Prevent Skin Cancer

Like most illness being able to prevent skin cancer is much better than having to cure it at a later stage. So what can you do to help stop yourself, your kids or even your grandchildren from developing skin cancer?

It is now common knowledge that most cases of skin cancer are caused by over exposure to the sun. This is why it is so much more common in certain parts of the world and amongst certain groups of workers.

The balance of the over exposure to the sun problem is the fact that many children are now suffering with vitamin D deficiency as  they are not getting enough sunlight. So too little sun is bad for you and too much is bad for you, how can we find the perfect balance?

The simplest way of thinking of it is that if your skin is turning red then you have had too much sun. Even one bad sunburn can do lasting damage to your skin. For a normal adult the damage will have been done during childhood, there are estimates that we get 80% of our lifetime exposure to the sun by the time we are teenagers.

So what practical advice can we give you to help you prevent skin cancer from attacking your family

• Sun Block
• Hats
• Long Sleeves
• Long lunches out of the sun
• Sunburn is bad – no matter how much they complain, take them indoors
• Year round suntans are not necessary

It can be very difficult to keep children out of the sun and once they become teenagers then it becomes almost impossible, however like anything, if you can instill some rules while your children are young then you have a better chance of them behaving sensibly when they are older.

If you are an adult who spent lots of time in the sun as a child then you should keep an eye on any moles you have, skin tags or any other sort of growth. If you notice any of these growing then you should see a skin cancer specialist straight away.