Skin Health and Hot Summer

by Youmasu J. Siewe, Ph.D, MPH.

The following article was published in the Stillwater News Press on June 5, 2002.

With rising temperature and hot weather of the summer, children and adults all across the country and Oklahoma are likely to spending more and more time outdoor, and thus likely to develop heat-related skin problems.  If your skin produces less melanin pigments, as the case with Caucasians and other races with lighter/pale skin, it is important to help protect your skin from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.  The use of sunscreen on a regular basis is one way to do so.

Damage to the skin from one sun burn can last for several years or for a lifetime. Ultraviolet rays cause premature aging and increase the risk of developing skin cancer later in life.  Other skin problems that can result from excessive heat exposure include dehydration, exhaustion and heat stroke. Although most individuals like the look of tan skin, it is important to remember that the bronze color you have on your body today might mean permanent sun damage in the future.   This article discuses skin cancer which is the most common type of cancer, and mostly caused by the sun’s damage to the skin. More than one million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year nationally, and about 500 cases are reported in the state Oklahoma annually. One in five adults develops skin cancer, and it accounts for nearly one-third of all reported malignancies in the country, reports the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).        Most individuals do not realize that sun damage is cumulative and thus adds up over a lifetime. The early signs of sun or photo damage include sunburn, tanning and increased freckling, which is often followed by wrinkling, sagging skin and premature aging.  Long-term effects of sun damage to the skin include more serious health problems such as skin cancer. As much as 80 percent of lifetime photo-damage occurs before the age of 2.

Children are also vulnerable to skin damage.  Because it is unrealistic to keep children completely out of the sun, there are steps parents can take to minimize exposure. The sun is most intense between 10 a.m. and 3 P.M.  A good rule of thumb to prevent children from sun damage is to keep them out of the sun when the child’s shadow is shorter than he or she is.  When children have to be outdoors, use sunscreen that has a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15.  Information on SPF is always found on the label of the product container.  In addition, sunscreen products should protect against both ultra violet–A (UVA) or ultraviolet-B (UVB) rays. The higher the SPF, the more protection you get from UVB rays. A sunscreen with a 15 SPF provides fifteen times the body’s normal protection from the sun.

Be sure to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure and reapply every two hours since water and perspiration will decrease its effectiveness. Keep in mind that even on a cloudy day one is exposed to 80 percent of the sun’s rays.  A young child who suffers even one blistering sun burn is at a significantly higher risk for developing skin cancer.  Parents should consult a health care providers if a child experiences nausea, fever, chills or lightheadedness due to sunburn.  Health care should also be sought when a child has blistering, or if the burn appears to worsen 24 hours after exposure.

Despite the hype, tanning beds are not recommended as a safe alternative to sun exposure, especially for people with skin types I and II. These are the types that always burn, and never or sometimes tan. The high-intensity light exposure found on tanning beds might promote alterations of the immune system, premature aging of the skin and development of skin cancer.  For those people who like the look of a tan, self-tanning products are recommended as a safe way to get that bronze look. However, this “fake tan” does not protect the skin from ultraviolet rays, so sunscreens must still be used if one has to be under the sun to get a tan. As the weather continues to get hotter and more time has to be spent outdoors or at the pool, take a few minutes to help protect your skin, as well as your children’s skin from the dangers of the sun.