As more people start to travel and spend time outdoors again, knowing how to stay safe in the sun is more important than ever. Without taking precautions, being exposed to the sun can cause damage to your skin. Understanding key sun safety tips can help you stay healthy this summer and throughout the entire year.
Keep reading to find out helpful sun safety tips, along with other considerations to keep in mind about UV rays, sunscreen, and sunglasses.
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Sun Safety Tips
If you spend a lot of time outdoors, time in the sun with a swimsuit, live in an area that gets a lot of sunlight, have had serious sunburns in the past, or have had sun damage such as liver spots, take precaution when out in the sun.
Here are some essential sun safety tips:
Stay in the shade when possible
“Slip” on a shirt
“Slop” on some sunscreen
“Slap” on a wide-brimmed hat
“Wrap” on Sunglasses
If you are going to be in the sun, remember the catchphrase, “Slip, Slop, Slap, and Wrap!” This can also be a helpful way to explain sun safety to children.
Staying in the shade is a key way to avoid UV light and is particularly important between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm. You can protect your skin by wearing clothing. Some clothes even have different levels of UV protection. Dark colored shirts and clothes provide the most protection (more so than lighter colors).
Sunscreen is a product used to place a protective layer on your skin. Even with proper sunscreen use, UV rays can still get through the barrier, so it is important to use sunscreen as one of many protective factors.
Also remember to stay hydrated when outside to avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion.
Sun Safety Tips - Understanding UV Rays
The sun produces a form of electromagnetic radiation called ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This type of radiation comes from the sun and can damage the DNA (genes) in your cells, which can lead to skin cancer. There are two types of UV rays that reach the ground, UVA and UVB rays.
UVA rays have the least amount of energy, but can cause skin cells to age and cause some indirect damage to cells’ DNA. UVA damage is commonly linked to wrinkles on the skin. UVB rays have more energy than UVA rays and can cause skin damage and sunburns. UVB is the most common type of ray to cause skin cancer.
Exposure to sunlight can be dangerous if you do not take some precautions. When being exposed to the sun, consider factors such as:
The time of day
Season of the year
Distance from the equator
Altitude
Clouds
Reflection off surfaces
Contents of the air
These factors change the strength of the sun’s rays and can change sun exposure and subsequently cause more damage. Keep in mind there are man-made UV rays such as sunlamps, tanning beds, phototherapy, black-light lamps, mercury-vapor lamps, and welding arcs.
Sun Safety Tips - What Does SPF Mean?
Sunscreen provides SPF coverage, which means sun protection factor (SPF). The SPF number is the level of protection against UVB rays, the main type of rays that cause sunburns. The higher the SPF number, the greater the protection.
SPF 15 sunscreens filter out about 93% of UVB rays.
SPF 30 sunscreen filters out about 97% of UVB rays while SPF 50 sunscreen filters out about 98% of UVB rays.
SPF 100 filters out about 99% UVB rays and is the most protective.
As you can see, no sunscreen protects you 100% which is why other protective measures should be in place. Deciding on which SPF is better for sunscreen depends on your daily activities and how long you plan to be in the sun. When in doubt, apply SPF 15 or greater in order to provide protection.
Always follow the label direction for sunscreen. Remember that you should put sunscreen on your face, neck, ears, arms, and any other areas not covered with clothing. Don’t forget your lips! Your lips are the most commonly forgotten area. Sunscreen infused lip balms are also available. If you are going to wear insect repellent or makeup, make sure to put on sunscreen first.
In order to prevent getting a sunburn, you need to protect yourself against UVB rays. This includes wearing sunscreen, staying in the shade when possible, wearing dark clothing, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses. Practicing these sun safety tips will help protect your skin from sunburns. Sunglasses can be a valuable, and often overlooked, part of your sun safety routine.
Related: What is Skin Inflammation?
UV Protection and Sunglasses
UV rays can damage your eyes. Wearing UV-blocking sunglasses can protect the delicate skin around your eyes as well as your eyes themselves. UV damage to your eyes can cause long-term problems such as macular degeneration or vision loss.
When out in the sun, you should wear sunglasses that provide UV protection. Dark sunglasses do not necessarily mean they protect against UV rays. Check the label of the sunglasses:
If the sunglasses state “UV absorption up to 400 nm” or “Meets ANSI UV requirements” then they protect up to 99% of harmful UV rays.
If the sunglasses are labeled “Cosmetic” you can assume they protect about 70% of UV rays.
If there is no mention of UV protection on the sunglasses, you can assume they do not provide any protection as labeling is mandatory for UV protection.
Staying Safe in the Sun
If you spend time outdoors, make sure to take the necessary steps to protect yourself against the sun. UV rays can damage your skin and lead to problems down the road. Sun damage can cause painful sunburns or worse, cancer. Prevention is key when thinking about sun safety.
Remember to protect yourself from the sun this summer. If you need to speak to a doctor while traveling, PlushCare can help. Book an appointment to speak with a board-certified doctor online today.
Read More About Sun Safety Tips
Sources
American Cancer Society. Be safe in the sun. Accessed on June 10, 2021 from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/sun-and-uv.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sun Safety Facts. Accessed on June 19, 2024 from https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/sun-safety/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/sun-safety.htm
World Health Organization. International agency for research on cancer. Accessed on June 10, 2021 from https://www.iarc.who.int/
