For some reason or other, many light-skinned people have the idea that the “golden glow” of a great tan is the way to go, however, all it really does lead to is skin trouble later on. So, how do you protect your skin?
For starters, the best offense is, as the old saying goes, a good defense and in this case it means that the “golden glow” of a tan should probably come from a waterproof spray-on tanning machine, rather than from the rays of the sun.
With today’s damaged atmosphere admitting more of the harmful ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays than every before, the chances of a tan causing more dermal damage than you realize are quite good. This means that if you must go out and spend time in the sun the best offense hear is a good sun block with an SPF rating of 35 to 40 (you can buy sun blocks with SPFs up to 60 that block virtually all the UVB rays). At the same time, you must be sure that the sun block protects you from UVA rays and the way you can tell the effectiveness of a sun block by the number of stars on the side of the tube. The ratings are from 1 to 5 stars and the higher the number of stars the better the protection from UVA rays. A good rating here would be 3 to 4 stars and that should be the sun block you should use.
Another good way to protect your skin is to be sure that if you go out in the midday sun that you dress appropriately by wearing long-sleeved clothing. Be sure the clothing is loose-fitting for warmer climates as tight-fitting clothing tends to raise your body temperature.
Be sure to combine the clothing with a broad-brimmed hat that has adequate ventilation so that you won’t sweat that heavily.
The reason one must protect oneself from sweating excessively is not only are you chancing overheating and, possibly, heat-stroke on a warm day, but if you are wearing a sun block, the cream will literally wash off with the sweat. This means you must remember to reapply a sun block regularly during the day for maximum protection.
If you are worried that the sun blocker may dry your skin, try using one with aloe vera which, interestingly, can help to lighten the blotches you experience with keratosis. Indeed, while all of the various types of keratosis fall in this category, there is still a very real problem with the skin discoloration caused by keratosis. This is usually hormonally linked and occurs far more often in women of child-bearing years and in some young men who wear heavily sun-senitive aftershaves or toiletries.
The bottom line in all of this though is that old saw, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and in this instance it means staying out of the sun, if possible, and if you must go out, you must prepare for it.
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