UV safety – protecting your skin with Dr Mboyi

Checking your skin

It is essential to know what your skin looks and feels like. It is recommended that you see your doctor if you notice any changes in your skin or possible signs of skin cancer. Most non-melanoma skin cancers are treated successfully. It is rare for early-stage skin cancers to come back.

What can you do to protect your skin?

To help protect your skin you can:

• Wear dark cotton clothing when outdoors
• Use long sleeves and long pants
• Wear a hat that protects your face, neck, and ears
• Wear sunglasses with 99-100% UV absorption
• Use a high-factor sunscreen when you’re in the sun
• Spend time in the shade when the sun is strongest

Sunscreen

Use a sunscreen product that has sun protector factor (SPF) of at least 30. The higher SPF gives you extra protection, but no sunscreen can provide 100% protection.

Choosing sunscreen

Choose a sunscreen with good protection against the 2 main types of ultra-violet (UV) rays – UVA and UVB. This is because both UVA and UVB rays cause skin cancer. The SPF shows how much protection the sunscreen gives against UVB radiation.

The higher the SPF number, the more protection it provides by filtering out UVB rays.

Vitamin D

We all need vitamin D to help build and maintain strong bones, teeth and muscles. A lack of vitamin D can cause problems in the long run. Avoiding direct sunlight by covering up and using sunscreen can help reduce the risk of skin cancer, but will deplete Vitamin D levels.

You can also get vitamin D from some foods including:

• oily fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon
• eggs
• red meat
• fortified margarine and cereals

Dr Ntomboxolo Mboyi has a BSc (UKZN), MBCHB (Medunsa), Fc Rad Onc (SA), and is a Postgraduate in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics: High Impact Cancer Research Program (Harvard Medical School). She is a member of the South African Oncology Consortium (SAOC), South African Society of Clinical and Radiation Oncology (SASCRO), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) and a Chairperson of the leading body of CanSurvive, a non-benefit association offering support to cancer patients.