Tips From Friends About UV Protection

I posted an article about my recent experience with getting a sunburn after a diagnosis of skin cancer, and I asked for suggestions about how to stay safe in the sun, without giving up a healthy, outdoors lifestyle. 

Sun Safety Tips

Here are tips from my friends and family:

• Leave sunscreen in the car.
• “I spray my head with sunscreen, apply to my face and wear special shirts that have a UV rating that I wear all the time, even in the pool, not expensive and can be ordered online.”
• “In addition to sunscreen, I wear sun protecting long sleeve tops all summer long. They come in pretty colors, you can swim in them and they take away a lot of worry.”
• “I have definitely changed my sun and beach loving ways the last few years. And sunscreen, hats, and UV protective clothing is part of it. Unfortunately my childhood and young adult life in the sun I think has done the damage. Just hope my new sun protection routine helps now. It's something I also think about daily but it is just part of my daily routine like brushing my teeth, flossing or washing my face. Protect my skin. It is now habit.”
• Wear tinted moisturizer: "I wear tinted moisturizer every day. I put it on in the morning, and I don't have to think about it all day."
• "Just the obvious, sunscreen, hats, clothing. I wear hats all the time, caps and wide brimmed hats, long sleeved shirts when it's not too hot."

Other friends and colleagues told stories of bringing an umbrella to the beach or park, sitting in the shade whenever possible, and wearing caps or wide brimmed hats.

Please keep the tips coming! The tip I'm trying to implement right now is to make sunscreen a part of my daily routine, like brushing my teeth. The surgeon told me to apply sunscreen to my scar every day, regardless of whether the sun is out. I'm trying!