Zinc Sunscreen, Sun Protection and Suncare Tips

When you go to the HOT part of the country they have every kind of sunscreen, sunblock, And even pink & green zinc oxide. Here is some more information about sun protection.

Common questions about sun safety

During which months do I need to take sun safety precautions?
You should protect yourself from early spring right through the fall. People often get sunburns in late April and May because they don’t think the sun is strong enough to burn if they can’t feel its heat.

At what times should I use sun safety precautions?
Between 11 am and 4 pm. The sun’s radiation is strongest from 12 noon to 2 pm.  Why do I need to wear a hat in the sun?
Two of the three most common skin cancers appear on the face, head and neck.  Almost all of these tumours are caused by sun exposure over a long period of time.  Protect these areas, including the ears, by wearing a broad-brimmed (more than 8 cm or 3 inches) or legionnaire-style hat with a back flap.

Source: Canadian Dermatology Association. More information is available online at www.dermatology.ca.

Look for these four things in your sunscreen before buying and applying.

1. Check the label to make sure your sunscreen offers UVA and UVB protection. Both UVA and UVB are part of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UVR) emission, and both are linked to sunburns and long-term skin damage.

2. Your sunscreen should offer a high sun protection factor (SPF) for UVB protection.  More and more consumers now are looking for higher SPFs than ever before. For example, a sunscreen that offers a SPF 15 allows you to stay out in the sun about 15 times longer without burning. Banana Boat Suncare has just introduced two excellent products with SPF 50 in a convenient spray format. Banana Boat Kids’ products are also available in sprays and lotions with a SPF range of 30 to 50, and as a bonus, the products are tear free. And no, applying a sunscreen with SPF 8 in the morning and SPF 15 in the afternoon, will not add up to SPF 23. Choose the SPF that offers your skin type the best protection.

3. Ideally, it’s best to re-apply sunscreen every one - two hours, especially if you’ve been swimming. As a rough guide, the average adult should use one ounce (about the size of a golf ball) of sunscreen over his or her entire body for each application.

4. Your sunscreen should enhance your skin, not irritate it. If you have sensitive skin, it’s best to test a small patch for 48 hours (before your vacation) to see if you develop any kind of reaction.

Adverse reactions to sunscreens

Contact dermatitis, both irritant and allergic, and phototoxic and photo allergic reactions have been reported following the use of chemical sunscreens. The most common sunscreen that cause contact dermatitis is PABA and its esters. However, reactions to the newer generation sunscreens, especially those with broader spectrum of UV coverage such as benzophenones, cinnamates and methoxy dibenzoylmethane, have also been reported.

Contact dermatitis and photoallergic contact dermatitis to different sunscreens can occur at the same time and should be explained by a combination of cross-reactions and coupling allergy.  Cross-sensitization reactions with other sunscreens and with chemicals with similar chemical structures do not occur routinely. Patients who are sensitized to p-phenylenediamine, aniline, procaine, benzocaine, sulfonamides may develop cross-sensitization to a PABA sunscreen. It is also interesting to note that cross-sensitization between padimate 0 and padimate A which are esters of PABA do not occur but patients sensitive to PABA derivatives can also be sensitive to p-amino benzoic acid.

Zinc oxides and titanum dioxide used in physical sunscreen formulations do not produce contact sensitization, phototoxicity or photoallergy. Should such adverse reactions occur, the excipients in the physical sunscreen should be suspected.