It is getting hot out there - at home and especially here. Daily temperatures are in the 40s.
Which means it is time for my tirade on sunscreen. Most of you have heard it before and are aware of my strong feelings. Yet, like smokers, the majority of the population still isn't that concerned with sunscreen. After all, burns go away right?
Not really.
Maybe it takes a generation of family members with skin cancer scares to realize the long term damage. Years of not paying attention to the sun results in a little nick off the face, the back, the shoulders, etc. They don't hesitate either. If they think it is cancer on your face, they aren't calling a plastic surgeon. It's coming off. Hopefully you think scars are cute.
Or perhaps you need to meet my Grandma. She has melanoma. Which is one of those cancer words thrown around but do you really know what that is?
"Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease... The development of melanoma is related to sun exposure or ultraviolet radiation. For patients with melanoma that has spread beyond the skin and nearby lymph nodes to other organs, treatment is more difficult. At this point, melanoma is usually not curable." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001853/)"
That last line refers to Grandma.
In the last few days before we left for Qatar, I went to visit her. Keep in mind she has had a stroke and is in a long term care facility. She also has Stage 5 Melanoma. We talked about her adventures as an expat with Grandpa in Indonesia and Australia. She told me we would have an amazing time. I told her that I loved her and we would make the most it.
Do you know what she said to me before we left?
"Just don't be stupid like me. Wear sunscreen."
For Grandma's sake, let's clear up a few myths about sunscreen. It is not bad for you. It does not stop you from tanning and the number has nothing to do with your tan.
Do you actually know what the number is for? It is the amount of time you can spend in the sun before you will burn. Note, I said burn. Because that is what happens in order for you to "tan".
"To determine a sunscreen's SPF, testers round up 20 sun-sensitive people and measure the amount of UV rays it takes them to burn without sunscreen. Then they redo the test with sunscreen. The "with sunscreen" number is divided by the "without sunscreen" number, and the result is rounded down to the nearest five. This is the SPF.
To figure out how long you can stay in the sun with a given SPF, use this equation:
Minutes to burn without sunscreen x SPF number = maximum sun exposure time" (http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/sun-care/spf.htm)
Think about Grandma and think about sunscreen the next time you head to the beach or step outside - it would mean a lot to me.
Which means it is time for my tirade on sunscreen. Most of you have heard it before and are aware of my strong feelings. Yet, like smokers, the majority of the population still isn't that concerned with sunscreen. After all, burns go away right?
Not really.
Maybe it takes a generation of family members with skin cancer scares to realize the long term damage. Years of not paying attention to the sun results in a little nick off the face, the back, the shoulders, etc. They don't hesitate either. If they think it is cancer on your face, they aren't calling a plastic surgeon. It's coming off. Hopefully you think scars are cute.
Or perhaps you need to meet my Grandma. She has melanoma. Which is one of those cancer words thrown around but do you really know what that is?
"Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease... The development of melanoma is related to sun exposure or ultraviolet radiation. For patients with melanoma that has spread beyond the skin and nearby lymph nodes to other organs, treatment is more difficult. At this point, melanoma is usually not curable." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001853/)"
That last line refers to Grandma.
In the last few days before we left for Qatar, I went to visit her. Keep in mind she has had a stroke and is in a long term care facility. She also has Stage 5 Melanoma. We talked about her adventures as an expat with Grandpa in Indonesia and Australia. She told me we would have an amazing time. I told her that I loved her and we would make the most it.
Do you know what she said to me before we left?
"Just don't be stupid like me. Wear sunscreen."
For Grandma's sake, let's clear up a few myths about sunscreen. It is not bad for you. It does not stop you from tanning and the number has nothing to do with your tan.
Do you actually know what the number is for? It is the amount of time you can spend in the sun before you will burn. Note, I said burn. Because that is what happens in order for you to "tan".
"To determine a sunscreen's SPF, testers round up 20 sun-sensitive people and measure the amount of UV rays it takes them to burn without sunscreen. Then they redo the test with sunscreen. The "with sunscreen" number is divided by the "without sunscreen" number, and the result is rounded down to the nearest five. This is the SPF.
To figure out how long you can stay in the sun with a given SPF, use this equation:
Minutes to burn without sunscreen x SPF number = maximum sun exposure time" (http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/sun-care/spf.htm)
Think about Grandma and think about sunscreen the next time you head to the beach or step outside - it would mean a lot to me.
Photo credit: "Travelingdiva"
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