Understanding how to protect your skin from harmful sun rays can help you prevent early aging, skin cancer, and more. Here’s your guide to skin cancer prevention in Chevy Chase.
Can Skin Cancer Be Prevented?
In most cases, yes. Skin cancer can be prevented. And the best way to do this is by avoiding damaging sunlight and sunburn. UV rays from the sun can damage skin and over time, this can lead to early signs of aging and skin cancer.
Lowering Your Risk
There are several ways to prevent skin cancer. These include the following:
Sunscreen
This is the most obvious way to protect yourself. Using an SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum sunscreen daily is essential. Wear it every day, even on cloudy days and during the winter months. You should also apply lip balm with SPF protection.
Protective Clothing
Choosing protective clothing like wide brimmed hats, long sleeved shirts and pants, and sunglasses is a great way to protect yourself. Look for clothing with UV protection and choose sunglasses with UV-B and UV-A protection.
Blue Light Therapy
Blue light therapy makes skin cancer prevention in Chevy Chase easy. This treatment utilizes a topical medication and light energy to kill precancerous cells without damaging healthy skin.
Lifestyle Factors
Avoid tanning beds. If you want to have a tanned look, choose a spray on tanning products or self-tanners. Tanning beds are very damaging to your skin.
You should also speak to your doctor about any medications you take, since some medications make your skin more sensitive to the sun. This includes certain antibiotics, cholesterol lowering drugs, antifungals, and tetracycline.
Annual Skin Cancer Screening
Finally, one of the most important things you can do is regularly check your skin for any changes in size, shape, or color of moles or spots. It’s helpful to have another person help check your scalp and behind your ears. Some people use a mirror to thoroughly check areas that are hard to see.
You should also schedule an annual skin check with your dermatologist.
Cronin Dermatology specializes in skin cancer treatment, lasers, cosmetic procedures, acne treatment, and anti-aging treatments. Contact us today for a one-on-one consultation!