Skin Care for the Summer Months
From the Show: Memorial Ohio - Memorial Health Radio
Summary:
Air Date: 5/1/23
Duration: 10 Minutes
Dr. Janelle King discusses skin care for the summer months.
Transcription:
Joey Wahler (Host): With summer comes the importance of extra skin protection. So, we're discussing summer skincare. This is Memorial Health Radio, a podcast from Memorial Health System. Thanks for listening. I'm Joey Wahler. Our guest, Dr. Janelle King. She's a dermatologist with Memorial Health System. Hi, Dr. King. Thanks for joining us.
Dr. Janelle King: Hi. Thank you.
Host: So first, just how common is skin cancer since during the warmer months? That, of course, seems to be utmost in people's minds in terms of trying to do things to steer clear.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes. So actually, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US and worldwide. One in five Americans, they state, will develop skin cancer by the age of 70. The three most common skin cancers that we see in our clinics are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. There is some other rare types that we also see. But if you put all the cancers in the world in one basket, they would not equal the number of skin cancers that are diagnosed each year.
Host: Wow. Now, from your experience, why do you think that is? Do you think it's at least in part because despite the warnings out there, the tips, some of the things we're going to go over over the next few minutes, enough people just still aren't heeding those warnings?
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. I think the knowledge has progressed rapidly over the last, I would say, decade. But in years past, there was not a lot of knowledge or education on sun protection. So, I'm very glad that we're the time of more education and more kind of availability to sun protection.
Host: And skin cancer, am I right, can catch up to you decades later? It could be that you didn't have the right protection in your teens or early 20s, and you might not get bitten by the cancer bug until you're in your 40s or 50s or later, right?
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. So, cumulative exposure is a very big factor in sun skin cancer. So long story short, you know, the sun that you get at the age of 10, 11, 12 and onward is a cumulative amount that can, once again, what you said, catch up with you at the age of 40, 50, 60, because we do know that the incidence of skin cancer increases as we age.
Host: Right. So generally speaking, who's most susceptible to skin cancer? We know, of course, that those that are fair-skinned, unfortunately, like yours truly are in that group. But overall, who else?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, you're correct. So, fair-skinned individuals because the melanin in our skin protects us from UV radiation. Individuals that have a lot of freckles, a lot of moles, blue-green eyes, obviously blonde, red hair. Also, family history is very important of skin cancer. Personal history is probably the most important. Older age, we just kind of discussed that history of more than five sunburns rapidly increases the risk of melanoma. And also, once again, the cumulative UV exposure is really important.
Host: Now, what's that last thing you mentioned about sunburn?
Dr. Janelle King: More than five sunburns increases the risk of melanoma greatly.
Host: So, that makes me think to ask right away what actually constitutes a sunburn technically?
Dr. Janelle King: So, reddening of the skin, it doesn't have to be a blister or, you know, excessive peeling, even just a little reddening of the skin is classified as a sunburn.
Host: How about when we hear the term sun poisoning, what brings it to that level?
Dr. Janelle King: That's usually when people become very itchy, red, kind of swollen, kind of hive-like lesions present on the skin and that's, you know, when people become overheated. People with very fair skin, usually first exposure of the year, you can see that. And obviously, that's a very uncomfortable situation.
Host: So, you led me beautifully then into my next question. We've kind of covered the "bad news," if you will. Now, we're going to talk a little bit about what to do to avoid all that badness. So as you just alluded to, when summer starts, we want to ease into things, right? You don't want to overdo it because that gets the whole summer off to a bad start in terms of sun and everything else because then, you know, if you get burned badly, of course it could keep you from doing other things you enjoy. So, what's the best way to gradually get back into the sun?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, good question. We actually see more sunburns springtime, early summer because people are underestimating the UV radiation. You know, it's 60 degrees out, they think they can go out and not really worry about sunburns, but we actually see most early on in the season. So, I just kind of recommend kind of the same thing year round, actually. You know, sunscreen year round. I wear sunscreen around, even in the winter months. And we'll kind of discuss maybe later the specifics on sunscreen, but sun-protective clothing, you know, obviously sunglasses. And avoiding those peak sun hours is kind of key from usually 10:00 to 2:00 or 3:00 PM in most US states.
Host: How about tanning beds and other tanning equipment? Do you recommend any of that to get a base during those earlier months?
