Seven Tips to Enjoying the Sun Safely

Enjoying the Sun. Photo (c) Lege Artis

Sun UV is the major cause of premature skin aging (which translates into wrinkles, sagging and thinning skin, brown discolouration, redness and broken capillaries). Wearing sunscreen every day is one of the most important as well as inexpensive anti-aging and preventative health measures you can do for your skin.
Lots of our clients are planning to take a trip South during the winter. So we decided to compile a few tips on enjoying the sun safely:

• Protect yourself and your loved ones from direct and reflected UV radiation by wearing a sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher during the sunny vacations and in the summer months.
• The UV radiation is stronger near the equator, at high altitude, near large reflective surfaces (such as water or snow/ice), in the summer and between 10 am and 2 pm. So, it is safer to avoid the direct sun exposure during this hours.
• Apply the sunscreen liberally, do not skimp. Reapply within 2 hours in order to remain effective.
• Wear a sunblock labeled "water resistant" if swimming or playing sports (sweating). Always reapply after swimming, sweating, or drying with towels.
• For ourselves we found particularly useful sunscreen sprays marked "continuous spray" which keep spraying as long as you are pressing the trigger. It also can spray from any angle (you don't have to hold the bottle upright) which is very convenient if you want to apply it yourself on your back or other hard to reach areas of the body. 
• Since sunscreen should not be applied on or near eyes - good sunglasses are the way to go. For better protection wear dark sunglasses with good surface coverage (to protect the skin around the eyes from premature development of wrinkles and brown spots). According to The American Academy of Ophthalmology, too much exposure to sunlight may increase your risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. For more information on how to protect your eyes from the sun's UV rays, visit http://www.geteyesmart.org.
• Protect from the direct sun radiation by wearing a good sun hat. The best sun hat would be the one that provides an opaque coverage (not see-through). To test your hat - simply hold it against a light bulb - if you can not see the light shining through, you found a good sun hat. Straw hats let the light through and therefore are useless for sun protection. The best sun hats are also the ones with the widest brim. Baseball caps only cover the centre of the face and do not protect the sides properly.

Since 1996 here at Lege Artis Clinic we have been taking care of skin photo-aging. For more information please visit: http://www.lege-artis.ca/anti-aging.html

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season!