We are currently learning about antibiotics and how they work with the body. One of the things about them is avoid the sun. That brought up the subject of sunscreen. If you are buying any sunscreen above sp30 stop wasting your money. You get no more protection after you get above sp30.
A good reason to buy a sunscreen with an SPF factor of more than 30 is because it has other characteristics that make the product more effective for the user. Such characteristics might be water/sweat resistance, doesn’t cause a rash, oily or not oily, no odor, etc. The two products that I use most have SPF ratings of 45 and 70. I don’t use them because of the SPF rating. I use them because they do not cause an adverse skin reaction. Both happen to have good water/sweat resistance but I still reapply every two to four hours during the day.
Two old country boys I know and have known used the ultimate SFP, a long sleeve shirt. A friend here in GA has a small lawn service and does yard work wearing one of the BPS shirt designed for fishing. I suspect Lanny has a little western NC Cherokee blood in his veins as well but is very careful about over exposure. My grandad ran road construction equipment and farmed wearing a cotton chambray shirt, sleeves down, top button buttoned. Blue eyed, fair complexion, never had a skin cancer.
I work outside whenever the weather is warm enough in the midwest. I’ve already spent a couple weeks working out in the field.
I’ve done this for several years and have tried lots and lots of different sunscreens.
Higher SPF ratings are calculated by comparing the amount of time needed to produce a sunburn on sunscreen-protected skin to the amount of time needed to cause a sunburn on unprotected skin.
So if you would burn in 10 minutes with no protection…with an SPF 30 sunscreen, you would get the same burn after 300 minutes.
So higher SPF ratings do help. But sunscreens wear off and sweat off (even the waterproof ones) so you need to re-apply them every couple hours or so.
Another very important thing…the SPF rating is for the UVB rays only. You need to make sure that you are using a sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB rays.
I work in electric power substations all summer long. So I am in the sun A LOT! The substations are covered with white chat rock and is pretty reflective…plus, they don’t plant shade trees in substations, either! So there’s no way to hide from the sun. I also wear dark glasses (brazing shades 5.0) I’m pretty lightly complected and burn pretty quickly and easily. I wear a sunscreen with a high SPF rating that blocks UVA and UVB and is waterproof/sweatproof. I’ve worked side-by-side with guys weeks on end that have asked what kind of sunscreen I use, because they were pretty red from the sun and I was hardly showing any color.
So, you should be selective about the sunscreen you use. I know a lot of guys in my industry that have had their problems with skin cancer. Using a high SPF helps, but that’s not the whole picture.
Hope this helps.
Brian
I am one of those people who have fair skin, blond hair (well, used to) and blue eyes. My father passed away from melanoma. two years later I was diagnosed with a stage 3 melanoma. My oncologist told me forget the sunscreen, it wouldn’t do the trick for me. She said hat, long sleeves with collar turned up, light gloves on my hands. I told her I couldn’t live like that. I have since had literally hundreds of places removed that were A Typical, invasive squamous cell etc.
Moral of the story, don’t put all of your faith in sunscreen if you are a potential candidate.
A friend of mine just got back from a fishing trip to Mexico. The first day out he remembered his sun screen lotion BUT he didn’t think about his lips. He now has a huge lower lip, swollen from a really bad sunburn. don’t forget your sunscreen lip balm. I always wear long sleeve shirts, collar turned up, wide brimmed hat (unless it is going to rain really hard, then just a baseball hat), good quality sun gloves, lng slacks even in the heat of summer, and plenty of sun screen that does not damage leaders or fly lines.
Larry —sagefisher—
I used to have to wear a suit and tie to work and hated it. Retired, 15 miles from town, 3 acres. Got so used to a thin T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, it became soooo comfortable for me. Have to do my own laundry since wife passed. Take a shower and slip on a sleeveless T-shirt, soooo comfortable and easy to wash, dry and hang up. I got so comfortable I go year around that way. Even in the coldest of winter here at 6,500’ elevation. I go to post office and people are dressed up in car coats, big fur hats, ears covered, big gloves with fur up to the elbows, they see me and are shocked. They say where is your jacket, heck, I don’t even have one in my pick up. I say, hey, it is just a short walk from my vehicle to inside the post office and it is NOT snowing inside here. It’s just cold for a little bit. No big thing. I started wearing long sleeve shirts to fly club meetings in the winter just to keep people from commenting on my uh…lack of jackets and such.
