I got a reminder
last week about the importance of sunscreen.
It was at my
dermatologist’s office, but she didn’t have to remind me verbally. All she had
to do was pull out her little liquid-nitrogen blowtorch and set to work
freezing off all the incipient skin cancers on my face and body.
Not fun. It hurts
(although not nearly as bad as would letting those little blemishes turn into
full-blown skin cancers). But it does give one pause.
The
cancers-in-the-making, as I’ve noted here previously, are caused by exposure to
sunshine. You may have been exposed years and years ago, but the results pop up
only now. And pop up. And will pop up again. I see the dermatologist twice a
year as a result.
When I was doing
the George Hamilton tan dude routine all those years ago, not enough of us knew
(or cared) about sun damage. I didn’t start using sunscreen until much later in
life. I’m using it now, though, and how. Wouldn’t want this year’s sun damage
to show up when I’m 90. And no, that’s not
too old to care.
Yes, doctors say
we all need our Vitamin D, and that the best way to get it is from sunshine. I
get my Vitamin D mostly from enriched milk, thank you. In warmer weather, I
wear shorts and let my legs be exposed to sunshine – but briefly. And only the
legs. They bear far less evidence of earlier sun damage than my face, ears,
shoulders and the backs of my hands. And my nose. It must have been a real
sun-magnet in my youth.
Today, even if
it’s cloudy, that schnoz is protected by sunscreen. Or, better yet, sunblock. (Neutrogena makes one with an SPF 55.)
No more reminders
needed.
No comments:
Post a Comment