Skin safety in the summer sun

We all know that too much of sun is not a good thing and overexposure can play havoc with your skin - leading to premature ageing, skin irritation, wrinkling and at times melanoma, a type of skin cancer. This brings us to the question - how can you make summer healthy and safe for yourself and your kids, despite the harsh summer sun? Consider these FAQs on sun safety and you will be able to kiss your summer skin woes goodbye. What is sun protection? Sun protection helps in guarding your body against the harsh effects of sunlight. Overexposure in the sun can pose the danger of premature ageing of the skin, wrinkles, precancerous changes in the skin and in some unfortunate cases, skin cancer too. Sun protection is a must as it helps in protecting your skin from the harsh ultraviolet rays and thus saves your skin from a host of problems. How is sunburn best prevented? Limit your exposure to the sun as much as you can, especially in the peak scorching sun hours - 10 am to 3 pm. Wear protective layers of clothing, and cover your arms as much as you can along with a broad-brim hat. Use a layer of branded sunscreen and preferably a water-resistant sunscreen to minimise the affect of ultraviolet rays. What is sunscreen? Sunscreen is any substance or material that helps in protecting the skin against the UV radiation. Sunscreens are available in the form of gels, sprays, ointments, creams and topical lotions. By using a salve or a stick rub the lotion against your skin. Many facial mositurisers help in protecting the skin against sun too as they have sunscreen content in them. What does SPF mean? An abbreviation for sun protection, SPF is a number, such as 15, 30 or 50. These numbers indicate the number of sun burn protection. SPF is linked to the amount of exposure of sun rather than the length of sun exposure. SPF should be applied on the skin, based on a number of factors such as length of exposure, time of the day, weather conditions and geographical locations. The value of SPFs varies in terms of their amount and thus, one should use them based on the labelling of sunscreen products. Do water or perspiration wash off sunscreen? Yes water or perspiration can wash off the sunscreen and thus, should be re-applied once every two hours. Make sure you re-apply the cream soon after swimming, bathing or after perspiring heavily. What kind of sunglasses should I wear? One should wear sunglasses, which provide 100% protection against UVA and UVB radiation. Make sure you ask the shopkeeper about the UV details of the sunglasses and always go for branded sunglasses.