WHAT AGES US? NOW, THE GOOD NEWS
Living in Miami, a.k.a. the sunbathing capital of America, has provided me with ample examples, both in the office and outside it, of why we must limit our time spent in the sun. Notice that I don't say 'eliminate', because even I realise that people genuinely enjoy being in the sun. With that in mind, before dispensing sun protection advice, I first try to ascertain my patients' lifestyleand the reasons why they're in the sun. If, for example, someone tells me that they love to play golf, or that they regularly take their children to the playground, then we try to work around those outings. Believe it or not, staying away from the sun during peak burning hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. makes a significant difference to how much you damage your skin. I'm proud to say that I've been able to transform many of my patients with just this guideline. After all, even I realise that life's too short to give up the things that truly fill us with joy.
This next piece of advice is almost simplistic, but since I am constantly given a multitude of excuses as to why people are sunburned, I think it bears repeating. First, everyone needs to think of sunblock as being as vital as toothpaste and as indispensable as those pricey anti-ageing creams. Nosunblock will offer you complete protection from the sun - you'd need to go outside immersed in a metal cage to accomplish that - but the options today are so wonderfully diverse that it's truly inexcusable not to use one. In fact, the current crop of sunscreens is light years ahead of its predecessors. Up until only a few years ago, traditional sunscreens only offered protection from UVB rays, partially because the non-burning UVA rays were incorrectly considered harmless. (Actually, one could get sunblocks that offered additional protection from UVA, but they were thick and opaque and very unpleasant to wear.) This development was a major turning point because finally there was a product with real sunscreening benefits minus any opaque residue! Today, pretty much every brand delivers this broad-spectrum protection.
Another great milestone in sun protection came via a process called 'micronisation' - which reduced the particle size of titanium and zinc oxide (the proven but unappealing sunblocks of the time). Before this breakthrough sunblocks were thick and opaque, and not cosmetically acceptable to the general public. They finally became available in a form that was practical for everyone - not just lifeguards for whom this thick stripe was a signature look.
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