Dr. Janelle King: So, that's a bit of a myth. And, you know, it's been propagated for years and years, and I remember hearing it as a young child. When your skin tans, it means it's actually responding to injury from the UV radiation, so you're actually damaging your skin when you get a base tan. And tanning beds have been classified by the FDA as a class II, which is a moderate to high risk device for causing cancer. Getting a tan will not protect your skin from sunburn or sun damage, so I actually advise against tanning beds.
Host: Okay. Now that being said, let's talk about protection. How do you know which sunscreen protection level you need?
Dr. Janelle King: So, no sunscreen first off can provide a hundred percent protection from the sun. Some UV rays will still reach your skin. It's just impossible to get a hundred percent. So, an SPF 50, for example, provides about a 98% protection from the UV rays, while SPF 30 provides about 97% protection, so close to a hundred, but not quite. But the problem is a lot of people don't use enough sunscreen. So, these labels that are given to us are under perfect circumstances because they do these studies in the labs to see, you know, how long can someone be out in the sun. So, an SPF number tells you how long the sun's UV radiation would take to redden your skin when using the product exactly as directed versus the amount of time without a sunscreen. So ideally with an SPF 30, it would take you 30 times longer to burn than if you weren't wearing that sunscreen. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends a water-resistant broad- spectrum covering UVA and UVB radiation with an SPF 30 or higher. And also, they usually recommend for an average adult about one ounce, which is two tablespoons, about 15 to 30 minutes prior to going outside.
Host: So, that's something I never knew, and I would imagine many others don't either, that those numbers on the sunscreen, those aren't just numbers, there's an actual meaning behind them. Interesting.
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. Yes. It's done in the laboratory and actually looking at UVB radiation. And we know there's two types, so you have to keep that in mind too. But sunscreen is definitely protective, but not a hundred percent.
Host: Right. How about the best way to protect ourselves if we're going into the water, both to be in the water, and then what do we do when we get out of the water?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, great question. So, the water definitely kind of changes the story a little bit. You still want to apply, you know, the sunscreen about 15 to 30 minutes before going outside. You want to look for a water-resistant sunscreen. Not all are water-resistant, many are these days. They've definitely kind of improved the sunscreens over the last five years. But broad-spectrum, so covering UVA, UVB, radiation, water-resistant, usually 80 minutes is good. You also need to keep in mind that it's not a hundred percent protection. We talked about that. So, you want to look for UPF, ultraviolet light protective factor clothing. They make a lot of good options these days. Rashguards, full body swimsuits, hats, different types of articles of clothing that can also help protect your skin. So, we recommend, usually a dermatologist, both UPF protective clothing and obviously SPF sunscreen in combination. And you also are going to remember when you're sweating or you're swimming, the sunscreen is being removed off your skin at a more frequent rate. So, you want to reapply about every hour instead of every two hours. And if you come out of the water, it's nice to kind of maybe switch into some dry clothing to get some extra protection and maybe seek some shade at that point.
Host: And that resistant clothing, what is that doing actually?
Dr. Janelle King: So, it's kind of a tight weave type of clothing that's helping with the sun and the UV radiation from penetrating and reaching your skin. So, it definitely provides a layer of protection. It's actually better than sunscreen most people believe. But we like the combination of the two.
Host: So in other words, are some harmful sun rays penetrating through our clothing?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes.
Host: You're breaking a lot of news here, doc.
Dr. Janelle King: Depending on the type of clothing, so let's just say you stick your hand through a shirt and it's kind of transparent, you can see your skin through the shirt, that's clearly not providing much protection. So, that's why the tight weaved clothing, you know, darker clothing can provide more protection against the UV radiation.
Host: Gotcha. Couple of other things. What's the best way to protect babies and children? We have an eight-month-old, we'd love to take her out to the pool. But I'll tell you, we had our first real hot day in our area just yesterday, and I brought her just from the car to the store, a minute-trip through the parking lot in my arms, and it looked like she was about to pass out. So, that was another reminder. I've got to be real careful here, but I want to know what to do to do it right.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, that's another good question. The FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends keeping newborns and babies less than six months, I know you said eight months, out of direct sunlight. So basically altogether, kind of keep them out of the sun. And, you know, I understand sometimes that's not a hundred percent feasible, but you want to do your best. So, you want to stay in the shade, use umbrellas, pop-up tents, stroller canopies. There's a lot of good options these days to be creative. And once again, we're back to that tight weave, lightweight clothing, hats. And obviously, you want to keep the children hydrated because, yes, you can overheat. You can have, you know, heat strokes and things like that. So, staying hydrated is very important. With my children, it's a little bit of a struggle now. Mine are six, seven, and 11, but I used to put them in full body swimsuits. I mean, you zip it up from the foot up to the neck and I had, you know, basically 85% of their skin covered just by doing that. It's a little bit more of a struggle now that they're older. But, you know, basically, try to protect their skin as much as you can.
