Protecting Your Skin

Keeping your children safe is high on the agenda but many parents often forget to protect themselves, from the sun. Rates of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer have doubled in the last twenty years, with 14,000 cases and over 2,200 deaths registered last year. Exposure to sunlight is attributed as a high risk factor with number of UK residents travelling abroad having doubled from 1980 to 1989.

The UK’s leading skin cancer charity, Melanoma UK, have provided their top five tips for staying protected in the sun:

Slip, slop, slap

An average body needs a full shot glass size of sun cream to covers themselves adequately, around 20 minutes before you go outside. Apply sun cream again after going into water and reapply every 2 hours.

Bin the base tan

The idea of a base tan protecting skin is a myth. The process of acquiring a tan damages the skin, with the skin turning a brown colour to protect itself. Short, sharp sessions on a sun bed can be up to 15 times stronger than the Mediterranean mid-day sun.

Avoid the lobster look

The early evening sun can still be dangerous, especially in countries with warmer climates. Sun cream should be applied again after showering or utilise an after sun that offers sun protection.

Getting those vitamins

You only need a brief period of exposure of around 10-15 minutes in the sun to give your body its daily dose of vitamin D.

Check yourself, before you wreck yourself

Keep a check on our skin and make regular checks, using pay day as a guide, if you notice anything unusual always seek medical advice.

For more information please check out the links below:

• Melanoma UK http://www.melanomauk.org.uk
• Link to ONS data: Click Here
• In 2014, skin cancer was the second most common type of cancer diagnosed for 15 to 49 year olds.
• Males are more likely to get skin cancer.
• Male skin cancer rates have increased at a greater rate than for females over the twenty years from 1995.