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Skin Health

Suncare 101

Summary & Participants

When it comes to spending time in the sun, we all know the basics: protect yourself or you're burned. But there's more to sun care than just that.

Medically Reviewed On: May 07, 2008

Webcast Transcript

MARIANO BUSSO, MD: That's an excellent question. Everybody asks, "Well, what kind of sun protection should I wear?" But the most important concept is, nothing is more important than avoiding the sun. if you cannot avoid the sun, apply sunscreen, but nothing is going to be as good a protection. Sunscreen is never going to be as good as being outside from the sun. So the number one recommendation is avoid the sun, and on top of that, apply sunscreen.

There's a false sense, given a little bit by the media, that the tan is healthy. That's why when you have an ad on any sunscreen, you have a model that has a perfect suntan. So you have to question yourself: if the sunscreen is so good, why is the model tan?

STEVEN SHAPIRO, MD: I'd like to add something to that, too. I call something in my patients who can't avoid sun exposure, they always ask me, "How can I go out in the sun more safely?" And I tell them to use what we call sensible sun exposure. And sensible sun exposure is to be aware of the sun. Number one, as Dr. Busso said, use your sunscreen, make sure you put it on before you even go out in the sun, so it has a chance to dry and set first.

The second thing to understand is that the midday sun, of course, has the strongest sun. try to go indoors in the middle of the day as much as you can.

You get 85% of sunlight in up to three feet of water. Most people feel that if they're going to be in the water all day, they don't need their sunscreen. You still get your sun damage on those days as well, as well as a cloudy day. You get about 70% to 80% of the average sunlight on those days. So most people feel on a cloudy day they don't need their sunscreen. I actually see more sunburns in the office on Monday after a cloudy weekend than I do after a sunny weekend. And then I tell people who work outdoors, when they get their time off, they should try to do things in doors on their day off.

All of these principles just reduce the risk of skin cancer. They won't eliminate the risk of skin cancer, but being more sensible about the amount of sun that we get, that is a way to reduce your risk of skin cancer.

SUSAN CINGARI: For either one of the doctors, when we talk about sunscreen, talk to me a little bit about oils versus screens, and the PABA thing, we all read about that on the back of the sunscreen bottle. Is PABA necessary and what is it?

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