Host: Full body swimsuits. And do they say front, "My mom's a dermatologist"?
Dr. Janelle King: I think they should say that.
Host: Absolutely. Okay. And so, just to kind of sum up here, at what age and how often should all of us be seeing a dermatologist for a skin exam, skin cancer history, or not?
Dr. Janelle King: Yeah, this can be debated a little bit. The American Cancer Society recommends people between the ages of 20 and 40 to get a professional skin exam about every three years, once annually. Though they recommend at the age of 40 or older because once again the incidence increases with age. But there's many things that kind of go into that as far as other risk factors that you got to think about. So if somebody's immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, let's say a transplant patient, their risk of skin cancer is about 60 to a 100 times higher than the average person. So, someone like that would want to seek a professional sooner than later for a skin exam.
Also, certain medications can make you more sensitive to the sun and sunburning. So, those individuals once again might want to seek a dermatologist sooner than later. Also, family history once again plays an important role. If there's a strong family history of melanoma, then someone would likely want to be seen before the age of 20. And there's also genetic mutations that can increase one's risk of melanoma and some other types of skin cancer. So, that also plays a role. We don't see a lot of skin cancer in young people, thank God, because that's not ideal to have to treat skin cancer in young individuals, honestly at any age, but a child is, you know, a really kind of unfortunate situation. So, we don't see a lot of that. But we do know that the incidence of skin cancer increases as we age. And the risk of cancer drastically increases mid to late 20s compared to the teen years. So when patients ask me, if they have no other kind of risk factors, I usually tell them, you know, late 20s, maybe early 30s, you know, as long as there's nothing concerning them prior to that is a good time to be established. And then, I usually kind of recommend based on my findings, whether they come back in a year or two years at that point.
Host: Gotcha. Well, folks, we trust you are now more familiar with summer skincare. We found out some great stuff right there. Dr. Janelle King, thanks so much again.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes. Thank you, Joey.
Host: And for more information, please visit mhsystem.org. Again, that's mhsystem.org. Now, if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. and thanks for listening to Memorial Health Radio, a podcast from Memorial Health System. Hoping your health is good health, I'm Joey Wahler.
Joey Wahler (Host): With summer comes the importance of extra skin protection. So, we're discussing summer skincare. This is Memorial Health Radio, a podcast from Memorial Health System. Thanks for listening. I'm Joey Wahler. Our guest, Dr. Janelle King. She's a dermatologist with Memorial Health System. Hi, Dr. King. Thanks for joining us.
Dr. Janelle King: Hi. Thank you.
Host: So first, just how common is skin cancer since during the warmer months? That, of course, seems to be utmost in people's minds in terms of trying to do things to steer clear.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes. So actually, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US and worldwide. One in five Americans, they state, will develop skin cancer by the age of 70. The three most common skin cancers that we see in our clinics are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. There is some other rare types that we also see. But if you put all the cancers in the world in one basket, they would not equal the number of skin cancers that are diagnosed each year.
Host: Wow. Now, from your experience, why do you think that is? Do you think it's at least in part because despite the warnings out there, the tips, some of the things we're going to go over over the next few minutes, enough people just still aren't heeding those warnings?
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. I think the knowledge has progressed rapidly over the last, I would say, decade. But in years past, there was not a lot of knowledge or education on sun protection. So, I'm very glad that we're the time of more education and more kind of availability to sun protection.
Host: And skin cancer, am I right, can catch up to you decades later? It could be that you didn't have the right protection in your teens or early 20s, and you might not get bitten by the cancer bug until you're in your 40s or 50s or later, right?
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. So, cumulative exposure is a very big factor in sun skin cancer. So long story short, you know, the sun that you get at the age of 10, 11, 12 and onward is a cumulative amount that can, once again, what you said, catch up with you at the age of 40, 50, 60, because we do know that the incidence of skin cancer increases as we age.
Host: Right. So generally speaking, who's most susceptible to skin cancer? We know, of course, that those that are fair-skinned, unfortunately, like yours truly are in that group. But overall, who else?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, you're correct. So, fair-skinned individuals because the melanin in our skin protects us from UV radiation. Individuals that have a lot of freckles, a lot of moles, blue-green eyes, obviously blonde, red hair. Also, family history is very important of skin cancer. Personal history is probably the most important. Older age, we just kind of discussed that history of more than five sunburns rapidly increases the risk of melanoma. And also, once again, the cumulative UV exposure is really important.
