/The common myths over sunburn

NEVER think that clouds or windows can protect you from sunburn – they definitely won’t.

These are some of the most common myths about suncream and staying safe in the sun and why you should avoid them.

With summer in full swing Dr Anjali Mahto, a consultant dermatologist and spokeswoman for the British Skin Foundation, has busted some of the common misconceptions people make about protecting themselves from the sun, so they can be avoided in future.

She’s also highlighted some of the commonly missed body parts when it comes to applying suncream. It’s not true that you can’t get skin damage if it’s cloudy. A significant amount of UV rays can still get through the clouds It’s not true that you can’t get sunburnt in the UK. You can. It’s not true that you don’t have to regularly reapply ‘water resistant’ sunscreen. Despite what the packaging promises, swimming, sweating, rubbing, or towelling down means you will end up removing the sunscreen from your body. Always reapply after sporting activity or at least every two hours. It’s not true that your skin is only damaged if it turns red. Sunburn and skin peeling is the extreme end of skin damage from UV rays. When the skin ‘tans’ this is damaging your skin and putting you at risk of skin cancer in the future. It’s not true that you can’t get sunburnt through windows. UVA radiation can penetrate glass so suncream should be applied before long car journeys or sitting by sunny windows. It’s a myth that factor 25 gives half the protection of factor 50. Even though it’s higher, it’s not twice as much. Meanwhile, the places where people are most likely to forget to put suncream are the eyelids, the backs of knees, the ears, the tops of feet, the sides of the face, the hands, the underarms, the scalp, the lips and the area between the chest and neck. Suncream should also be applied at least 30 minutes before going outdoors.