How To Protect Your Skin and Eyes From UV or Sun Exposure
UV radiation and overexposure to the
sun is harmful to your eyes, skin and immune system, problems that may not
appear until some years after the damage is done. This causes cataracts, cold
sores, herpes, sunburns and aging of skin or even cancer if DNA damage occurs.
There are two ultraviolet light categories; UVA
and UVB.
It is therefore important to take
extra precautions since prevention is better than cure. It is therefore important
to start protecting yourself from early childhood to adulthood. Most people
believe it is a light skinned people problem. However, while darker-skinned
people have greater protection against sunburn, they can still develop skin
cancer which is more likely undetectable.
How To Protect Yourself
- Limit your exposure during the
midday hours between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, when UV radiation is particularly
intense.
- Take extra precautions when
travelling closer to equator (tropics or subtropics) since level UV radiation
gets higher the closer one gets to the equator.
- Try to stay in the shade.
- Don't look into the sun, even when
wearing sunglasses.
- Cover your arms and legs with tight
woven, loose-fitting clothes. Wear light colors that can reflect sunlight.
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect
your eyes, ears, face, and the back of your neck.
- Good-quality wraparound sunglasses
or sunglasses with side panels, that provide 99 to 100 percent UVA and UVB
protection will greatly reduce the risk of eye damage. Wear them during both
winter or summer.
- Use and liberally reapply every two
hours a broad spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 15.
- Since sunlamps, sun beds, and
tanning parlors use UV radiation, which may damage the skin, WHO recommends
avoiding them.
- Be careful to protect babies and
young children, whose eyes or skin is particularly delicate
- Never fall asleep in the sun.
- Carry your sunscreen for your legs,
arms etc when going out of home.
- Think twice when gardening,
sunbathing or driving on a sunny day.
- If you develop a mole, freckles, or
a spot that you are concerned about, see your doctor.
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