Sorry, got a bit carried away explaining why I got used to just t-shirts. Point is I now have a kazillion skin lesions on shoulders, biceps, and arms…on top and underside of arms. All over my head, etc. I get an annual full body scan by a dermatologist. Talk about intimidating. I walk into a room with a pretty blonde doctor and she says, ok, take off all of your clothes…uh…ok
Anyway, she commented you have never been fond of wearing shorts huh? The thought immediately hit me. Under heavy cloth material, such as blue jeans…I am clean as a whistle. NO SPOTS! Wow, what an awakening. It is the exposure to the sun that causes so much skin damage!
Now I am so uncomfortable in just a sleeved t-shirt…geeeeze, I even cut off the neck collar down to the seam to be comfortable. Cut off sleeves become cleaning rags… Fifty cent t-shirts from the dog thrift store. Neat system. Long sleeved shirts are so uncomfortable to me. BUT…I have become aware…unfortunately at such a late time in my life…how important it is to protect your skin from sun exposure. I only hope all the many many skin bumps I have never turn malignant. It is a little late now. But I am sure a believer. Now I need to find long sleeved sun protecting shirts to wear that I can stand. We get very cold winters and snow here. I am so accustomed to fishing in a sleeveless t-shirt…it is well known. I was showing a friend a picture of me with a fish…and they said…“look, Jim has a shirt on!”! I said heck, I was showing the fish, not me! Anyway…protection is extremely important.
Apologize for length of post.
Jim
Never ten words or less.
Gemrod and LadyFisher both bring up good points:
The best defense is to stay covered up. In the substations, we wear F-R (flame retardant clothing). Long sleeved shirts and long pants…obviously. I wear a wide brimmed hard hat to protect my ears. I also wear a buff or a bandana to cover the back of my neck. I still get the redneck effect, though…must be in the genes! 
Lip balm is important, too. Most things I’ve read say to use a lip balm with SPF 30 or higher. Sunburned lips are no fun. (ears too, for that matter)
Basically, protect anything that is exposed to the sun. In the dead of summer, I use that white zinc oxide stuff on my nose. When my nose is no longer white and I can see my nose, it’s time to cover it again with the white stuff.
Brian
Protecting the lip is a good point…
Another area that is often forgotten is the open area on your shirt leaving the upper chest and lower neck exposed easy to forget to sunscreen that area.
It may well be that sunscreens make you more prone to developing malignant melanoma.
In general sunscreens don’t protect against the wave lengths that cause mm…so folks can have a tendency to stay out in the sun longer thereby increasing their exposure to those causitive rays…may explain why mm is the fastest rising cancer in the world.
Yes sir Duck. I forgot that part. I have all sorts of abrasive type gray lumps or skin lesions as they are called, all over my upper chest as well. I have used the cheese cloth method of covering the back of my neck…but only a couple of times. For me, it is hard to wear a hat when you have tied the cheese cloth around your neck. I want a wide brimed hat with sunblocking neck protection. Need to research and find one. Meanwhile I am going to try and velcro some type of screen blocking material, maybe foil backed screen blocker like they glue inside on car windows to block the sun.
I never thought of sunblocking lip balm. Will now for sure. Thanks for THAT tip.
Jim
I believe sun blocking clothing material is the best protection of the skin…not necessairly suncreen cream. The blue jeans have sure done the job. BUT…thin polyester t-shirts do not. My back has many spots as well…and I don’t ever go shirtless. So the t-shirt material is allowing too much sun in to hit my skin. OH…also appreciate the zinc oxide white for the nose, and ears. Never thought of that one either.
I am a firm believer in heavy sunscreen…BULL FROG paste to be exact…I am extremely dark skinned with high degree of Indian blood myself BUT even I have got several “hot spots” having never put on a shirt as a kid in Hatterras …I thought I was immune…now the spots erupt whenever I get sun ANYWHERE…they have been coming and going now for 15yrs on my back …the 1st time took 1.5yrs to go away…to compound the issue I fish the flats of Florida with average temps of 90 and up…besides sunscreen I have ankle to the top of my head sun protection…pants, long sleeves. bandanas, buffs, gloves, long bill hat every day…I used to laugh and stay exposed but not anymore…
A wide brim hat may not be enough on its own. UV Rays bounce off the water so a good sunscreen or sun mask is a must.