As a kid, Shaun Hughes wanted to look as bronzed as a Southern California surfer. The Seattle native slathered on cocoa butter and baby oil to achieve that golden skin tone. But at age 26, he paid the price.
Hughes, an avid outdoorsman, was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma on his back. Lucky enough to survive this deadly form of skin cancer, the UCLA alumnus then put his master’s degree in business administration to use by starting his own line of sun-protective clothing.
“Up to 80 percent of a person’s lifetime sun [damage] occurs prior to age 18,” says 47-year-old Hughes, the founder and president of Sun Precautions. “If you can provide a convenient, easy solution that kids feel normal wearing, you go a long way to preventing that long-term sun injury.”
Much to dermatologists’ dismay, the American love affair with the tan continues. Despite warnings about sun exposure and frightening skin cancer statistics, Americans have yet to embrace sun protection measures–beyond applying what dermatologists say is an insufficient amount of sunscreen.
The problem is most people apply less than half of the amount needed to achieve the sun protection factor listed on the bottle. Adults need 1 ounce of sunscreen to cover the body. If an adult spent a day at the beach and reapplied sunscreen every two hours, that person would use an entire 4-ounce bottle, doctors say.
“If you have large areas of skin exposed, that’s a lot of sunscreen to put on,” says Dr. James Spencer, a dermatologist at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Doctors diagnose more than 1.5 million cases of skin cancer every year. Most worrisome to dermatologists is that the number of new cases continues to grow, even though most people know sun damage is to blame.
Although skin cancer used to be a disease that primarily affected the elderly, today it’s increasingly common to see skin cancer patients in their 20s, Spencer says. “Our public health message is failing,” he says.
Dermatologists don’t want to discourage people from using sunscreen. They would prefer to see people wear sun-protective clothing, swimwear and wide-brimmed hats and then use liberal amounts of sunscreen on any areas that remain exposed.
“We have to give more thought to covering up,” says Dr. Jeff Ashley, a dermatologist with Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. “Lightweight, well-ventilated clothing to keep the sun off will work more effectively than sunscreen and is less of a nuisance.”
In a push to make such clothing more appealing, companies are using bright colors and modeling designs on the surfer look.
Hughes launched Sun Precautions (www.sunprecautions.com) in 1992 after his Solumbra clothing line received approval as a medical device from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Consumers will see more sun-protective clothing this summer in outlets including Target, Wal-Mart and major drugstore chains. Coppertone is promoting its brand of UV-protective swimwear for children, and the Australian brand Radicool also has moved into the U.S. market.
Be sun savvy
– Dermatologists say sun-protective clothing and swimwear offer greater protection than sunscreen alone. Radicool swimwear offers a sun protection factor of 190 when dry and 126 when wet (www.radicoolaustralia.com or www.sunprotectionzone.com). Sun Precautions produces the Solumbra clothing line, which starts at SPF 30 (www.sunprecautions.com). Coppertone’s Sunwise swimwear provides SPF 50 (www.sunwiseswimwear.com).
More Top Picks Best Beverage Tubs
– Wear UV-protective sunglasses to reduce the risk of cataracts.
– Use a sunscreen that blocks out both UVA and UVB rays with a minimum SPF 15. Slather on sunscreen before going outdoors. A good rule of thumb is to apply twice as much sunscreen as you’re accustomed to using. An adult should use about one ounce of sunscreen to cover the body. Be sure to reapply every two hours.
– Limit how much time you spend in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and seek shade when possible.–LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS.
———-
Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])