Practice safe sun

Last week on those nice spring like days, people were getting outside, raking leaves or giving their yards a last time mowing before winter sets in.

Some headed for the surrounding resort lakes and more sunshine.

I used to do that when my husband and I and our two children often went camping and boating at Norfork Lake, Wappapello, and Sardis. We spent a lot of time basking in the sun. We didn't take precautions against the potentially dangerous sun rays. We wore no hats, or sunscreen. Sometimes we patted ourselves with baby oil but that's about it. We sunburned, of course, and our skin flaked and peeled in following days. That was considered the norm before dangers of ultraviolet rays were known. And remember that ultraviolet rays can penetrate cloud cover too.

In my later years, I've paid the price for too much damaging sun on my skin.

I've had numerous skin cancers excised or frozen or treated with various creams. There have been several removed from my arms and face. The latest was a one inch incision on my face three weeks ago.

I've had two squamous cell skin cancers that began as warts, one on my chin and one on my right hand. The one on my right hand was excised in April and resulted in a two inch scar, barely noticeable however.

As you can already tell, I'm a firm believer that the sun's rays are to be respected, limited. I cringe when I hear of teens and adults using tanning beds. I believe the beds are dangerous and so do dermatologists I've spoken with.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advise people to avoid tanning and the use of sun lamps. The CDC reports that tanning beds also cause serious eye damage, including cataracts.

There's really no such thing as a "safe tan." UVA rays penetrate deep into your skin, causing significant destruction and loss of skin elasticity, tone and appearance.

Recently I visited briefly with a middle aged woman who has always been quite beautiful. She has also spent lots of hours sunbathing and in tanning booths.

I couldn't help but notice that her dark brown arms were like leather, deeply wrinkled. They didn't look soft as they should have.

Not only does tanning cause damage and premature aging of skin, it is associated with an increased risk for squamous cell cancer, basal cell cancer and melanoma, a deadly skin cancer. The risk of melanoma increases by 800 percent for those using tanning beds more than 10 times a year. The risk increases by 300 percent for those using tanning beds occasionally. The younger you are when you start using indoor tanning, the greater your risk for melanoma.

I had a close friend who died from a rare facial skin cancer. His body was riddled with white scars the result of skin cancers he'd had removed, or frozen in years past. There were scars on his ear lobes, the top of his head, both arms, and his face.

All his life, he had spent his days fishing on lakes, or boating or water skiing. In later years, he wore a wide brimmed hat, per his dermatologist's instructions. He never feared the sun's rays until the skin cancers began popping up all over his body. The last deadly skin cancer left his face partially paralyzed and his face disfigured. No amount of treatment could save him.

I write all this as a warning to sun worshippers.

Parents should be extremely mindful of their babies, preschoolers and older children who are exposed to sun. Their skin needs to be protected from the deadly rays and not allowed to burn. People most likely to get skin cancer are fair skinned people who get burned when overexposed to the sun.

There's another way to look at sun tanning. The tan is actually the way in which skin reacts when it is injured.

We would be wise to use protective sunscreens and sunglasses, hats and protective clothing when exposed to the sun's rays. That goes for gardeners, and farmers working in the fields too. In other words, practice safe sun.

Better safe, than sorry.