Beach days are almost here, but how sunscreen savvy are you?
You may wear it, but you may also be making some common mistakes.
Dr. Emily Wise, the founder of DermWellesley, doesn’t care what brand of 30+ SPF sunscreen you use. She just wants you to put it on every day.
“Sunscreen is of the utmost importance. And I know you hear that from dermatologists all the time. Not only is it important in preventing skin cancer and that starts at a really young age and preventing that cumulative photodamage over time,” said Wise.
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“Any time you're going to be out in the sun, we do recommend a broad-spectrum sunscreen. So that means it covers both UVA and UVB rays. We want it on any place that's exposed to the sun.”
There are some common sunscreen mistakes that people make:
- Using expired sunscreen. Believe it or now, sunscreen has a shelf life. It’s important to check the date on the bottle and if the date has passed, throw it out.
- Leaving sunscreen in a hot car. Exposing sunscreen to prolonged extreme heat can degrade its ingredients. Store it in a cool dark place.
- Not using enough sunscreen and not reapplying
“For a full body, if you're going to be outside, say, at the beach, the recommendation is actually a lot. It's one ounce of sunscreen. So that could fill almost a shot glass. And we do know most people are under applying,” said Wise.
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It doesn’t matter if you use sunscreen with the most SPF.
“A lot of people think if they use a very, very high SPF, that that means they don't have to reapply. We really want you to reapply despite what number you're using every 2 hours, and especially if you're sweating or just coming out of the swimming pool or the ocean.”
Another mistake: using spray sunscreens incorrectly.
“You can't just kind of spray it into the air and have your kid walk through it. It really needs to be sprayed directly on the skin,” said Wise. “And then the biggest mistake I see people make is not rubbing it in. So, you really got to rub it in in order for it to be effective. “
The risk of not using it is real. Wise notes they diagnose patients every day with skin cancer.
If you have teenagers who skip the sunscreen to get a tan, Wise suggests they get spray tans and tan creams as they are a much better option for the skin. Just know that the base tan you get from them doesn’t provide you with any additional protection from the sun.
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