Sun Avoidance and SPF (skin protection factor)

Prevention means guarding the skin against the known causes of skin cancer.

Sun avoidance tips include:

• Seek shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the ultraviolet rays are the most intense, especially when your shadow is shorter than you are tall.
  
• Wear light-colored, tightly woven protective clothing and wide-brimmed hats.
  
• Apply sunscreen with SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of at least 15.

With SPF 15 sunscreen applied properly, a fair-skin person who sunburns in 20 minutes can tolerate 15 times 20 minutes (300 minutes or five hours) without burning. However, the use of sunscreens should not be an excuse to spend extra time in the sun. Other sunrays still go through the sunscreen, such as UVA or infrared that can age the skin and damage the skin's immune system.

Begin early use of sun protection in childhood because it is estimated that 80 percent of lifetime sun exposure occurs before age 18. Children fewer than 6 months of age should not have prolonged sun exposure, but if this occurs, a sunscreen should be used.

The use of sunscreen should always be a part of a program for sun avoidance and never as an excuse for increasing sun exposure.

Which sunscreen is right of you?

• SPF 15: Minimal protection for dark-skinned people who tan easily and burn minimally.
  
• SPF 15-20: Moderate protection for medium-skinned people who generally burn but may develop a slight tan.
  
• SPF 20-30: Maximum protection for fair-skinned people who always burn and rarely tan.