I was looking through spring break pictures of my friends from spring break and in every picture someone had lobster red skin. Their minimal use of sunscreen concerned me because their skin had been damaged by ultra violet radiation. Safe sun practices should be used in order help prevent the harmful effects of ultra violet radiation.
The American Academy of Dermatology and the Skin Cancer Foundation developed a five-step system to reducing the risk of sunburn and skin cancer, which are caused by overexposure to UV radiation. The five-step process includes the follow steps:
1. Minimize sun exposure between 10 am and 3 pm- this is when the sun’s rays are the strongest
2. Use sunscreen with a SPF of 15 or higher
3. Reapply sunscreen every two hours
4. Wear protective clothing and sunglasses
5. Avoid tanning beds
These simple practices are simple to do and the benefits of using them are life-long.
Overexposure to ultraviolet rays can lead to premature aging, abnormal pigmentation, reduced immune and most dangerously skin cancer. It may seem like a sunburn is not a big deal, but each sunburn causes your skins cells to break down. The break down of skin cells can easily lead to skin cancer. Every year skin cancer is responsible for 10,000 deaths each year in the United States.
Those 10,000 deaths a year could easily be prevented if proper sun practices were implemented. By simply putting on sunscreen or by covering up in the sun, skin cancer deaths would be reduced. It may not seem worth it now to protect your skin, but later on your will be glad that you did.
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Some of those statitistics are scary. People continuously live for today rather than the future. Even after being aware of the possible consequences people choose to go tanning and lounge in the sun because a tan is "beautiful." If people don't take this simple caution, there are many that will regret it in the future.
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