NEUTROGENA recently launched a sunscreen with an SPF of 100 and a lot of people are sure to be asking whether they should switch to this new sunscreen.
Are those old sunscreens deficient? Can they still cut the mustard? Can it be that the higher the SPF the better the sunscreen?
Summertime is coming up and more people go on holidays at this time and end up at the beach, upping the sun exposure.
Neutrogena has an SPF of 100, Coppertone has an SPF of 85 and Banana Boat has an SPF of 80.
The SPF or sun protecting factor refers to the ability of the sunscreen to prevent burning of the skin.
Let us say that when you go into the sun it takes one hour for the skin to turn red, ie to start to burn.
If you applied a sunscreen with a SPF of four, it would then take four hours for you to start to burn. Therefore, the sunscreen with the SPF of 100 would seem to offer better protection.
The part of the sunlight which causes the problem is the ultra violet light and this is divided into two parts - UVA called the ageing rays and UVB called the burning rays of the sun.
Now we have had good protection from the UVA for many years but the UVB has always been a problem, However, with the introduction of two new chemicals, Meroxyl and Avobenzone, we now have sunscreens which helps us with UVA.
Many people believe that the higher the SPF the better. But is this necessarily so. An SPF of 100 gives 99 per cent protection; an SPF of 50 gives 98 per cent protection an SPF of 30 gives 96 per cent protection. An SPF of 15 gives 95 per cent protection. So my advice at this time is that we should continue to use our usual sunblocks but use them more frequently and in greater quantities.
We should note that the majority of the population of Jamaica is of African descent and we do not show the signs of ageing - that is the lines and the wrinkles - as early in life as the Caucasians. Also, cancer of the skin is rare in our population. Nevertheless we should respect the sun and use sunscreen every day as it can only do us good.
I find that as an outdoorsman or woman the best way to put on the sunscreen is to bathe and then dry off and apply the sunscreen to the entire body. With the right sort of clothes you are then ready to go out and to face the sun.
We must realise that sunlight also has an effect on the immune cells in the skin and this may be more important than we realise at present. We should also get our kids into the habit of using sunscreens early in life
