Protect yourself well
The fragility of the skin increases with age. It becomes drier, thinner and less elastic and you burn faster. How you sunbath wisely depends on your skin type, the degree to which your skin is used to the sun and where you are. Four important tips.
1. Lubricate on time
In the Netherlands it is advisable to use sunscreen if you are in the sun for more than half an hour on sunny summer days and/or if there is a sun strength of 7 or 8. How strong the sun is, check on the site of the KNMI.
2. Know Your Skin Type
If you have skin type 1 or 2 (often with blond hair and blue eyes or red hair and freckles), you should be more careful than if you have less sun-sensitive skin. If you burn after 10 minutes, you must therefore lubricate in time.
You can test which skin type you have at KWF Cancer Control.
3. Use the right factor
The higher the factor of your sunscreen, the longer you can sunbathe ‘with impunity’. For example, if you can spend 10 minutes in the sun with your skin type without rubbing, then you can sunscreen with a factor of 15 for 150 minutes, or 2.5 hours. Note: this only applies if you apply thick enough (see tip 4). In southern countries, different advice applies. Between 12:00 and 15:00 the sun is so strong there that you should definitely apply.
Factor 50 sunscreen is no longer recommended. This blocks all UV-B rays and if you apply it, you also miss a number of benefits. Factor 30 is in principle high enough, but keep an eye out and sit in the shade in time.
4. Smear thickly and regularly
Use a large handful of cream (33 ml for your entire body) per application and repeat the application several times a day. If you are swimming or active on the beach, the layer of cream will wear off faster. Lubricating every hour is not a superfluous luxury.
Skin cancer facts
Skin cancer is becoming more common. The number of cases is increasing by almost 4 percent per year. Of these, 80 percent is effective and easy to treat and almost never fatal. The most serious form of skin cancer is melanoma, the malignant mole. It occurs in only 10 percent of cases, but it causes 90 percent of skin cancer deaths. There is strong evidence that sunburn increases the risk of melanoma.
Sources):
- PlusMagazine
