Eye on Health - Sun Safety

Summer has arrived and plenty of us will be spending lots of time outside over the next few weeks While that time outside will most likely be enjoyable you may be regretting it if you don t take steps to protect your skin first This is the season where the sun is beating down on us so we need to beat the sun Ann Welch - Nurse Practitioner andamp quot You know the best protection against skin cancer is sun screen and there are two type of rays to protect against UVA is our aging ray and our UVB is the ray that burns our skin andamp quot The SPF number is important The higher the number the longer it protects and the fewer times you have to reapply And here is something I am guilty of not knowing you must apply 20 minutes before you are in the sun to get the full protection Ann Welch - Nurse Practitioner andamp quot Most people are guilty like me you go outside and think woops I have to put my sunscreen on and you put it on and you think you are ready to go That doesn t work there is a little time delay there andamp quot Sunscreen can also expire so take a look at the date on the bottle Ann Welch - Nurse Practitioner andamp quot You can t leave your sunscreen out in the boat for a couple of years and expect it to work It does loose it effectiveness andamp quot And always remember that you can burn even when the sun isn t out and in the winter too Ann Welch - Nurse Practitioner andamp quot Snowboarders skiers ice fishermen they still need that protection Worst of all sun tanning booths Welch says that glow you get from a booth is dangerous The booth is 10 times stronger than the sun and can cause premature aging of the skin With your Eye on Health andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t perry-olsonandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Perry Olsonandamp lt aandamp gt KX News