Summer is the best season in Wisconsin! There are lakes to play in, fishing and camping, backyard barbeques and so much more to enjoy. The mosquitoes are out, but at least the sun is too! A lot of my patients ask me questions about the importance of sun exposure, whether they need sunscreen, and how to pick a good brand. Let’s break it down!
Humans, like all animals, are designed to be outside. We actually depend on sun exposure to synthesize vitamin D. The UV rays from the sun trigger our bodies to make all sorts of hormones. Recent research even found that our skin color pigment, called melanin, helps with energy production in our cells. This might be why so many people feel good in the sun!
However, sun exposure is a double edged sword. We know that certain skin cancers are a result of cumulative sun exposure, and that we can get sun spots or age spots and wrinkles from the sun. This means it is important to balance sun exposure so that we get enough to make vitamin D but not so much that we burn and cause damage to cells. Sun exposure itself is good; it’s sunburn that is a problem for our skin health.
The most intense sunlight is midday when the sun is at its zenith, from 11-2 or so, and the further you get from midday, the less intense the sunlight is because it goes through more layers of the atmosphere which filters out increasingly more UV rays. One easy way to avoid burning is to make sure you spend these midday hours out of the sun.
If you must be out when the sun is strongest, help protect your skin. The easiest way to protect your skin from damage is to cover it. You can use a physical cover like long sleeves and a hat, a chemical cover (sunscreen), or you can try to make your own by getting sun exposure beforehand. Because our bodies are designed to be in the sun, many of us create melanin in response to sun exposure which protects our cells from sun damage. So by getting small amounts of sun exposure we can build up a protective layer of melanin without causing damage to our cells.
Now, some people can’t tan, which means they don’t make much melanin, and if this is you, you will need to rely on physical covers and sunblock to prevent burning. Some people make a lot of melanin, which means they can get a lot of sun exposure without burning, but it also means they need a lot more sun exposure to make adequate vitamin D. If you have dark colored skin or if you tan easily, you might want to check your vitamin D levels yearly to make sure you aren’t deficient.
Additionally, the closer you get to the equator, the stronger the sunlight because the sun is increasingly directly overhead. In Wisconsin we don’t have very intense sunlight, but if you have to take a trip down south, you’ll want to be aware of the increased intensity, which makes it easier to burn even if you have built up a decent tan.
If you are someone who needs to use sunscreen to prevent burning, avoid any sunscreen that contains oxybenzone, which is absorbed by the skin into the bloodstream at very high levels where it becomes an endocrine disruptor. Other ingredients that are very common but have little research are: Avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate, octocrylene, and octisalate. Sunscreen ingredients generally recognized as safe are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
Not sure whether your sunscreen has good ingredients? Just look it up on the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) website or download their app Think Dirty and scan your product to get information about its ingredients. They rate products based on the research (or lack thereof) for each ingredient.
Something to keep in mind when getting sun exposure is that sunscreen generally is rated by its ability to block UVB rays which are the ones that cause sunburn, but not so much UVA rays, which penetrate deeper into the skin and damage the DNA in cells. This means it is possible to get too much sun even though you won’t get a proper sunburn. Instead you might be red, get a rash, or feel overheated.
In the case you do get a sunburn, topical aloe vera gel can help. Other skin healing herbs include calendula, comfrey, and Saint John’s wort. Because sunburn is a sign of damage to your cells, it is also a good idea to get lots of antioxidants to help your body recover from this damage.