Skin damage
Repeated excess sun exposure over a number of years can cause damage to skin. The effects of sun damage include:
premature skin ageing and wrinkling, brown spots, actinic keratoses (benign warty growths on the skin), and skin cancer.

Skin cancer
About 9 in 10 non-melanoma skin cancers, and about 6 in 10 melanoma skin cancers (the most serious form of skin cancer) are thought to be caused by excessive exposure to the sun. In particular, episodes of sunburn greatly increase the risk. Skin cells that are damaged are at greater risk of becoming abnormal and cancerous.

All people of all ages should protect their skin, but it is even more vital to protect children. Although skin cancer is rare in children, the amount of sun exposure during childhood is thought to increase the risk of developing skin cancer in adult life. Therefore, take extra care with children, and keep babies out of the sun completely.


How can I protect skin from the sun?
This is not Rocket science in short: avoid the sun when it is strong, cover up (Hat tee + shirt), and use high-factor sunscreen:

Use high-factor sunscreen liberally
You should apply sunscreen of at least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 (SPF 30 for children or people with pale skin) which also has high UVA protection.


Be sure to cover areas which are sometimes missed, such as the lips, ears, around the eyes, neck, scalp (particularly if you are bald or have thinning hair), backs of hands and tops of feet.


Sunshine and vitamin D
Vitamin D is vital for good health. Vitamin D is made in the skin with the help of sunlight. Sunlight is actually the main source of vitamin D, as there is very little found in the foods that we eat.

This means that to be healthy you need a certain amount of sun exposure. There is concern that some people may go to the extreme of avoiding the sun altogether and then become deficient in vitamin D. The aim is to enjoy the sun sensibly, so as to make enough vitamin D, whilst not increasing the risk of skin cancer.

To prevent deficiency of vitamin D, we need about 2-3 sun exposures per week in the summer months (April to September). Each exposure should last 20-30 minutes and be to bare arms and face. It needs to occur in direct sunlight and not through a window. It is not the same as suntanning and sunburn should be avoided at all costs