Host: Now, what's that last thing you mentioned about sunburn?
Dr. Janelle King: More than five sunburns increases the risk of melanoma greatly.
Host: So, that makes me think to ask right away what actually constitutes a sunburn technically?
Dr. Janelle King: So, reddening of the skin, it doesn't have to be a blister or, you know, excessive peeling, even just a little reddening of the skin is classified as a sunburn.
Host: How about when we hear the term sun poisoning, what brings it to that level?
Dr. Janelle King: That's usually when people become very itchy, red, kind of swollen, kind of hive-like lesions present on the skin and that's, you know, when people become overheated. People with very fair skin, usually first exposure of the year, you can see that. And obviously, that's a very uncomfortable situation.
Host: So, you led me beautifully then into my next question. We've kind of covered the "bad news," if you will. Now, we're going to talk a little bit about what to do to avoid all that badness. So as you just alluded to, when summer starts, we want to ease into things, right? You don't want to overdo it because that gets the whole summer off to a bad start in terms of sun and everything else because then, you know, if you get burned badly, of course it could keep you from doing other things you enjoy. So, what's the best way to gradually get back into the sun?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, good question. We actually see more sunburns springtime, early summer because people are underestimating the UV radiation. You know, it's 60 degrees out, they think they can go out and not really worry about sunburns, but we actually see most early on in the season. So, I just kind of recommend kind of the same thing year round, actually. You know, sunscreen year round. I wear sunscreen around, even in the winter months. And we'll kind of discuss maybe later the specifics on sunscreen, but sun-protective clothing, you know, obviously sunglasses. And avoiding those peak sun hours is kind of key from usually 10:00 to 2:00 or 3:00 PM in most US states.
Host: How about tanning beds and other tanning equipment? Do you recommend any of that to get a base during those earlier months?
Dr. Janelle King: So, that's a bit of a myth. And, you know, it's been propagated for years and years, and I remember hearing it as a young child. When your skin tans, it means it's actually responding to injury from the UV radiation, so you're actually damaging your skin when you get a base tan. And tanning beds have been classified by the FDA as a class II, which is a moderate to high risk device for causing cancer. Getting a tan will not protect your skin from sunburn or sun damage, so I actually advise against tanning beds.
Host: Okay. Now that being said, let's talk about protection. How do you know which sunscreen protection level you need?
Dr. Janelle King: So, no sunscreen first off can provide a hundred percent protection from the sun. Some UV rays will still reach your skin. It's just impossible to get a hundred percent. So, an SPF 50, for example, provides about a 98% protection from the UV rays, while SPF 30 provides about 97% protection, so close to a hundred, but not quite. But the problem is a lot of people don't use enough sunscreen. So, these labels that are given to us are under perfect circumstances because they do these studies in the labs to see, you know, how long can someone be out in the sun. So, an SPF number tells you how long the sun's UV radiation would take to redden your skin when using the product exactly as directed versus the amount of time without a sunscreen. So ideally with an SPF 30, it would take you 30 times longer to burn than if you weren't wearing that sunscreen. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends a water-resistant broad- spectrum covering UVA and UVB radiation with an SPF 30 or higher. And also, they usually recommend for an average adult about one ounce, which is two tablespoons, about 15 to 30 minutes prior to going outside.
Host: So, that's something I never knew, and I would imagine many others don't either, that those numbers on the sunscreen, those aren't just numbers, there's an actual meaning behind them. Interesting.
Dr. Janelle King: Correct. Yes. It's done in the laboratory and actually looking at UVB radiation. And we know there's two types, so you have to keep that in mind too. But sunscreen is definitely protective, but not a hundred percent.
Host: Right. How about the best way to protect ourselves if we're going into the water, both to be in the water, and then what do we do when we get out of the water?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, great question. So, the water definitely kind of changes the story a little bit. You still want to apply, you know, the sunscreen about 15 to 30 minutes before going outside. You want to look for a water-resistant sunscreen. Not all are water-resistant, many are these days. They've definitely kind of improved the sunscreens over the last five years. But broad-spectrum, so covering UVA, UVB, radiation, water-resistant, usually 80 minutes is good. You also need to keep in mind that it's not a hundred percent protection. We talked about that. So, you want to look for UPF, ultraviolet light protective factor clothing. They make a lot of good options these days. Rashguards, full body swimsuits, hats, different types of articles of clothing that can also help protect your skin. So, we recommend, usually a dermatologist, both UPF protective clothing and obviously SPF sunscreen in combination. And you also are going to remember when you're sweating or you're swimming, the sunscreen is being removed off your skin at a more frequent rate. So, you want to reapply about every hour instead of every two hours. And if you come out of the water, it's nice to kind of maybe switch into some dry clothing to get some extra protection and maybe seek some shade at that point.
