Let’s Talk UV: What You Need to Know ☀️

☀️ July is UV Awareness Month and if you're a parent of a teen girl, chances are you've heard your fair share of daily UV index reports.

But what’s the big deal with UV rays anyway?

Usually talk about UV exposure is mostly about sunburns, likely because they're an obvious and noticeable effect of being in the sun too long. Burning is a result of too much exposure to UVB rays (good way to remember is B for burning). And UVB rays are the ones responsible for most UV-related skin cancers.

It’s not just about sunburns though -  UV exposure can also lead to: 

☀️DNA Damage: UV rays can reach deep into your skin and harm the DNA in your cells. This damage disrupts how cells work and repair themselves, which speeds up aging and raises the risk of skin cancer over time.

☀️Oxidative Stress:  UV exposure creates free radicals - unstable molecules that damage your skin cells and cause inflammation. Over time, this breaks down collagen and elastin, leading to early signs of aging like wrinkles and sagging.

☀️Collagen Loss: UV rays break down collagen, the protein that keeps skin firm and elastic. They also make it harder for your skin to rebuild it, which over time leads to wrinkles and a loss of structure.

☀️Immune Suppression: UV rays don’t just harm your skin - they also weaken its immune defenses. This makes it harder for your body to catch and repair damage, increasing the risk of infections and potentially skin cancer over time.

The bottom line: proper sun protection is essential! Use shade, hats, UPF clothing, and broad-spectrum sunscreen to keep your skin safe. And if you’ve heard the myth that sunscreen causes cancer, not UV rays and that’s simply not true.

The best sunscreen is the one you’ll actually wear - even if it has some otherwise questionable ingredients. Let’s protect our skin and still enjoy every bit of summer!

🧴Need some safer sunscreen options? These are a few of my favorites.

*References: PMID: 27148370, PMID: 25561721, PMID: 35748903, PMID: 24124905, https://www.skincancer.org/risk-factors/sunburn/