talkhealth forums

We often get questions on the best ways to stay safe in the sun, one of the most common ones is does sun block make the sun totally safe when it comes to reducing the risks of skin cancer?

Can our experts clear up any potential confusion?

Thank you. I am afraid sun block / sunscreen does not make sun light completely safe. It however reduces risk of skin ageing and skin cancers. I personally use sunscreen with SPF50. It needs to be reapplied often especially if you are swimming.

It is also important to remember about other sun protection measures: avoid midday sun (e.g. between 11 am and 3 pm), stay in shade when possible, wear sensible clothes with broad brimmed hats, long sleeved shirts and long skirts/ trousers. Don't forget about lip balm with high SPF! For children there is now very good sun protection swimwear. And don't forget about sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV!

I hope this might be of help.

with very best wishes,

Dr Anton Alexandroff CCT(Dermatol) FRCP(UK) FAAD FRSM
Consultant Dermatologist and Senior Lecturer
Member of British Association of Dermatologists
De Montfort University, Leicester Spire Hospital, Leicester Nuffield Health Hospital, Bedford BMI Manor Hospital
www.alexandroff.org.uk

No sunscreen is a sunblock and manufacturers are forbidden to use this term - although you often see the word 'sunblock' in magazines.

Sunscreens are unable to stop all the incident UV rays from the sun from entering your skin. All they can do is to reduce the number of rays from reaching your vulnerable skin cells - the higher the labelled the SPF, the greater is the degree of reduction. So to answer the question, sunbocks don't exist and no sunscreen will make the sun 100% safe.