By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
Although summer is half over, beach-goers, runners and even those who limit their sun exposure might be tempted to put the sunscreen bottle on the shelf. But even after you may have burned, peeled and now tanned your skin this season, doctors and researchers warn: don’t stop applying that sunscreen.
And they stress the importance of protecting your skin from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet light rays is important, for everyone, young and old.
“One in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetime,” said Kenneth Grossman, M.D., dermatologist in Little Silver.
“This is the Jersey shore and entire social lives in summertime revolves around beach clubs,” said Grossman. “People are out all the time. The amount of sun exposure is tremendous. It’s really important they protect themselves.”
Many skin cancers are caused by excess exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun or other sources.
According to the American Cancer Society, researchers estimate that 5.4 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, were diagnosed in 3.3 million people in the United States in 2012. Melanoma is a less common but much more dangerous type of skin cancer that will be diagnosed in almost 74,000 people in 2015.
Some adults may be lulled into a sunscreen complacency because of an outdated study that claimed 80 percent of sun exposure was done before age 18. For many people that was before the widespread use of sunscreen. The common belief was that the most damage to a person’s skin had already been done early in life.
“But it turns out they made a computation error,” said Grossman of the study. “The new study revealed that we get less than 25 percent of our total sun exposure by age 18.”
Protecting your skin from the harmful rays of the sun is important as we age. Americans are living longer and spending more leisure time outdoors.
Another area where thinking has changed is the strength of a sunscreen’s SPF. Keep in mind, said Grossman, a sunscreen functions at one half the number on the bottle. So a sunscreen labeled 30 percent is only functioning at 15 percent.
He recommends using a sunscreen of 30 percent.
“And you need to reapply it every few hours,” he said.
Be wary of overcast days, too. “Some of the worst sunburns are on cool, cloudy days,” said Grossman.
A trend Grossman finds “very disturbing” is the increasing incidence of melanoma – the most deadly form of skin cancer – found in young adults 25-29, and young adolescents as young as 15.
“One of the most common factors in young women (with melanoma) is tanning parlors,” said Grossman. “The most important thing people can do is try to use sun safety (guidelines).”
And skin cancer knows no discrimination. According to Grossman, “We’ve seen cancer in people we thought were immune to skin cancer – Hispanic, Greek – we are seeing it in all age groups and all skin types.”
Some experts caution that sunscreen should be worn year round. As Grossman points out, “I’m in an office 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. I don’t put on sunscreen. But every weekend, the first thing I do is get up, brush my teeth and put on sunscreen.”
For outdoor workers, protecting skin is even more important, and not just in the summer months.
Other preventive measures include limiting time in the sun. “You can tell people to avoid the sun,” he said, “but this is the Jersey shore. They’re not going to listen.”