Host: And that resistant clothing, what is that doing actually?
Dr. Janelle King: So, it's kind of a tight weave type of clothing that's helping with the sun and the UV radiation from penetrating and reaching your skin. So, it definitely provides a layer of protection. It's actually better than sunscreen most people believe. But we like the combination of the two.
Host: So in other words, are some harmful sun rays penetrating through our clothing?
Dr. Janelle King: Yes.
Host: You're breaking a lot of news here, doc.
Dr. Janelle King: Depending on the type of clothing, so let's just say you stick your hand through a shirt and it's kind of transparent, you can see your skin through the shirt, that's clearly not providing much protection. So, that's why the tight weaved clothing, you know, darker clothing can provide more protection against the UV radiation.
Host: Gotcha. Couple of other things. What's the best way to protect babies and children? We have an eight-month-old, we'd love to take her out to the pool. But I'll tell you, we had our first real hot day in our area just yesterday, and I brought her just from the car to the store, a minute-trip through the parking lot in my arms, and it looked like she was about to pass out. So, that was another reminder. I've got to be real careful here, but I want to know what to do to do it right.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes, that's another good question. The FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends keeping newborns and babies less than six months, I know you said eight months, out of direct sunlight. So basically altogether, kind of keep them out of the sun. And, you know, I understand sometimes that's not a hundred percent feasible, but you want to do your best. So, you want to stay in the shade, use umbrellas, pop-up tents, stroller canopies. There's a lot of good options these days to be creative. And once again, we're back to that tight weave, lightweight clothing, hats. And obviously, you want to keep the children hydrated because, yes, you can overheat. You can have, you know, heat strokes and things like that. So, staying hydrated is very important. With my children, it's a little bit of a struggle now. Mine are six, seven, and 11, but I used to put them in full body swimsuits. I mean, you zip it up from the foot up to the neck and I had, you know, basically 85% of their skin covered just by doing that. It's a little bit more of a struggle now that they're older. But, you know, basically, try to protect their skin as much as you can.
Host: Full body swimsuits. And do they say front, "My mom's a dermatologist"?
Dr. Janelle King: I think they should say that.
Host: Absolutely. Okay. And so, just to kind of sum up here, at what age and how often should all of us be seeing a dermatologist for a skin exam, skin cancer history, or not?
Dr. Janelle King: Yeah, this can be debated a little bit. The American Cancer Society recommends people between the ages of 20 and 40 to get a professional skin exam about every three years, once annually. Though they recommend at the age of 40 or older because once again the incidence increases with age. But there's many things that kind of go into that as far as other risk factors that you got to think about. So if somebody's immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, let's say a transplant patient, their risk of skin cancer is about 60 to a 100 times higher than the average person. So, someone like that would want to seek a professional sooner than later for a skin exam.
Also, certain medications can make you more sensitive to the sun and sunburning. So, those individuals once again might want to seek a dermatologist sooner than later. Also, family history once again plays an important role. If there's a strong family history of melanoma, then someone would likely want to be seen before the age of 20. And there's also genetic mutations that can increase one's risk of melanoma and some other types of skin cancer. So, that also plays a role. We don't see a lot of skin cancer in young people, thank God, because that's not ideal to have to treat skin cancer in young individuals, honestly at any age, but a child is, you know, a really kind of unfortunate situation. So, we don't see a lot of that. But we do know that the incidence of skin cancer increases as we age. And the risk of cancer drastically increases mid to late 20s compared to the teen years. So when patients ask me, if they have no other kind of risk factors, I usually tell them, you know, late 20s, maybe early 30s, you know, as long as there's nothing concerning them prior to that is a good time to be established. And then, I usually kind of recommend based on my findings, whether they come back in a year or two years at that point.
Host: Gotcha. Well, folks, we trust you are now more familiar with summer skincare. We found out some great stuff right there. Dr. Janelle King, thanks so much again.
Dr. Janelle King: Yes. Thank you, Joey.
Host: And for more information, please visit mhsystem.org. Again, that's mhsystem.org. Now, if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. and thanks for listening to Memorial Health Radio, a podcast from Memorial Health System. Hoping your health is good health, I'm Joey Wahler.
