How to Avoid Sun Poisoning

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Doctor Hill and today we're going to talk about how to avoid sun poisoning. When we say sun poisoning we really mean sun burn. The sun can burn your skin just a surely as hot water, or a stove or an iron can, and we grade those burns the same way we grade real burns from other sources. Of course they're all real burns. So redness of the skin without blistering is a grade one burn, a grade two burn involves blistering and a grade three burn involves full depth penetration of the skin and loss of skin. If you spend enough time in hot enough sun you can get any grade of burn. The best way to avoid sunburn is first of all not to be in the sun at the peak hours. Nothing beats getting inside or getting in some real shade between the hours of say ten in the morning or two in the afternoon, a little later if your day allows it. Don't trust cloud cover to protect you from the sun. Some of the very worse sunburns I see are people that saw that it was a cloudy day, didn't feel the heat on their skin and said, yeah, I'll be fine out here. The problem is while the rays that cause heat are not getting through the clouds, the rays that cause burns most certainly are. Third, try and cover up. No sunscreen beats the protection of a rash guard or even a simple shirt and broad brimmed hat. The more you can get shade, the better. Remember sun bounces off of sand or snow, so if you're walking on a reflective surface, remember you're going to need some protection from beneath as well as from above. Of course, there's always sunscreen. Look for a sunscreen that covers both UVA and UVB light, both types of sunlight can damage you. Fortunately most commercially available sunscreens, they do that. Look to see what age the sunscreen is recommended for, whether it's hypoallergenic and whether it's quote, waterproof. I say quote, because no sunscreen is truly waterproof and event the best sunscreen probably needs to be reapplied every couple of hours. Remember, also sunscreen takes a while to bond with the skin and work. So put your sunscreen on not once you're out in the sun but when you're getting packed up and ready to go, about thirty minutes ahead of time. Remember that sweat can wipe off sunscreen just as well as playing in the swimming pool, pond or ocean. So remember to reapply event if you haven't been in the water. Talking about ways to avoid sun poisoning, I'm Doctor David Hill."