Memorial Weekend traditionally marks the unofficial opening to sunburn season and the Friday before has been officially declared Don’t Fry Day.
It’s a preemptive strike to put sun damage front and center in your mind. The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention wants you to be sun protected; they want you to practice sun safe behavior, teach it, talk about it, and make it as American as apple pie.
You or your loved ones double your risk of getting melanoma (the potentially deadly big C skin cancer) with:
- One severe sunburn in childhood
- 5 or more sunburns as an adult
Yep, really!
From now until mid-October I’ll see sunburned skin in my office, at the grocery store, walking around town, and everywhere I go! You know from experience that it’s so easy to “forget” sun protection or to lose track of time at a graduation, wedding, BBQ, softball game, pulling weeds in the garden, etc. It’s why you need to expect it. You’re going to end up in the sun longer than you think, so you need to always be prepared in advance.
There are 5 simple steps for smart sun protection. Do them every day for yourself and your family:
- Apply broad spectrum SPF 30 or higher sunscreen.
- Wear sun-protective clothing to cover your skin.
- Wear a broad-brimmed had (not visor or ball cap).
- Wear UV-blocking sunglasses.
- Always be in the shade when you can. (Who are those people sitting in the direct sun at ball games and the beach?)
You also need to know that it takes extra resolve to sun protect. Culturally, sun bathing and tanning have been associated with a sense of well-being and the good life. It’s even addictive. I know; I was an addicted tanner until the big reality check that came in my dermatology residency in San Diego: cutting off skin cancer after skin cancer on people just like me. (Click here to read my story Tanning Addiction: Dermatologist’s Personal Story.) A lot of people still haven’t gotten “the memo” and justify their “actinic indiscretions” in the name of vitamin D. Sadly, it’s job security for my kind, so don’t do it.
Heavy-hitting organizations have taken up the charge to change Americans’ behavior. Groups like the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, US EPA, and other federal departments have teamed up to get sun protection front and center on your mind this summer. It starts with Don’t Fry Day and the Memorial Day weekend. See the team that makes up the National Council for Skin Cancer Prevention and No Fry Day. If your an educator, sign up for the EPA’s Sunwise program to get educational resources for your classroom and a chance to win a real-time TV monitor and other teaching aids for your class.
To learn more about my specific advice for smart sun protection (and how you can have a full, fun, and rewarding summer outside minus the sun damage), read what I tell and teach my dermatology patients in the posts listed below.
Photo, thanks and gratitude to D Sharon Pruitt
Hi Dr. Bailey,
Great post for Don’t Fry Day! In fact, we like it so much that we were wondering if you would allow us to post it on The Coolibar Blog (http://blog.coolibar.com) today so we can share it with all of our followers? We will give you full credit and link to your blog as well of course. Also, we’d be more than willing to provide you with a UPF 50 Coolibar hat to give away to one of your blog subscribers in return if you wanted to do a drawing!
Let us know.
Amanda
Coolibar
Hello Amanda,
It would be lovely to collaborate so yes you have my permission to post my blog post as you described. Happy Don’t Fry Day (early), it’s great to keep fighting the good fight against skin cancer with you and the Coolibar team. Yes, also to the hat. I’ll tell Kara to contact you and we can do a drawing and the winner can cruise over to your site, pick a hat. You and Kara can work on the specifics. What a lovely offer. Thank you.
Warm Regards, Cynthia Bailey MD
Excellent! Thank you.
Hi Dr Bailey,
Great info on suncare!
I know that it is also essential for people who have post inflammatory hyperpigmentation due to old acne breakout or previous minor skin injury to avoid sun exposure.
Out of curiosity though, outside sun avoidance and sunscreen use, does glycolic acid product help fade out skin hyperpigmentation over time?
Thanks.
Marie
I have patients use glycolic acid, tretinoin and hydroquinones to fade PIH.
Dr. Bailey,
I came across your blog through Google search. There’s a lot of very useful information.
My wife’s going through a mid-life crisis in skincare in an effort to delay aging. She changes her anti-aging skincare routine every 6 months.
Can your anti-aging skin kit be used indefinitely? Is there such a thing that skincare routine needs to be changed every so often, so that the skins won’t get so acclimated that the products lose efficacy?
My wife is a beautiful woman. I’d like to see her stick to a good solid anti-aging skincare program that proves to be effective and can be maintained.
I don’t mind spending money on her, but I don’t like to see her going through different products every 6 months at different professional clinics. LOL.
Thanks.
Hello Jonathan,
There is not any reason a good skin care routine needs to be changed. My patients stay on this kit plus their AHA or Retin A for many many years. People often like to try different moisturizers or sunscreens (always zinc) but the key ingredients of the routine are the best available anti aging ingredients in my opinion. Skin does change over time, typically becoming drier, more prone to scale build up and occasionally developing problems like rosacea or seborrhea. These things may prompt changes or additions to a skin care routine but not discontinuation in the key products which are the Replenix, CRS and the AHA or Retin A.
Hi Dr. Bailey,
Once again, great post! I am a dedicated reader of your blog and my skin is better for it. You introduced me to high-potency glycolic acid products, antioxidant skincare (replenix cf cream) and zinc-oxide based broad-spectrum sunscreens. Additionally, I have been spreading your advice and purchasing these products for family and friends who are concerned with skin cancer and photoaging.
Many thanks.
Dr Bailey,
You’re featuring Glycolix Elite sunscreen on your site with 17% zinc. I couldn’t find it under Glycolix line on Topix’s site… It’s under Elite and here’s what this sunscreen’s description says: “This is a line extension – product contains NO glycolic acid”. Sounds like in the past they had it under Glycolix, but changed because “glyco” and “sunscreen” don’t go together
Is that what it is? I want to use some of their products, so look for their web site to make sense to me.
Hello Vera,
I will ask Topix about their rational for the name of this product. It most definitely does not have glycolic acid in it. You can find the full ingredient content for all the products that I carry at the bottom of a product page. This is a very nice and highly effective sunscreen.
When I hear from Topix I will let you know.
Warm Regards, Cynthia Bailey MD