Vim & Vigor - Summer 2014 - Community Healthcare - 18

TRUE OR FALSE:

Any SPF (sun protection factor) higher than
30 is a bunch of hooey.

FALSE I hate to be a party pooper, but that

SPF 4 tanning oil isn't helping your skin. Turns out,
a higher number really is better. An SPF 15 ﬁlters out
about 93 percent of all UVB rays, while SPF 30
blocks 97 percent, and SPF 50 keeps out 98 percent.
The differences may seem negligible, but if you are
light-sensitive or have a history of skin cancer, they
can make an impact. Plus, over a lifetime, a few more
percentage points can add up to a lot less sun damage.
"For regular daily use, an SPF of 15 or 30 is more
than adequate," says Steven Q. Wang, MD, a spokesman for the Skin Cancer Foundation. "But if you're
spending a lot of time outdoors, you need something
higher, like SPF 50."

TRUE OR FALSE:

The sun's rays are all dangerous, so you have to
block them all.

TRUE UVA? UVB? UB40? OK, so the 1980s
band behind the song "Red, Red Wine" has nothing
to do with sun protection, but it's easy to get confused with all these abbreviations ﬂoating around.
When shopping for a sunblock, not only are you
deciding which SPF to get, but you also have to look
for a product that protects against both types of
damaging rays.
Ultraviolet B rays are the chief culprits behind
sunburns. They play a large role in the development
of skin cancer, and their intensity varies with the season, location and time of day. It was once thought that
UVB rays were the only worrisome ones, but we now
know that UVA does damage, too.
Ultraviolet A rays penetrate the skin more deeply
than UVB and play a major role in aging and wrinkling. Until recently, scientists believed that UVA's
damage was all superﬁcial, but new studies show
that UVA rays do, in fact, contribute to skin cancer.
So what does it all mean as you navigate the sunscreen aisle? "Look for a sunscreen labeled broadspectrum, which means it meets the FDA standards
for both UVA and UVB protection," Wang says.

SU M M E R 2 014

TRUE OR FALSE:

Wearing sunscreen can be bad for you.

FALSE OK, this one was easy. But some people
shy away from sunscreen, believing it poses a health
risk. Consider those myths ofﬁcially debunked.
"There have been some ideas perpetuated that sunscreen is really a cause of melanoma. This was most
likely due largely to the fact that older products didn't
offer UVA protection," Wang says. "A clinical trial in
2010 showed that daily use of sunscreen reduced the
risk of developing skin cancer by 50 percent."
Another common misconception is that wearing
sunscreen will limit your ability to get enough vitamin D. While it's true that the sun's rays are a source
of this nutrient, they certainly aren't the only one.
"When you consider the health risks compared to
the health beneﬁts of getting your vitamin D from
the sun, it really becomes apparent that oral intake
from diet and supplements is the preferred method of
obtaining the vitamin," Wang says.

TRUE OR FALSE:

Even under total cloud cover, sunscreen is essential.

TRUE Sunscreen should be a part of your daily
routine, not just something you throw in your beach
bag. Even on an overcast day, up to 40 percent of the
sun's ultraviolet radiation reaches Earth. This can
lead to serious sunburn, because when you don't feel
the sun's rays, you may be inclined to spend hours
outdoors without protection.

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2014 - Community Healthcare

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