melanoma – Hello Doctor

Why homemade sunscreen is a no-go

June 17th, 2019 by Content Editor

From DIY facemasks to beauty products, there’s a homemade swap for most things these days; including sunscreen. The DIY version of sunscreen certainly seems simple.

The main ingredients include essential oils and shea butter topped off with the mineral-based sun shield, zinc oxide. Blend them all together and you’re good to go!

As simple as this sounds, using DIY sunscreen could backfire, and instead of protecting your skin, it could cause skin damage instead. Sunscreen serves as a barrier that protects your skin from absorbing ultraviolet (UV and UVB) rays. UV rays ages skin while UVB rays can cause sunburn. Both can lead to harmful skin conditions like skin cancer and severe burns.

Here are a few reasons why you should ditch your DIY sunscreen.

You can’t judge its effectiveness 

An effective sunscreen offers protection from both UV and UVB rays. The only way to test whether a sunscreen can do this is under controlled conditions in a laboratory. Guessing the effectiveness of your homemade sunscreen by looking at your skin is not a reliable nor accurate method.

You can’t determine the time of exposure

If you spend too much time in the sun without any sunscreen, your skin will start to burn. This is known as erythema or sunburn. The SPF of your sunscreen is an indicator of how long you can safely stay in the sun before your skin starts to burn. For example, SPF 30 protects you 30 times more than if you go without sunscreen. In other words, it delays the burning process.

Without proper lab tests, there’s no way for you to know the SPF measurement of your sunscreen and how long you can safely stay in the sun. Since sunburn can only start to appear anywhere from six to 24 hours after exposure to the sun, you can’t determine how long you can safely be exposed to the sun simply by looking at the colour of your skin..

You can’t judge if it’s going to stay stable

When it comes to sun exposure, making sure that a sunscreen formula is effective and stable is important. When cosmetic products are made, they go through different processes to ensure that reactive ingredients like zinc oxide will stay stable over time. If the ingredients used in homemade sunscreen aren’t stable, it could affect how well it works when exposed to the sun. It not only needs to stay stable while it’s in the sun but also while on your skin. Only professionals working in a lab can test if ingredients will interact to each other.

References:

Is it safe to use a tanning bed?

October 22nd, 2018 by The Hello Doctor Team

That golden, tanned skin is quite covetable, yes. But is it worth the harm to your skin, even if you get it via a sunbed?

A tan is your body’s attempt to protect itself from the damaging effects of harmful UV rays – and with good reason.

Sunbeds are tanning machines that release ultraviolet (UV) rays close to your skin. The nearness means that the UV rays can stimulate the production of melanin in your skin, which is what enables your skin to tan.

Risky skin business

Sunbeds emit bigger doses of ultraviolet rays (UV) rays than the sun does during its peak hours.

These harmful rays can age your skin prematurely, making it look uneven, wrinkled and leathery. Tanning for long stretches, and particularly on sunbeds, can damage the DNA in your skin cells. This destruction may build up to cause skin cancer. UV rays harm your skin in many ways and people who are exposed to UV rays before the age of 25 have a higher risk of developing skin cancer later in life.

Research by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) found that sunbeds boost the risk of melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) by 16-20%.

Before trying out a sunbed, know this:

You can still damage your skin, even if you don’t burn

Turning lobster red may seem like the only cause for concern when it comes to tanning, but UV rays are so strong that they penetrate deep into your skin’s layers. This means that you don’t have to roast in the sun for hours or have your skin change colour for harm to be done. In fact, the damage may be done to your cells even before your skin changes colour.

You don’t need a sunbed to get enough Vitamin D

Step away from the sunbed if you think it’s your only route to getting enough Vitamin D. You can get your daily dose by spending some time outside where the UV rays aren’t as dangerous. Just be sure to slather on the sunblock. You can also get enough Vitamin D from dairy products, fish and fortified cereal. Talk to your doctor about a supplement if you have a deficiency.

Sunbeds don’t help you build a natural defence against the sun’s rays.

The common myth that sunbeds can help make you less vulnerable to the sun’s rays isn’t true. Getting a tan from a sunbed only gives the same protective effect as using sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of approximately 2-3.

Sunbeds won’t give you a better tan

Don’t hop into a sunbed to increase your tan because it’ll only do you more harm. It will just make your skin more wrinkled and coarse. Rather, enjoy the sun safely with an SPF of at least 15. Tanning gradually isn’t safe either. Short periods of intense UV ray exposure can still harm your skin.

Good to know

Soothe overexposed or sunburnt skin (caused when you haven’t applied enough sunscreen) with coconut oil to prevent itching and peeling. First apply a cool, damp towel to the affected area for at least 15 minutes. You can also take a 15-minute cold bath or shower. Once your skin has cooled, smear on the coconut oil.
Prevent sun damage by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a summer scarf, sunglasses and sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 or higher. Reapply your sunscreen every two hours.
If you spend a lot of time in the sun, talk to your doctor about going for an annual screening to detect possible early signs of skin conditions like melanoma.
Drink at least eight glasses of plain water a day to keep a balance of moisture in your body and skin. Drink thrice the amount if you drink caffeinated beverages.

References:

Are you checking yourself for skin cancer?

October 26th, 2014 by The Hello Doctor Team

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in South Africa with about 20 000 reported cases every year and 700 deaths. South Africa has the second highest incidence of skin cancer in the world after Australia. But skin cancer is preventable! Here’s how to know your skin so that early signs can be detected before they spread.

You can prevent skin cancer by minimizing your exposure to harmful UV rays which cause sun damage and trigger events which lead to skin cancer. It’s also extremely treatable – if caught early. To detect early skin cancers, you need to know your skin so that the early signs can be found before they spread.

The three main skin cancers

There are three main types of skin cancer; malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. By far the most lethal type is malignant melanoma, which affects both young and old and is especially common in fair skinned individuals. It is an aggressive cancer so early detection can be life-saving as the cancer can be removed before it spreads to distant organs.

What you can do

Get familiar with your moles and skin lesions so that any changes in them will be detected early. Perform a monthly self-examination of your whole body. For hard to see places, such as on your back or scalp, use a mirror. If you can spot it, you can stop it! You should also visit your doctor/dermatologist for an annual “mole mapping”.

The signs

What are the signs to look out for? Here is a link to the ABCDE of warning signs for melanoma. Recording your moles, on a body map, is extremely useful to alert you to changes in appearance, borders, colour and diameter. You could even take pictures on your smartphone for later reference. For the other types of skin cancer, be on the alert for lesions especially in sun-exposed areas such as the face, nose, ears, scalp and chest. These can present in a number of ways –they may be raised, crusty or itchy, have a rolled edge or irregular border. Have any suspicious lesion checked out by your doctor, without delay.

Remember: prevention is better than cure. Minimise your sun exposure, wear a hat and don’t forget the sunscreen!