How to Prevent Skin Cancer

There are ways to prevent skin cancer and most of them fall under the category of common sense. The rays from the sun, in particular, ultra violet rays are harmful to your skin and can cause skin cancer. Limit your time in the sun and use the below tips to protect yourself when you are outdoors.

Overexposure to the sun can cause skin cancer years down the road. The easiest way to ensure you are not getting too much sun is to wear appropriate clothing and seek out shade whenever possible. Wearing a hat is an invaluable way to protect your face, ears, and neck (if the brim is large enough) from skin cancer.

You still need to be aware of the skin cancer risks even when you are wearing clothing that gives good coverage, a hat with a large brim, and staying in the shade whenever possible. Sunscreen should be used as a back-up to these measures. To use sunscreen properly (and get a better chance of preventing skin cancer), you need to put enough on and do it 20-30 minutes prior to going outside. Once outside, sunscreen should be reapplied at least every two hours to ensure the protective coverage is maintained.

Two other methods that are under-utilized as skin cancer prevention are sunglasses and avoiding tanning beds. Your eyes and the sensitive area around the eyes are prone to getting burnt and require extra protection from the sun and ultra violet rays. A wrap around pair of sunglasses is the best protection. The lenses of the sunglasses should be dark enough to block the light. There is no definitive study, but exposing yourself to ultra violet rays through the use of tanning beds is not recommended. It is a risk to use them as you may get skin cancer later on when you thought you were being cautious by not laying out in the sun.