With spring break just a week away we all know what that means… it’s time for long days at the beach on Oceans and 7th! Everyone is excited to rock their new swim suits and show off their new shades. You’ll have your favorite beach bag ready to go as you listen eagerly by the front door for a honk and your friends yelling “get in the car!” You grab your bag, rush outside and cram yourself into the tightly packed car, probably sitting on top of a cooler. Then, the driver opens the windows and sun roof and puts the radio on blast. With the wind blowing in your hair, you all begin to dance like no one is watching (literally) and sing at the top of your lungs to Beyonce! But in the midst of all this excitement, you forget one very important thing, something that will protect YOU… sun screen!
Now, I know sun screen is probably one of the most annoying things you have to do when going to the beach! It’s oily and uncomfortable to put on and it makes your skin look greasy and white. But think about it, would you rather have your skin look like that for one day or face the consequences of the sun’s ultraviolet rays in the future? I’d definitely choose option one! The sun’s ultraviolet rays have a serious effect on our skin when we get too much of them. So that occasional sun burn or extra “crispy” tan can affect you skin in the future.
There are three kinds of ultraviolet waves, UVA, UVB and UVC; however only two reach us on earth, UVA and UVB. UVA rays make up the majority of our sun exposure because they pass easily through the ozone layer. These rays cause skin aging and wrinkling, something I know we don’t want to get at an early age! However, even worse than that, these rays can cause different kinds of skin cancer. UVB rays are even more dangerous than UVA. They cause those terrible sun burns we spend weeks peeling from and can affect the immune system and like UVA rays they can cause serious forms of skin cancer like Melanoma. In fact, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a person’s chance of getting Melanoma doubles if they have had five or more sunburns or if they have had one blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence.
I know you may be thinking, “no, that’ll never happen to me”, but unfortunately skin cancer is actually the most common form of cancer in the United States with over two million cases a year and it continues to increase. In fact, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of their lifetime. As for Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, one person dies from Melanoma every hour in the United States. Also the American Cancer Society has found that women aged 39 and under have a higher probability of developing melanoma than any other cancer except breast cancer.
So as you can see, wearing sun screen should be the most important thing in your bag when planning to hit Miami Beach this spring break. It is your “knight in shining armor,” your “super hero” and your friend. Nothing is more important than keeping yourself safe! You only have one body and one skin that covers it, make sure you treat it right!