SUN SAFETY AND SUNSCREENS

Welcome as it is, the sun can be a problem. Too much sun can cause a painful vacation, and long term health problems. Here is some guidance on protection from the sun.

Think about medications you might be taking. Some medications have a tendency to cause increased sensitivity to sunburn and sun damage – or even rashes. These include common medications such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and medications that you might be taking for malaria protection (doxycycline), and other meds such as antidepressants or blood pressure medications. Read the product label, or ask your pharmacist, or ask us when you come to your visit.

The most direct protection is simply to avoid exposure to the sun during the peak intensity hours of 12 noon to 2 PM. That is easy enough to remember, although sometimes hard to implement. These hours are a good time for lunch indoors. Hats are good looking as well as protective. Long sleeve shirts can actually be cool, and so can pants that are longer than short. For the really sporty, there are parasols.

The second protection is to use sunscreen, which every traveler to the topics should have. Using sunscreen can take some knowledge. Here is some information you might be able to use.

The rays that your skin needs protection from are “UVA” and UVB”. UVB causes the redness and pain of the familiar sunburn. But UVA is important as well, as these rays contribute to skin aging, wrinkling, loss of elasticity, and some skin cancers.

“SPF,” or “sun protection factor” only applies to UVB (sunburn) rays. SPF shows how much longer you can stay in the sun before you burn. If you burn after 10 minutes, and you use an SPF-15 sunscreen, you can stay in the sun 150 minutes before you burn. If you use an SPF-30 sunscreen, you can stay in the sun 300 minutes before you burn. There is no evidence that SPF over 50 provides any additional benefit, and the extra ingredients might be more likely to cause skin irritation.

Some sunscreens have UVA ratings as well, rated as 1 star (low protection) to 4 stars (high protection). “Broad-spectrum” sunscreens have good coverage for both UVA and UVB. These include ingredients such as avobenzone with oxybenzone, which are absorbed by the skin to provide protection. Zinc oxide or titanium provide protection by repelling the suns’ rays without being absorbed, so these are often a better choice for those with sensitive skin. (There are new forms of zinc oxide that are microscopic, so don’t look white and pasty like they used to.)

“Water Resistant” sunscreens last about 40 minutes in water, and “Very Water Resistant” sunscreens last about 80 minutes in water.

Proper application is important: products work best when applied 20 minutes before exposure to the sun. Apply enough sunscreen: it takes one-half to one teaspoon per “body part,” arm, leg, back, etc. It’s generally recommended that you re-apply every 2 hours or so. We don’t advise using combination sunscreen/insect repellants, as the sunscreen usually needs to be applied more often. Also, combination products usually don’t contain a strong enough insect repellant for travel to countries with malaria risk.