eyes and near the hairline.

Have you considered using a moisturizing sunscreen made from lanolin or glycerin to combat dry winter skin? This is a good wintertime move.

Finally, try to avoid the peak sun hours (generally between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the winter months), and take a break in the shade when you can.

Build Some Better Habits For Your Senior Years

Winter is not far away, but that’s no excuse to let up on the sun-safe habits you practised during the summer.

Continuing sun protection efforts through the colder, cloudier months of the year reduces your risk of premature skin aging and developing the world’s most common cancer, skin cancer.

Learn How To Protect Your Skin
Sami’s Take On Will Winter Tans Make Senior Citizens More Attractive?

With the wintertime approaching, keeping our skin safe from too much sun will continue. As the warmer parts of the world, we don’t appreciate the mindset of those from colder climates.

Even in New Mexico, we had really cold times, but they are relatively short-lived. There are parts of Texas, in the northern parts of the state where it is much colder than here where I live in central Texas.

We do need to pay attention and keep the sunscreen handy. I am grateful that we can have some of the sun blocking clothing to help as I do not like the feel of sunscreen. I can’t afford to be without some kind of sun protection.

Taking walks in the mornings, putting sunscreen on my face, and wearing lightweight loose-fitting long sleeve shirts will be my main defense. I will be trying some sunblock on the backs of my hands. I knew that sunblock existed, I just never thought about it for the tops of my hands!

Last weekend when we attended our youngest grandson’s Youth League Football game, I was grateful for sunscreen and my wide brim hat and shirt. That sun was hot.

There were so many there who had no sunscreen and Moms in tank tops. The little blond-headed girls with fair skin in the cheer squad.

Third and fourth-grade boys on the field. A ball game that starts at 10:30 A M? Perfect set-up for overexposure.

Our lifestyles are not healthy. We are making changes. How about you?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *