Thread: PLEASE wear sunscreen

this is your pesty reminder to PLEASE wear a good sunscreen at ALL times even on overcast days

this goes for darker pigment skin too..Dr. Chun said so

Yesterday he biopsied a suspicious looking mole above me right eyebrow. I am religious about sunscreen now but when I first moved to Hawaii, I only applied it sporadically. I'll know in a week if they have to remove the rest of my head.

There's a lot of tourists out here who show up ghost white then leave the beach FRIED by the end of the day. I might stand at the beach and hand out skin cancer facts. Won't that be a hit with tourists ..l;,

side note..this doc was so funny. I asked him what kind of local he was using as he was injecting it and he says to me "oh you know, budgets are low now, hospital cuts, etc so this is a mixture of Sake and diluted ocean water" ..l;,..l;, wish more docs were like that

You are so right and thanks for posting this reminder. I wear sunscreen every day of the year - rain, snow, sleet or shine. Yes, women of color, we need to be wearing it, too! Darker skin does burn!

And EVERYBODY, stay out of the tanning beds. They are even worse than the sun.

Jessenia, I am so glad you got the growth taken care of quickly, and I am sorry that you had that experience.

You're so right though. Everyday, even cloudy days. Thankfully, there are some nice foundations with sunblock and body lotions with SPF. And for the olive-skinned folks who think that they don't have to worry-think again, my grandmother, who is darker than I, has growths removed on a regular basis. And if the cancer threat isn't scary enough, remember Latinos and Asians are particular prone to ugly sun blotches and hyperpigmentation. I'll get off my sunblock soapbox now.

For the first time, I just happened to put sunscreen on before I left the house today. :-)

Thank you for the reminder Jesennia!
I pray the doctor won't have to remove anymore!!!
(((Hugs!!!)))

Oh, ladies, that is so true, sunscreen is very important! I make sure I wear it everyday. My husband had two pre-cancerous moles removed from his arms. Be kind to your skin and take care of it, you only have one!

yes, it is sooooooo important to wear sunscreen. My husband has also had a precancerous spot taken off his arm, and it probably won't be the last one for him, he is a redhead and spent his "didn't know better years" golfing without a hat, he would come in everytime he golfed with a lobster red forehead.
I myself spend too much time in the sun but I am not going stay indoors, being in the sunshine makes me happy. I wear tons and tons of sunscreen.
I preach suncreen to my boys all the time, but they are too old for me to MAKE them apply sunscreen, and they really didn't listen until I quit preaching skin cancer and instead told them how much nicer tan they would have if they weren't peeling from a sunburn. (mom tactic)

Sometimes I thank god that I live in a country with very little sun. Many of us, (for most of the year - apart from the 2 weeks of summer) can get away with no sunscreen, or the sunscreen in our moisturisers. I was in Dublin yesterday, and it rained (a gentle moisturising rain), was overcast, and it was just lovely, just like that. It had that muddy smell of country land and wet grass.

Doesn't matter! Even if it's cloudy or raining, the skin-damaging sun rays can still get through. Wear that sunscreen, Caroline!

Jesennia, I hope the test results will be good..
I am very guilty of hardly ever wearing it because I do not burn easily :-s

I did hear about a pretty controversial study a few months ago though saying sunscreen is believed to cause harmful degeneration in the skin too. But these long term studies do of course deal with the long term effects of the 1st and 2nd generation of sunscreen only. I bet they were suboptimal..
Anyways, skin cancer is definitely caused by overexposure to sun rays, so even if sunscreen is to be taken with a grain of salt it for sure is better than no protection..
I'll have to take better care of this.. Thanks for the reminder..
When will you have your results? *thumbscrossed*

I think an easy solution is to use a daily moisturizer that includes a sunscreen. You need at least an SPF 15, but also don't be fooled by the sky high SPF's, they typically won't offer any protection better than 30. It's essentailly a marketing ploy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/fashion/14SKIN.html

Originally Posted by cgoltry

yes, it is sooooooo important to wear sunscreen. My husband has also had a precancerous spot taken off his arm, and it probably won't be the last one for him, he is a redhead and spent his "didn't know better years" golfing without a hat, he would come in everytime he golfed with a lobster red forehead.
I myself spend too much time in the sun but I am not going stay indoors, being in the sunshine makes me happy. I wear tons and tons of sunscreen.
I preach suncreen to my boys all the time, but they are too old for me to MAKE them apply sunscreen, and they really didn't listen until I quit preaching skin cancer and instead told them how much nicer tan they would have if they weren't peeling from a sunburn. (mom tactic)

I'm happy to send you some lovely skin cancer photos you can scare the boys with :) I have a tough stomach but when they showed me the crater after the biopsy I about barfed. But it was swollen, full of local, and it was a big black crater . Ok does this scare anyone enough yet? It looks better today, while it was still numb I cleaned out the wound last night so now the tissue looks white..it's healing fast.

Am having great fun telling people at the beach that the wound is from surfing pipeline (sounds more exciting) hehehe

Results are due next week, honestly I will not be surprised to find out it IS melanoma, I'm not hoping it is but i just won't be surprised. I have a teenager that is going to need a heart valve replacement in two years and THAT is what scares me.

Let's just hope it's not (melanoma)..

Originally Posted by jesennia

I'm happy to send you some lovely skin cancer photos you can scare the boys with :)

um, no thanks, Nurse Jes, you may just scare ME into the house forever. and you know we RT's get queesy(SP?) looking at wounds.
I hope it turns out okay for you, will you be limiting your time out of doors from now on? And just curious, what is your complexion, eyes and hair color?

Originally Posted by cgoltry

um, no thanks, Nurse Jes, you may just scare ME into the house forever. and you know we RT's get queesy(SP?) looking at wounds.
I hope it turns out okay for you, will you be limiting your time out of doors from now on? And just curious, what is your complexion, eyes and hair color?

Nope unfortunately I love the outdoors but I do surf in the early morning hours or late afternoon hours now and am not exposed to as much sun during midday.

i'm caucasian, green eyes, auburn hair, had freckles as a kid that faded with age. Skin cancer has hit my father who had a big chunk removed on his forehead (don't know what type he died years ago so can't ask him) my sis had squamous cell and mom had basal cell. All recovered, etc. My older boy is caucasian and green eyed and I threaten him constantly and WILL be forwarding pictures to him. My chinese husband does not wear sunscreen so i had to threaten him today too. He is heavily questioned before taking the baby out to make sure he's fully covered the baby.

Check your scalp too, Dr Chun said he saw 4 women yesterday all with it on their scalp..have someone help you. In fact get an all over body check. This is not something you want to mess with.

Yep, wear sunscreen! I posted this here before but it's worth repeating - after many years of sun-worshipping and visitng the tanning salon almost on a daily basis, I was diagnosed a basal cell carcinoma on my nose. Looked like a harmless little red speck on the surface, but when they started cutting it out, they found it was humongous and went all the way into my cartilage. I had a quarter-size hole cut out of the tip of my nose, and had to have a skin graft of skin from above the hole to fill in the the emptiness. I still have a big scar, and my nose is bumpy and lumpy. (on the plus side, if I choose to have rhinoplasty to fix the bumps, it will be covered by insurance!).

This is the first summer that I did not spend a single day lounging in the sun hoping for a burn so that I would have "color". No more of that! My tans come from an airbrush machine now!

My new best friend is Sally Hanson's Airbrushed Sun:) Spray on and look like you have been blessed with gorgeous healthy tanned skin. Way better than fake baking (no orange thank you) and it has a little sparkle to it so it makes your skin look smoother...or at least mine:)
There is my commercial:)
My aunt has been dealing with skin cancer from years spent applying oil in tropical sun (not sunscreen just coconut oil) and daily tanning bed visits. I do not want to have to go through what she is dealing with so I will be a good girl and wear my sunscreen.

Daniella, what is YOUR complexion?
I am taking my personal poll of people who I hear or who have had a skin cancer( or pre cancer). The derm told my husband fair skin and eyes are 13 times more likely to have skin cancers.

The thought of skin cancer concerns me, knowing the amount of time I spend outside. I don't go to the tanning bed though, and use lots of sunscreen(usually 30) and I am dark complexion(for caucasion) all of my family as well have always been very brown and no one in my family have had skin cancers,even though we all spend alot if time in the sun. My husbands family have had, though, his mom, aunt and cousins.

Originally Posted by jesennia

side note..this doc was so funny. I asked him what kind of local he was using as he was injecting it and he says to me "oh you know, budgets are low now, hospital cuts, etc so this is a mixture of Sake and diluted ocean water" ..l;,..l;, wish more docs were like that

..l;,..l;,..l;,

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Jesennia, I hope the test results will be good..
I am very guilty of hardly ever wearing it because I do not burn easily :-s

I did hear about a pretty controversial study a few months ago though saying sunscreen is believed to cause harmful degeneration in the skin too. But these long term studies do of course deal with the long term effects of the 1st and 2nd generation of sunscreen only. I bet they were suboptimal..
Anyways, skin cancer is definitely caused by overexposure to sun rays, so even if sunscreen is to be taken with a grain of salt it for sure is better than no protection..
I'll have to take better care of this.. Thanks for the reminder..
When will you have your results? *thumbscrossed*

Factor fiction: We all know we should wear sunscreen, but could slapping on Factor 60 do more harm than good? | Mail Online

(comments are interesting).




I was coming to comment about this. There are concerns about how chemical SS react in heat, let alone they're chock full of parabens etc. I see it as a correlation but would prefer to read the actual study.

I prefer to use old fashioned SS based on zinc / titanium....now there are concerns about the 'nano' versions being bad for you.

Here's one story.Sunscreen may stop skin cancer … but could cause Alzheimer's - Scotsman.com News


I then found this:

Here is what the World Health Organization (WHO) says about sunscreens in the IARC Hand books of Cancer Prevention: Sunscreens “Sunscreens probably prevent squamous-cell carcinoma of the skin when used mainly during unintentional sun exposure. No conclusion can be drawn about the cancer-preventive activity of topical use of sunscreens against basal-cell carcinoma and cutaneous melanoma.” The US Centre for Disease and Control (CDC) in their MMWR Recommendations and Report: Counseling to Prevent Skin Cancer said “Sunscreen had no effect on basal cell cancer” and want on to say “There are no direct data about the effect of sunscreen on melanoma incidence” “Several epidemiologic studies have found higher risk for melanoma among users of sunscreens then among nonusers”.

Originally Posted by straightleftknee

Factor fiction: We all know we should wear sunscreen, but could slapping on Factor 60 do more harm than good? | Mail Online

(comments are interesting).




I was coming to comment about this. There are concerns about how chemical SS react in heat, let alone they're chock full of parabens etc. I see it as a correlation but would prefer to read the actual study.

I prefer to use old fashioned SS based on zinc / titanium....now there are concerns about the 'nano' versions being bad for you.

Here's one story.Sunscreen may stop skin cancer … but could cause Alzheimer's - Scotsman.com News


I then found this:

Here is what the World Health Organization (WHO) says about sunscreens in the IARC Hand books of Cancer Prevention: Sunscreens “Sunscreens probably prevent squamous-cell carcinoma of the skin when used mainly during unintentional sun exposure. No conclusion can be drawn about the cancer-preventive activity of topical use of sunscreens against basal-cell carcinoma and cutaneous melanoma.” The US Centre for Disease and Control (CDC) in their MMWR Recommendations and Report: Counseling to Prevent Skin Cancer said “Sunscreen had no effect on basal cell cancer” and want on to say “There are no direct data about the effect of sunscreen on melanoma incidence” “Several epidemiologic studies have found higher risk for melanoma among users of sunscreens then among nonusers”.

totally interesting! I was going to also comment since i'm on the skin soapbox, that beauty 'experts' and estheticians do not necessarily have any MEDICAL training..they are often promoting a product. I'm not saying they are clueless but please be wary and ask your derm before handing over a hunk of money for miracle creams and such. (just finished unit on skin care haha sorry)

Originally Posted by cgoltry

Daniella, what is YOUR complexion?
I am taking my personal poll of people who I hear or who have had a skin cancer( or pre cancer). The derm told my husband fair skin and eyes are 13 times more likely to have skin cancers.

The thought of skin cancer concerns me, knowing the amount of time I spend outside. I don't go to the tanning bed though, and use lots of sunscreen(usually 30) and I am dark complexion(for caucasion) all of my family as well have always been very brown and no one in my family have had skin cancers,even though we all spend alot if time in the sun. My husbands family have had, though, his mom, aunt and cousins.

I am Italian, so I have olive skin and brown eyes. I am "pale" when you compare me to other Italians, but I do not have what you would consider fair skin. I don't burn easily (I don't tan easily either) and can sit in the sun all day with no sunscreen and come away with just a light rosy glow.

My dad is dark olive skinned, brown hair, brown eyes, tans easily (but never burns) and just had his second basal cell removed.....

So, neither one of us fit the "at risk" profile for skin cancer, yet we both have had it.

Originally Posted by danielabellydance

I am Italian, so I have olive skin and brown eyes. I am "pale" when you compare me to other Italians, but I do not have what you would consider fair skin. I don't burn easily (I don't tan easily either) and can sit in the sun all day with no sunscreen and come away with just a light rosy glow.

My dad is dark olive skinned, brown hair, brown eyes, tans easily (but never burns) and just had his second basal cell removed.....

So, neither one of us fit the "at risk" profile for skin cancer, yet we both have had it.

we have many darker pigmented people in Hawaii who don't fit the profile either..and a lot of them wear no protection at all. I'm super glad you had it taken care of.

Daniella, I'm getting a bit worried here.. do you tan easily? Do you get a sunburn very rarely even when sunbathing without sunscreen? And if you ever get red does it turn to "pretty" tan overnight?
If yes we have similar complexion.. and I get worried over not having used sunscreen quite that often :-s

Got the call from doc yesterday..unfortunately I was at the beach so our communication was a bit difficult, what I have IS melanoma (pats self on back for correct diagnosis).

The good news (so far) is it is not thick, the biopsies are measured in thickness (mm) and mine is a smidge above 1mm . Doc says they saw clear margins but still want to do the protocol..I'll have a lymph biopsy , chest xray and standard blood tests to make sure a stray cell didn't travel. As confident as I was that this was in fact melanoma, I am very certain nothing has travelled.

He said the early detection is what saved it from possibly growing and travelling. So fingers crossed hopefully the other tests will be clear.

Can I step into nurse role again? (I love my job)

I would urge everyone to get a calendar, big enough to write in the spaces. Ask your doctor to help you fill in the days each month that you perform things like
1) skin check
2) breast check
3) paps (of course this is not monthly)
4) physicals

PREVENTATIVE AND EARLY DETECTION saves lives.

Please take care of your bodies, and do not put your job or anything else first. No one likes to go to the doctor but you will sleep easier at night if you have a clean bill of health. MANY things go undiagnosed until it's too late. My older son had his heart defect detected when he was six months old so we've been able to stay on top of his care the entire time. I visit the dreaded OB every time I'm supposed to (been getting abnormal paps for the past 14 years but followup is important)

And I know this is pessimistic sounding but PLEASE make sure you have
1) life insurance
2) living will (I know that sounds extreme)
3) keep an identification card with you at all times with your medical conditions and prescriptions on it

please, please, please get your checkups. Go in even if you feel fine.

*swallow*
thanks for reminding us..

Being about as far from the medical profession as one possibly could - just the other day I read (again) how skin cancer is the one cancer that if detected early has a "healing rate" (? in lack of the appropriate term) of close to 100%.. so I'm sure your feeling is right, and very much hope so for you you will be relieved of anxiety soon!

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Daniella, I'm getting a bit worried here.. do you tan easily? Do you get a sunburn very rarely even when sunbathing without sunscreen? And if you ever get red does it turn to "pretty" tan overnight?
If yes we have similar complexion.. and I get worried over not having used sunscreen quite that often :-s

No I don't tan easily, and I don't sunburn easily without sunscreen either. I joke that I have "elephant skin" - nothing penetrates it! If I get red, it turns a little to tan but mostly just goes away.

If you are worried, just go to a dermatologist. The good thing about skin cancer is that is the MOST curable form of cancer IF it is caught early. So, it is best to be checked out thoroughly by a doc no matter what skin type you are, or how many times you've been in the sun without sunscreen. The quicker you catch anything, the better.

Jess, I'm sorry to hear it was melanoma, but good for you for catching it early!! It sounds like it should be relatively easy to get rid of. I'll be thinking of you - small or no, excisions are never fun! ..c::

Thanks Daniela..
Well I am going regularly because I have a big "beauty spot" (haha beauty is the wrong word! ;) ) on my back. I am a bit paranoid of that changing someday, although the dermatologist says it's completely fine and he'd rather not remove it from the spine area where it's located.
I do think I'll keep it - hated it as a teenager, now I think it's kind of unique :)

Plus, it keeps me going to the dermatologist. Not a bad thing I guess!

Originally Posted by jesennia

totally interesting! I was going to also comment since i'm on the skin soapbox, that beauty 'experts' and estheticians do not necessarily have any MEDICAL training..they are often promoting a product. I'm not saying they are clueless but please be wary and ask your derm before handing over a hunk of money for miracle creams and such. (just finished unit on skin care haha sorry)

I thought it was an interesting read also. I don't think it healthy to sit about in the sun all day everyday, living in the UK we talk about having a hosepipe ban if the sun shines for more than two days on the trot but I do think it interesting to consider other factors that could play a role in our health.

The link between breast cancer and aluminium in anti-perspirant is not proven but I know lots of people who refuse to wear it (and they're not stinky) because reports have come out about higher than normal levels of AI in breast tumours.
Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Breast Cancer - National Cancer Institute

it makes it all very confusing for the consumer.

The anti-perspirant danger of breast cancer can apparently be minimized when not using any the 10 to 12 hours after shaving.. that is supposed to be the time frame they MIGHT do the most danger (as you say, the link is suggested but not established yet).
I think one is on the safer side following that pretty credible medical advice, it's been out in the media for years..