Sun cream alone won’t protect you from harmful rays, warns dermatologist
PEOPLE shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security and think sun cream is all they need to escape harmful rays during the heatwave, a leading dermatologist warned.
Dr Patrick Ormond, a dermalologist in St James’s Hospital, said we are placing too much emphasis on sun screen alone.
It should be used along with other safety measures, such as avoiding the sun when it is at its strongest between 11am and 3pm, wearing closely woven clothes, a hat and staying in the shade. “Sunscreen is not an excuse for guilt-free exposure,” he warned.
“We also don’t tend to use it correctly. We sweat if off,” he added.
We should always apply high factor sunscreen generously when out walking or some other activity, and use it on areas that cannot otherwise be covered.
There is also no such thing as a safe tan.
“If you have a tan, you have already reached some level of damage,” he pointed out.
Dr Ormond said he himself loves the sun – but “I sit in the shade and do not sunbathe”.
People can also forget about the risks posed by the sun coming through car or truck windows or even into the office.
The advice to parents is to protect their children from as much cancer-causing radiation as they can as this will be important for them 20 or 30 years down the line.
Meanwhile, Dr Anne Marie Tobin, a dermatologist in Tallaght Hospital, said she is already seeing a significant number of adult patients presenting with sunburn this summer. Adults should use sunscreen of at least Factor 30 from April and it should be Factor 50 for children.
“People need to avoid sunbathing, otherwise they are asking for trouble,” she said.
Some of her patients are worried about freckles on their skin when they already have a tan. But she said there is no such thing as safe tanning.
She said if people want to get colour in their skin, they are better off using fake tan which is now much more realistic than it used to be.
“Pale skin can look very nice and is in fashion. In ‘Italian Vogue’, all the models are pale.”
She pointed out that skin cancer “is the most avoidable cancer” and yet “the numbers of skin cancers outnumber all other cancers”.
She said it is important that people who must be outdoors because of their job need to take particular precautions.
Dr Tobin warned against using last year’s sunscreen and said people should buy a new bottle. They key is to re-apply it during the day.