Tips for Minimzing Skin Cancer

Patricia Wong’s Newsletter
735 Cowper Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Sun Protective ClothingTips

Launder Clothing with Tinosorb for Added UPF Protection
Tinosorb for washing clothes; there is a product called SUN GUARD manufactured by CIBA. It is a laundry additive that absorbs UVA and UVB. You add it to your wash and it provides an invisible photoprotective layer UPF 30 (Ultraviolet protection factor) on your clothing. The sun protection lasts through 20 washings. This is a convenient alternative to purchasing sun protective clothing. One box costs about $2 and can be ordered online: sunguardsunprotection.com. This is a practical treatment to use on children's clothing and avoids using sunscreen on very young, delicate skin.

Protective Clothing: There are specially designed garments whose fabric offers UPF 50 or higher. Solumbra, Coolibar, SolarTex, Walleroo are some of the companies selling such clothing. They are manufactured to be lightweight so that you can exercise comfortably while wearing them. The advantage of photoprotective clothing is that you do not need to reapply sunscreen every few hours. Sunscreen degrades in sunlight and rubs/sweats off over time. Sun Protective clothing provides constant and consistent protection.
Cotton T shirts do not provide adequate protection from the sun. A white T- shirt has an UPF of 5-7 and when wet it actually increases the penetration of ultraviolet light and accelerates burning. In general, darker clothing with a tight weave provides better protection.

Fabrics with Superior Photoprotection

  • Blue or black denim jeansUPF1700
  • Tightlywoven fabrics
  • Merinowoolgarments
  • 100%polyester
  • Unbleached cotton-containslignins
  • Shinypolyester
  • Blendsatin-finish silk of anyweight

Fabrics with Inferior Photoprotection

  • Polyestercrepe
  • Threadbare, wornfabric
  • Bleachedcotton
  • Viscose
  • Undyed, whitedenimjeans
  • WetFabric
  • Knits, especially looselywoven

Hats with at least a 4" brim circumferentially should be worn. Baseball caps provide woefully inadequate photoprotection. There are a number of hats that have drapes that cover the neck. My personal favorite hat for outdoor activities is a lightweight hat that has draped mesh vented fabric that covers the entire neck. Many hats have additional fabric but it only covers the back of the neck and leaves the sides of the neck exposed. The following website has some excellent hats, parasols, and shaded portable chairs. http://www.inoventions.biz/main.sc

Break the Habit

Patricia Wong, M.D

STOP SMOKING! Smokers have a 50% greater risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma than people who have never smoked. Smokers develop more head and neck cancers, lip cancers, mouth cancers, and anogenital cancers.

Although smokers do not appear to develop more melanomas, they have a poorer prognosis when they do have a melanoma because their immune system is compromised from smoking and are more likely to die from melanoma than nonsmokers with melanoma.

Big Sunglasses are the Best

Wrap around sunglasses provide the best protection for minimizing UV radiation entering the sides of glasses. UV causes cataracts, thins the skin around the eyes, and leads to fine wrinkling and dark circles under eyes. Choose sunglasses that have a wide side arm to block UV rays from entering the retina laterally and have lenses with a large surface area.

Make your Car Windows UV protective

Put a UVA blocking clear plastic film like Llumaron the driver and passenger windows of your car. It has low reflectivity so you have visibility at night and keeps the car cooler during summer. It is not necessary to darkly tint windows to effectively block UVA radiation. Website www.llumar.com

EXERCISE OUTSIDE IN THE EARLY A.M.

Patricia Wong, M.D

Your skin contains enzymes for removing precancerous cells and correcting DNA damage due to UV radiation. This physiologic process is at its maximal repairing capacity in the early A.M. Afternoon sun exposure will result in more damage because skin repair enzymes are not as active later in the day. There is a circadian rhythm to cellular repair mechanisms.

Sunscreen is still the number one strategy for preventing skin cancer, wrinkling, and skin discoloration. The lifetime risk of developing melanoma is now 1 in 36 for males and 1 in 55 for females in the U.S. Studies show applying sunscreen daily decreases your chances of developing melanoma by half compared with occasional application.