SUNSCREEN YOURSELF

African American man embracing the sun on the beach
African American man embracing the sun on the beach

SUNSCREEN YOURSELF!

 

Bud Billiken Day back to school Parade is nearing and you should be preparing.  Get your folding chair out of the closet,  pack a sun hat to protect your face, take a hand fan, take water and  make sure that you added a little lemon juice. Hydrate yourself. Drink more water even when you think you’ve drank enough.

In your bag of goodies you should have a damp towel in a zip bag or some baby wipes to wash off the perspiration. The sun may be dangerously high so you better have your sunscreen. And perhaps most importantly protect your skin. Because you’re Black is no excuse for not applying sunscreen.
People enjoy the sun. Some worship it. Sunlight is essential to many living things. But sunlight can be dangerous if abused. It can harm your skin and even your eyes. The good news is you can take some simple steps to protect your body from sun damage and still enjoy the sun’s healthful effects.
Though our bodies are built to make good use of the sun. Sunlight helps keep our sleeping patterns on track so we can stay awake by day and sleep soundly at night. Getting too little sun, can leave some people prone to a form of depression known as seasonal affective disorder. Sunlight also helps our skin make vitamin D, which is needed for normal bone function and health. Yet sunlight can also cause damage.
Too much exposure to UVB rays can lead to sunburn. UVA rays can travel more deeply into the skin than UVB rays, but both can affect your skin’s health. When UV rays enter skin cells, they upset delicate processes that affect the skin’s growth and appearance.
Over time, exposure to these rays can make the skin less elastic. Skin may even become thickened and leathery, wrinkled, or thinned like tissue paper. “The more sun exposure you have, the earlier your skin ages,” 
 
There are several precautions you can take to ensure that your skin stays healthy and beautiful. Check out these following tips that we provided in a recent article about melanoma about how to protect your skin from the scorching hot sun this summer:
 

  • Apply the sunscreen liberally to all exposed areas of the skin at least 15 minutes before stepping foot outside reapply every two hours.
  • Make sure you get the hard-to-reach areas, including the back. Ask a close friend or family member to apply it for you. Better yet, a lot of sunscreens come in the form of a spray so you can avoid those awkward backrubs.
  • If you can, avoid being outdoors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Why? That’s when the UV rays are the strongest.
  • Wear protective clothing, including UV-blocking sunglasses and sun hats.
  • It’s a log day to be outside. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that has a SPF of 30 or higher.

 
 
 
 

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