2023-06-02 18:32:00
Excessive exposure to UV rays can lead to serious health consequences, including the development of skin cancer. And beach vacations are not the only times when you have to be vigilant in the face of this risk.
The return of good weather and the official start of meteorological summer undoubtedly give rise to the desire to enjoy the sun outdoors. Whether for a lunch break with colleagues, an followingnoon in the park or for a sunbathing session by the pool, it is nevertheless essential to protect your skin from the first suns, warn specialists.
A sunburn happens very quickly
A short break in the sun, even if it lasts less than an hour, can permanently damage the skin. It has indeed been proven that sunburn can appear in just 15 minutes, for sensitive skin and when the UV index is greater than or equal to 9. This period increases to 30 minutes for “normal” skin. But even when the UV index is quite low (between 3 and 4), a sunburn appears in 40 minutes on fragile skin, and in one hour for others.
Also be careful on the coast, when gusts of wind give your arms or legs a feeling of cooling: with or without wind, the sun acts in the same way… And therefore burns the skin just as much.
When the weather is milder, we keep “risks of burns on the skin”, we are also exposed to “problems of aging of the skin” and to risks “of evolution towards skin cancer “, testifies on BFMTV Isabelle Rousseaux, dermatologist member of the National Syndicate of Dermatologists Venerologists, who calls on the French “to be careful”.
Sunscreen, essential all year round
This is one of the reasons why the French should have the habit of protecting themselves from UV rays from the month of March, declared Monday on BFMTV Héloïse Hatuel, dermatologist. “Sunscreen is not at all reserved for holidays, you have to apply it every morning, especially when the weather is nice, even in Paris, even where you live,” she explained.
There are two types of sunscreen, those with “organic protection”, which absorb UV rays in the skin, and those offering so-called “mineral” protection, which is in fact “a filter that will reflect the UV on the skin”, explained on BFMTV Jean-Christophe Palmié, pharmacist.
This second type of protection is recommended for people with “more fragile” skin, especially children, because it “minimizes the risk of allergy”, according to the pharmacist.
In addition to the type of sunscreen, it is also necessary to know how to choose its protection index. And for dermatologist Héloïse Hatuel, “you have to put at least an index of 30, because below that, it’s not of much interest”.
It is also not enough to apply sunscreen once a day to be protected for long hours. The doctor reminds us that a mnemonic device makes it possible to remember for sure the frequency at which to start painting once more: index 30, every 30 minutes, and index 50, every 50 minutes.
Sunglasses and hats, not just in the suitcase
Frédéric de Bels, head of the prevention department at the National Cancer Institute, however, told BFMTV.com that “to protect their children, many parents think that high-factor sunscreens are sufficient, but that’s not the case”.
“Sunscreen with an index of 50 blocks between 90 and 95% of the sun’s rays, but therefore allows some to pass through”, he specifies.
It is therefore necessary to combine the application of a cream with other effective gestures, which involve the search for shade, the fact of not exposing yourself to the hottest hours, that is to say from 12 noon to 4 p.m. in mainland France (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. overseas and in the tropics). Contrary to popular belief, this is also valid in case of overcast weather.
It is also necessary to wear covering clothes, sunglasses “of index 3 or 4, not below” and a “wide-brimmed hat”, the cap not being sufficiently protective. “High index sunscreen is only a gesture of additional protection to these good gestures”, recalls the National Cancer Institute.
Children, to be absolutely protected
The sun capital is not a myth. We all benefit from the maximum number of UV rays to which our skin can be exposed, “especially during childhood”, underlines Héloïse Hatuel.
“Everything is played before the age of 15, and it is extremely important to protect children from the sun, even in the northern regions, even when they go to the park, even when they go to spend the day outside”, puts in custody Héloïse Hatuel.
According to the National Cancer Institute, only 12% of parents are aware that sunburns caught during childhood present an increased risk of developing cancer in adulthood, warns Frédéric de Bels. Their skin being “more immature”, toddlers are “more vulnerable” to UV rays.
Sunburn caught in childhood can therefore have serious consequences years later. Because this redness and sensation of heat characteristic of sunburn is the consequence of “overexposure to the sun. The skin becomes inflamed”, which does not directly lead to skin cancer, but which increases the risk, explains Frédéric de Bels.
This risk increases further when the exposures are repeated and the aggressions of the skin multiply, with a cumulative phenomenon, he explains, while there are 15,500 new cases of melanoma per year in France. More than 100,000 people are affected by skin cancer, and 80% of these cancers are linked to “excessive exposure to the sun”, recalls the National Cancer Institute.
Brittany particularly affected
It is in Brittany that the greatest number of cases of skin cancer is declared each year, “precisely because it is not considered to be a region at risk”, since the region has the reputation of benefiting from a much lower rate of sunshine than the south of the country, warned last summer, Health Insurance in a press release.
“It is not because there are clouds or it is gray that UV rays are not dangerous”, recalled the CPAM of Côtes-d’Armor, while when the sky is not blue , the French can forget the reflexes of protection of the skin, which must be “systematic” in summer.
Brittany, which in 2014 recorded three times more cases of skin cancer than the national average, also sees a “strong impact” of morbidity and mortality linked to skin cancer, and in particular melanoma, also indicated dermatologists of the Regional Joint Commission of Physicians. Nearly a thousand melanomas are diagnosed there every year.
Sun capsules, useless
The capsules to be taken before exposure to the sun do not prepare the skin for these exposures, “nothing prepares it for the sun”, specifies Frédéric de Bels. “A tanned skin demonstrates that it has been exposed to the sun and therefore that it has suffered attacks”, he specifies once more. In the current state of research, these capsules “are useless”, according to him.
For Frédéric de Bels, “there is nothing worse” than UV rays in the cabin. They certainly tan the skin, even when there is no sun, but users are exposed to “very high doses” of UV rays, which is “to be avoided”. It has now been shown that 350 to 400 cases of skin cancer come from these cabins each year.
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