Summer fun safety tips: how to enjoy outdoors in the SouthCoast and be sun smart
A fun day at the beach can turn into a day of excruciating pain for swimmers, sunbathers and beach-goers out for a walk and aren’t careful about all the time they spend in the sun.
Just sitting in your own backyard or swimming in your pool can expose you to dangerous ultraviolet rays.
Dr. Stephen Finney, a Southcoast Health Family Medicine and Pediatric provider, shares his insight into the science of sunburn and offers tips to stay safe.
In layman’s terms, a sunburn is the skin’s defense mechanism to counteract the ultraviolet radiation from the sun, according to Finney.
“What happens is an inflammatory reaction to processes where the blood vessels dilate and bring blood to the area and immune cells such as neutrophils and macrophages to defend the skin against UV radiation,” he said. “That’s why the skin changes color.”
He said the melanocytes, the cells located in the bottom layer of the epidermis, release a pigment called melanin that darkens the nuclei of the cells, and that’s what blocks the UVA radiation.
He said there are three types of UV radiation – A, B and C – and A and B are what reaches people and causes sunburn and tans. C has a short wavelength and gets lost in the ozone layer where the clouds are.
How to prepare for the sun
He said it’s especially difficult in the summer because there isn’t a lot of shade, but there are precautions you can take.
“The number one rule is to try to spend the least amount of time in the sun, so if you can find a shaded area, that’s ideal,” he said.
He said you want to avoid direct sunlight, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. because that is when the UV index is the highest. He said you can do that by wearing brimmed hats or long-sleeved shirts, for example. A beach umbrella is another option.
He said he recommends using SPF 30 sunscreen and higher because it is very protective. He said broad spectrum sunscreen is best because it protects against all UV radiation.
“You want to be sure it has either zinc oxide or titanium oxide in it to prevent the UV radiation from attacking the skin basically,” he said.
When it comes to children and adults alike, he said you want to prevent radical damage to the skin because it damages the DNA in your body on a cellular level.
He said that can lead to basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma in a degree from least severe to most severe.
How to heal from a sunburn
If you’ve lost track of time, fallen asleep on the beach or generally not taken precautions while out in the sun, he said you want to stay well hydrated by drinking water and taking cool showers and then directly after applying some type of hypoallergenic, fragrance-free lotion to the skin because it locks in moisturizer.
“If your skin is tender to touch, an over-the-counter NSAID such as Ibuprofrin and Tylenol are excellent options to reduce the pain and inflammation in that area,” he said.
He said a sunburn can last for a couple of days or up to a week depending on the severity.
A severe case of sunburn could even result in sun poisoning and require a trip to the emergency room of a hospital. He said it can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain and require IV hydration.
Finney said have fun but reapply your sunscreen and stay in the shade when you can.
“Enjoy your summer and just be smart about it,” he said. “If there’s a shaded area, try to stay under the shade, try to reapply about every two hours, and if you’re sweating or getting out of the water you’re going to want to dry off and reapply as well.”
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Southcoast Health doctor offers advice to avoid sunburn this summer
