Avoid The Burn
You're out in the sun for the first time in months and all seems fine, but as soon as you get inside you notice your new bright red burn.
This is very common, but more importantly it could double the risk of getting skin cancer.
According to Cancer Research UK a large amount of cases are diagnosed in younger adults and 28 percent of cases occur in people under 50 years old.
If you are planning on exposing yourself to the sun for any length of time it's important that you apply sunscreen regularly and are very careful during extremely hot spells in the middle of the day.
Dark clothing provides better protection, where as wet clothes can become stretched and reduce the amount of protection for your skin.
The sun emits 3 types of radiation, UVA, UVB and UVC.
UVB is the cause of sunburn as it affects the outer skin.
UVA penetrates much deeper and is the cause of long term damage, and is constant throughout the year.
UVA also penetrates glass so even sitting in a conservatory or your car does not mean you are protected.
If you spend plenty of time in the sun, makes sure you have the correct protection for your eyes.
The sun can cause damage in the eyes such as cataracts.
Hats and sunglasses are not just for looks, but are very important.
The sun isn't all bad and we shouldn't go hibernating from it out of fear.
UVB also produces vitamin d for our bodies which we need all year round.
Without it, we could have a softening of our bones or in serious cases, rickets.
Thankfully you do not need a lot of Vitamin D to last you all year.
The SPF Factor This advice on sun protection (SPF) is from the Cancer Research UK SunSmart campaign.
The SPF of a sunscreen tells you how much of the sun's harmful UVB rays are filtered out.
If you use:
Cancer Research UK advises using at least a factor 15.
This is very common, but more importantly it could double the risk of getting skin cancer.
According to Cancer Research UK a large amount of cases are diagnosed in younger adults and 28 percent of cases occur in people under 50 years old.
If you are planning on exposing yourself to the sun for any length of time it's important that you apply sunscreen regularly and are very careful during extremely hot spells in the middle of the day.
Dark clothing provides better protection, where as wet clothes can become stretched and reduce the amount of protection for your skin.
The sun emits 3 types of radiation, UVA, UVB and UVC.
UVB is the cause of sunburn as it affects the outer skin.
UVA penetrates much deeper and is the cause of long term damage, and is constant throughout the year.
UVA also penetrates glass so even sitting in a conservatory or your car does not mean you are protected.
If you spend plenty of time in the sun, makes sure you have the correct protection for your eyes.
The sun can cause damage in the eyes such as cataracts.
Hats and sunglasses are not just for looks, but are very important.
The sun isn't all bad and we shouldn't go hibernating from it out of fear.
UVB also produces vitamin d for our bodies which we need all year round.
Without it, we could have a softening of our bones or in serious cases, rickets.
Thankfully you do not need a lot of Vitamin D to last you all year.
The SPF Factor This advice on sun protection (SPF) is from the Cancer Research UK SunSmart campaign.
The SPF of a sunscreen tells you how much of the sun's harmful UVB rays are filtered out.
If you use:
- Factor 15 - only 7 per cent of the harmful rays will get through.
- Factor 30 - only 4 per cent of the harmful rays will get through.
- Factory 60 - only 2 percent of the harmful rays will get through.
Cancer Research UK advises using at least a factor 15.
